Best Equatorial Telescopes of 2026
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Equatorial telescopes are a type of telescope that is designed to track the movement of celestial objects, such as stars and planets, as they move across the sky. They are characterized by their equatorial mount, which allows the telescope to be aligned with the Earth's axis of rotation. This means that as the Earth rotates, the telescope can follow the movement of the stars and planets, allowing for more accurate observations. Equatorial telescopes are popular among amateur astronomers and are available in a range of sizes and prices, making them accessible to a wide range of people.
At a Glance: Our Top Picks
Top 10 Equatorial Telescopes
Gskyer Telescope 70mm Aperture 400mm AZ Mount
The Gskyer Telescope 70mm Aperture 400mm AZ Mount is a great entry-level telescope for beginners and kids. It comes with two replaceable eyepieces, a 3x Barlow lens, a 5x24 finder scope, a wireless remote, and an adjustable aluminum alloy tripod. It has a 70mm aperture and 400mm focal length, which is enough to explore stars and moon. Customers have praised its solid mount and easy setup, but have noted that it can be difficult to use and that the position locking is not ideal.
Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 114AZ Telescope
The Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 114AZ Telescope is a smartphone app-enabled telescope that comes with a 114mm Newtonian reflector optical tube, 25mm, and 10mm Kellner eyepieces, a 2x Barlow lens, and a red dot finderscope. It features a manual altazimuth mount with slow motion control rod, full height tripod, and an accessory tray. The patent-pending StarSense sky recognition technology uses your smartphone to analyze star patterns overhead and calculate its position in real-time. The manual altazimuth mount with smooth dual-axis slow-motion controls makes it easy to follow on-screen arrows to your desired target, and when the bullseye turns green, it's ready to view in the telescope's eyepiece.
Celestron 70mm Travel Scope
The Celestron 70mm Travel Scope is an ideal telescope for beginners, offering fully-coated glass optics, a large 70mm aperture objective lens, and two high-quality eyepieces for low- and high-power views. The telescope comes with a full-height tripod, a custom backpack for easy portability, and a bonus software package for astronomy enthusiasts. The Travel Scope's superior optics and unbeatable warranty make it a top choice for amateur stargazers.
HEXEUM Telescope 70500
The HEXEUM Telescope 70500 is a great choice for amateur astronomers and kids alike. It features a 70mm aperture and 500mm focal length, providing stunning views and protecting your eyes. It comes with two excellent-quality eyepieces (25mm and 10mm) and a 3x Barlow lens, trebling the magnifying power of each eyepiece. It also includes a phone adapter and an adjustable aluminum tripod, as well as a wireless remote control and carrying bag for easy portability. With its lifetime maintenance and great customer reviews, this telescope is a great gift for beginner astronomers.
EACONN 80mm Refractor Telescope
EACONN 80mm Refractor Telescope is a perfect choice for astronomy beginners and kids. With its true 80mm aperture and fully coated green optics glass lens, this telescope captures more light and delivers bright and clear images. The rough adjustment and positioning gimbal with scale make it easy to adjust the altitude and azimuth, allowing you to point the telescope wherever you want. It comes with all the necessary accessories, including two eyepieces with different magnifications, a finder scope with a crosshair, and a customized mobile phone adapter. The telescope is easy to assemble and carry, with a bag and an adjustable tripod included. Whether you want to observe the moon, view planets, or indulge in bird watching and landscape viewing, this telescope is a great gift that will bring you and your family endless fun times.
Celticbird 80mm 600mm AZ Refractor Telescope
The Celticbird 80mm Telescope offers bright and clear views thanks to its large 80mm aperture and high-quality coated lenses that let in more light and reduce glare. It comes with a sturdy, adjustable aluminum tripod that can be set between 17.7" and 52", making it comfortable for both kids and adults. You’ll find it easy to carry and store since all parts fit neatly into the included backpack. Plus, the upgraded phone adapter lets you capture amazing photos of your celestial discoveries. With two eyepieces for different magnifications and a moon filter to enhance contrast, this telescope is perfect for exploring the moon and planets like Saturn and Jupiter.
EACONN 80mm Aperture 600mm Refractor Telescope
The EACONN 80mm Refractor offers an 80mm aperture with fully coated optics that let you see brighter and clearer images by capturing more light and reducing glare. It features an easy-to-use rough adjustment and a positioning gimbal with a scale, allowing you to smoothly move and aim the telescope exactly where you want. This model comes with two eyepieces providing 30x to 66x magnification and a 5x24 finder scope to help you quickly locate objects in the sky. Plus, a mobile phone adapter lets you attach your phone for easy photo capture. It’s simple to assemble and portable, making it great for beginners and travel.
Koolpte 70mm Refracting Telescope
Koolpte Refracting Telescope is a superior quality telescope that offers bright, clear, and high-contrast images. With its 70mm large aperture and 400mm focal length, it provides excellent light collecting ability and is perfect for exploring the night sky. The telescope comes with 3 eyepieces and a 3X Barlow lens, offering magnification options from 20X to 200X, making it suitable for both kids and adults interested in astronomy. Its portable design, including a phone adapter and adjustable aluminum tripod, allows you to easily capture photos and videos of celestial objects. The wireless remote and 5x24 finder scope make it convenient to locate and explore objects in the sky.
Gskyer Telescope, 600x90mm AZ Astronomical Refractor Telescope
The Gskyer Telescope is an entry-level refractor telescope with a 600mm(f/6.7) focal length and 90mm aperture. It comes with three replaceable eyepieces(24X, 60X,120X) and one 3x Barlow lens, and an adjustable aluminum tripod. It is easy to operate and no tools are required for focusing. Customers have praised the telescope for its good value and quality optics, but noted that the aperture size is small and it is difficult to use for novice users.
ToyerBee 70mm Aperture Refractor Telescope
The ToyerBee 70mm Aperture Refractor Telescope is a great choice for astronomy beginners, with a 70mm aperture and 300mm focal length for more light and clearer images. It comes with 3X Barlow len and two eyepieces, H20mm and H6mm, for a magnification of 15X to 150X. It also includes a smartphone adapter and wireless camera remote, making it easy to explore the world through the screen. It's a great telescope for 8-12 kids and a great astronomy gift.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. What does equatorial telescope mean?
An equatorial telescope mount operates on two axis, RA, and DEC. Right ascension is the axis that rotates around the north or south celestial pole depending on which hemisphere you are located in. The telescope mount must be accurately polar aligned to match the rotation of the night sky in RA.
2. Which is better Alt azimuth or equatorial?
Alt-az mounts are considered superior for visual astronomy because they provide such comfortable viewing positions at the eyepiece. Many experienced visual astronomers recommend alt-az mounts for this reason. All in all, equatorial mounts are designed with the astrophotographer in mind.
3. What is a German equatorial telescope?
German equatorial mounts or GEMs track an object using constant speed movement on one axis that is oriented parallel to the Earth's axis of rotation. This makes the design ideal for astrophotography.
During our equatorial telescope research, we found 16 equatorial telescope products and shortlisted 10 quality products. We collected and analyzed 297,984 customer reviews through our big data system to write the equatorial telescopes list. We found that most customers choose equatorial telescopes with an average price of $73.40.
The equatorial telescopes are available for purchase. We have researched hundreds of brands and picked the top brands of equatorial telescopes, including Gskyer, Celestron, HEXEUM, EACONN, CELTICBIRD. The seller of top 1 product has received honest feedback from 384 consumers with an average rating of 4.7.
Alan Eaton is a seasoned writer whose expertise is in anything related to electronics, such as headphones, monitoring equipment, computer, and so on, built over a 15-year career in the technology industry. Working in the trade during his youth, he accumulated a great deal of knowledge about machinery.