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Best telescope Black Friday deals: Up to 37% off smartphone-guided scopes, deals on equatorial mounts, more

While telescopes may not be the first thing to come to mind when you think of Black Friday savings, if you are interested in astronomy there are plenty of deals to help you get a jump start.

Stay tuned as we update this article throughout the week as more telescope deals come to light.

First published November 22. This post is being regularly updated.

Celestron scopes

The Celestron name is well known in reference to telescopes. As we look ahead to Black Friday later this week, some of the company’s low-cost telescopes are even further discounted.

FirstScope – $50

Celestron’s $60 FirstScope has gotten just a bit cheaper, with a 5%(now 15%) discount bringing it down to $56.74(now $51) with free Prime shipping. This small reflector telescope is just three and a half pounds, with a 76mm aperture and a 300mm focal length.

The table-top scope could be a good first introduction into telescopes.

PowerSeeker 50AZ – $45

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Celestron’s PowerSeeker 50AZ is also currently discounted on Amazon 18%. The normally $55 telescope is now $45.

The Celestron PowerSeeker 50AZ offers a 50mm aperture and 600mm focal length. The scope comes with eyepieces ranging from 4mm to 20mm, plus additional accessories to help you get the most from your telescope.

The 60AZ was also on sale, but now appears to have sold out.

StarSense Explorer 80AZ – $199

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Celestron’s line of StarSense telescopes are guided by an app to make it easy to find any object in the sky. The normally $319 StarSense Explorer 80AZ is now $119 off, bringing it down to $199. Placing your phone in the mount, its camera recognizes where it’s pointing in the night sky, and can then guide you in the right direction to find the object of your choosing. The 900mm refractor telescope has an 80mm aperture and weighs just ten pounds. While it’s a step up in price over the ultra-low-cost FirstScope and PowerSeeker, it also provides more focal length, a wider aperture, and much easier operation.

Astromaster 114EQ – $175

If you prefer to stick with reflector telescopes, the Astromaster 114EQ is currently on sale for $175, that’s $85 dollars off. The Astromaster has the longest focal length yet, of 1,000mm, and has a 114mm aperture. It doesn’t have the phone guidance of the StarSense series, but the equatorial mount features large knobs that make it easy to track objects as they move across the sky.

But if you are interested, you should act quickly, as the deal is set to expire in less than ten hours!

Update: This initial deal has since expired, but the 114EQ is still available for $20 off, at $239

Gskyer telescopes

400mm/ 70mm refractor – $99

This small refractor telescope usually sells for $129, but is currently on sale for $99. The small telescope comes with a phone mount to make getting photos of the Moon and stars through the scope easy.

Equatorial mount

Scientific iEXOS-100 – $469

Over on Adorama, the Explore Scientific iEXOS-100 PMC-Eight Equatorial GoTo Mount System is on sale for 22%, bringing the usually $599 mount down to $469. That’s $130 in savings on the computerized mount compatible with just about any scope up to 15 pounds. The system has Wi-Fi and wired connectivity and makes it possible to take detailed long-exposure photos of just about any object in the night sky. It’s compatible with iOS, Android, and Windows.

More telescopes and accessories

Most of the telescope deals are on lower-end scopes. Higher-end telescopes, like the eVscope 2 I reviewed recently and the Celestron 6SE remain at full price (if they’re in stock).

While other equipment may remain at full price, you still get an extended holiday return window, so it may still be worth it to buy now. Here are some other products worth taking a look at.

  • Celsestron 4SE computerized telescope – $569
  • Five-inch solar filter – $126
  • Computerized equatorial mount – $630
  • NexImage telescope camera – $263

Stay tuned as we continue to update this post as more deals come to light. You can check out more space deals on our Space Explored Black Friday guide and go check out the 9to5Toys Black Friday 2021 Deals Hub for the latest deals on Apple and Google products, smart home needs, and much more.

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