If you are searching for the Best Telescopes For City Viewing, then you have arrived at the right place. Many of us live in cities, and although it is good for living great and earning money, we often miss the beauty of the outdoor and sky. Often times, either we do not have enough space for a telescope in our home, or due to pollution, we usually not able to see with a telescope.
So, we ill need a telescope, which is compact and also has an excellent magnifying power that can allow us to use it in city areas. You should not go for the powerful one. Instead, you should look for the one that can filter extra lights and also small in size and portable. In my opinion, It is better to go for spotting scope instead of a telescope as they work better in cities. So let us look at our list.
Best Telescopes For City Viewing 2020
| Image | Name | Magnification | Price |
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Celestron Ultima 100 | 66x | |
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Celestron C90 MAK | 39x | |
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Levenhuk Strike 80 NG | 165x | |
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Orion StarMax TableTop | 180x | |
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Orion Observer 80 ST | 177x |
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1. Celestron Ultima 100 Spotting Scope
The first one on our list is Celestron Ultima 100 Spotting Scope. It has an objective lens diameter of100mm and has the most substantial aperture scope in the Ultima line. If we compare it with one having 80mm dia, It gives a 50 percent brighter image and can work exceptionally well in low light conditions and hence very suitable in cities. The optics are multi-coated, and It is very compact and portable. The durable refractor design is perfect to use it in an urban area and has an eyepiece with 22-66x zoom capacity.
Celestron Ultima 100 Spotting Scope performs well in a range of viewing situations, which makes it suitable for all types of terrestrial viewing. It is also waterproof and fog proof that allows you to use it even in extreme weather. The viewing angle is 45 degrees. It has a focal length of 540mm and has an exit pupil diameter of 4.5mm – 1.5mm. You can focus on it quickly, and we recommend it.
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2. Celestron C90 MAK Spotting Scope
Celestron is known for producing high-quality telescopes, and that is the reason why many astronomers trust them. The Celestron’s 52268 90mm Maksutov Spotting Scope lives up to its name and delivers high performance and excellent viewing capability and is also compact and affordable. You also get a backpack with it for carrying this spotting telescope. It features erect image finder scope, which makes it best for city and land viewing. The fully coated 32mm Plossl eyepiece can give you a magnification power of up to 39X.
The C90 design is based on Maksutov-Cassegrain and has a focal length of 1250 millimeters. It is only 12-inch long but still very powerful. There is no chromatic aberration, and hence you get a perfect image every time you use it. It works very well for magnification higher than 40x and uses high-quality 1.25-inch eyepiece that is also suitable for astronomical viewing. The build quality is excellent and looks very pleasing to the eye. You can even clearly see Jupiter with this lens at 100X magnification, and clouds on Jupiter are visible. It is also suitable for land viewing and shows vibrant colors and textures of nature. It also comes with a Built-in T-mount adapter to use it for the DSLR camera. Overall, one of the best telescopes for city viewing.
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3. Levenhuk Strike 80 NG Telescope
The next one on our list is Levenhuk Strike 80 NG Telescope. It has a focal length of 720 mm and has a focal ratio of f/9. This telescope is very easy to use and is an excellent telescope for beginners. It features a finderscope that is attached to Its body and is good for finding objects. The Levenhuk Strike 80 NG Telescope has stainless steel construction, which makes it very durable. Its inner tube is blackened so that there is minimal interference to the incoming light.
This telescope has many accessories that make it suitable for city and astronomical viewing. It is a highly versatile telescope. The aperture of this telescope is 80 mm and has a magnification power from 12x to 165x. It has a refractor design and a long body that stops any distortion on the image. The lens is suitable to use even in the polluted area — overall, a good telescope for city viewing.
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4. Orion StarMax TableTop Telescope
Orion is one of the leading telescope manufacturers and is known for producing some of the best telescopes. This Orion 10022 StarMax 90mm TableTop is an excellent telescope and will be suitable for both the city viewing and astrography. It has Maksutov-Cassegrain, and you can easily see the Moon and planets such as Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn. It is very lightweight and weighs only 6.5 lbs. It is also very compact, and you can take it with you anywhere. It provides a great view of the night sky, and you can use it while camping or during road trips.
It features an aperture of 90mm that can gather enough light to provide you a spectacular view of deep-sky objects. You can even see galaxy, nebulas and globular clusters with it. It also features EZ Finder II reflex sight for pointing directly to the object you want to see. It has a 90 Degree mirror diagonal, which allows you to see the night sky comfortably.
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5. Orion Observer 80 ST 80mm Equatorial Refractor
The Orion Observer 80 ST 80mm Equatorial Refractor is one of the Best Telescopes for city viewing. It allows you to do city viewing and also explore the planets and seeing the deep-sky objects, It is compact and low cost, and you can take it with you anyplace. If you are curious, what does ST stands for in its name? Then it stands for “Short Tube.” This means that it is small, portable, and compact that makes it very well suitable for cities and urban environments. Don’t get fool by its small size. It is a very powerful telescope and gives great performance. The Orion Observer provides a wide-field view that allows you to see more sky and find more objects.
It comes with many accessories that help you to adapt to any surroundings. The 2x Barlow lens doubles the magnification of eyepiece and is very handy. It features an equatorial mount that allows you in a smoother movement. Its 80mm f/5.0 rich-field refractor telescope can give a bright and broader view of the sky. Overall we recommend it.
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How to Choose Best Telescopes For City Viewing – Buying Guide
There are many factors you should look into when you go for Best telescopes for city viewing. Let us look at them.
Lights
The Main Problem in the city that there is too much light in the city. Astronomy can be very difficult with low light, but in cities where there is too much light pollution can also make the viewing difficult. So we advise you to go for a telescope which has a good light filter and is suitable to use in the cities.
Image Orientation
It is also essential that you get an erect image when you do terrestrial viewing. Many telescopes send an inverted image to your eye. This should not be a problem when you look at galaxies or nebulas, but in cities, you would like to have an erect image. So go for the one with the right-angle inverting eyepiece that gives you an upright image. Many also come with upright mage eyepiece, as well. Check those as well.
Air Pollution
Another issue you may get in cities is that due to polluted air and hot condition, the image can get little fuzzy due to poor atmospheric seeing. Air density can have a severe adverse effect on telescopic viewing as they can make the light bend and causing havoc, and you get a blurry image. So check if your telescope can nullify this air effect. Better to go for a smaller refractor telescope, which works way better in city conditions than the expensive ones.
Go for Spotting Scope
It is better to go spotting scope instead of the telescope if you are looking for the best telescopes for city viewing. Telescopes are usually bulky and are not suitable for small distance viewing. The Spotter scopes can easily focus on something nearby like birds or moon. They also have variable magnification power that can be of great use in the city. They also reduce chromatic aberration for better viewing.
We hope that this buying guide helps you in choosing the Best Telescopes for city viewing. If you have any questions or suggestions, please comment, and we will be happy to answer them.