Twas going for a song

[Derek]

Jamie ... I very long time ago I had a small Tasco refracting telescope. Gave it to a nephew way back.
Yep, I really pleased with my new little scope, even though it only mag 78x. My old refracter used to go to 150x. Like you and Star, Elaine and myself are fasinated with the cosmos and when winter comes, Orion comes right over the church at the back of the cottage and even in 10 x 50 bins you can just see the haze of m42 just below its belt. I cant wait for those cold crystal nights ... on the downside, we do get a little hew from the city lights.
Iechyd Da
Derek

[McClef]

Love the stopper - that isn't affected by the weather or light pollution!

[GMan]

What a couple of great finds.

[fluter]

Yep, I really pleased with my new little scope, even though it only mag 78x.

Don't put the little scope down on account of magnification. its forte will be a low power, wide field view. I have an 80 mm refractor whose most satisfying view is at about 20X. From the look of the little Celestron, I believe it is a similar instrument.

It ought to support up to about 150 power with another eyepiece or a Barlow lens. It's often sold with a 20mm eyepiece (about 15X) and a 4mm (for about 75X). You could try a 2-power Barlow lens with the 4mm eyepiece, but I don't think I'd want to try a shorter focal length eyepiece. For one thing, the eye relief would probably be horrid.

However if you have both original eyepieces, you may find the lower power is the preferred view! I suspect that is where its sweet spot lies---at about 15-25 power, just a bit more magnification than hand-held binoculars.