Orion GiantView BT 100 Binocular Telescope

Huge 100mm objective lenses provide incredibly bright and immersive views of starry skies and daytime scenes

Included pair of 18mm, 65-degree eyepieces provide 31x views out of the box

Accepts interchangeable 1.25" eyepiece pairs for a variety of magnification options (additional eyepieces sold separately)

Features comfortable 45-degree eyepiece orientation and individual eyepiece focusers

Weighs 14.5 pounds

http://amzn.to/2oRWwTt

With two huge 100mm objective lenses, the new GiantView BT-100 delivers an immersive observing experience unlike any other. Stargazing with both eyes brings an amazing amount of depth to each view while also making each observation more relaxing and comfortable.

Views of everything from lunar craters to wispy nebulae will take on an almost 3-dimensional feel in the GiantView BT-100 Binocular Telescope.

This impressive instrument's 100mm (3.9") aperture objective lenses gather over 56% more light than large 80mm astronomy binoculars, so you'll be able to see more objects in the sky with greater clarity. But the fun doesn't stop at sunrise!

During the day, this big binocular telescope becomes the ultimate "spotting scope" for terrestrial exploration.

Set the BT-100 up on your deck or at your favorite scenic overlook to enjoy awesome long-distance views.

The 45-degree angle eyepiece holders make both daytime and nighttime observations comfortable.

The GiantView BT-100 Binocular Telescope includes a pair of 18mm 65-degree flat-field 1.25" eyepieces which provide 31x magnification and a 2.13-degree field-of-view right out of the box.

Individual eyepiece focusers provide precise focus control, while compression rings hold inserted eyepieces securely in-place.

The NexStar 4 SE

The NexStar 4 SE delivers great views of the Moon, the planets, and bright deep space objects. The standard equipment 25mm E-Lux plossl eyepiece gives a magnification of 53X, enough to see the Lunar disk, Saturn’s rings and the major cloud bands on Jupiter. It’s easy to add optional eyepieces to zoom in for more detail. Using a 12.5mm X-Cel eyepiece for 106X magnification I can see several cloud bands on Jupiter and I can even pick out the small dark shadow as one of Jupiter’s moons passes in front of the planet. On a good night I can push the magnification up to 230X with a 6mm plossl eyepiece while viewing the Moon and planets.
The NexStar 4 SE package also includes a sturdy adjustable tripod, a motorized alt-azimuth mount, and the NexStar hand held computer controller. I don’t need star charts or a GPS reciever to operate this telescope. Celestron’s patented SkyAlign procedure is easy to use, and experienced users will like the two-star align and solar-system align options because they are even quicker to set up. The steel tripod and alt-azimuth mount provide a solid base for the NexStar 4 SE. Vibration is not a problem, even while focusing at high power. The computerized tracking is also very good, easily keeping planets in the field of a high power eyepiece. The disadvantage of a computerized scope, of course, is battery consumption. I find that rechargeable NiMH batteries work very well in the NexStar 4SE; a set of batteries lasts all evening and I don’t need to worry about electrical cords getting tangled in the dark.
The NexStar 4 SE is a great portable telescope, just right for visual observing or for taking short exposure pictures of the Moon and planets. It’s only fair to warn you that a small telescope has its drawbacks, however; there are thousands of objects in the NexStar database that are simply too dim to see with a four inch telescope.

The Planet Jupiter

The Planet Jupiter

The planet Jupiter is was named by the Romans after their god Jupiter, who was also sometimes called Jove. Jupiter is the largest planet in our solar system by far. It is more than twice as large as all of the other planets combined.

Jupiter might well have become a star when it was born, had it been larger. There is very little (if any) solid matter on Jupiter. If there is any at all, it is hidden deeply inside the planet. Jupiter is made up entirely (as far as we know now) of gases and liquids.

The very composition of Jupiter means that its parts do not rotate at the same speed, but rotation is fast. Jupiter makes one complete revolution in a little less than 10 hours. This very fast rotation plus the makeup of gases and liquids are what causes the bulge at the equator of Jupiter.

Jupiter has an internal heat source. We are sure of this because it actually emits more radiation than it gets from the sun.

There are four large moons and dozens of small moons that rotate around Jupiter, making it a kind of small solar system unto itself.

One of the more outstanding features about Jupiter is the never-ending hurricane called "The Giant Red Spot" in the southern hemisphere. This disturbance has been going on for the last 400 years that we know of. It never abates…probably because it never passes over land (there isn't any) like hurricanes on earth do.

An explanation for the color of the clouds on Jupiter still eludes astronomers. With the conditions that exist, clouds should be colorless, but they are anything but colorless, and they change color over time. We still have a lot to learn!