Twinstar 60mm Compact Refractor AstroVenture Review

Your journey among the stars is one step closer, to begin with the Twinstar 60mm Compact Refractor AstroVenture telescope. Don’t let his dreams only be dreams, because now you can offer your child the opportunity to view what’s beyond the sky.

The Twinstar 60mm compact refractor AstroVenture may look like a children’s toy, but under the hood, it has all the things it needs in order to appease even the most intransigent professional. Many parents have had issued when decided what kind of telescope should they buy for their child who nurtures an interest in astronomy.

A child’s telescope should no doubt be light, easy to use and easy to deploy, without little parent supervision. These conditions are all fulfilled by the Twinstar 60mm compact refractor AstroVenture, a telescope that is both powerful and easy to use.

Let’s take a closer look at this wonderful telescope, specially designed for beginners.

(Click image to see more pictures on Amazon)

Twinstar 60mm Compact Refractor AstroVenture – Product Description

The Twinstar 60mm compact refractor AstroVenture is a versatile telescope, meaning that you can use for both terrestrial and celestial observations.

As far as specs go, the Twinstar 60mm Compact Refractor AstroVenture has a 60mm aperture, which means that you will have a wider field of view than other telescopes. In the pack, you will also find two Plossl eyepieces, which can offer a combined magnification factor of 65x.

The telescope also comes with an aluminum tripod, which can be adjusted according to height, using the plastic knobs on each side. As a word of warning, if you want to buy this telescope for your child, you should swap the plastic knobs with metal ones as they can break off easily.

Furthermore, in order to make sure that all the images seen through the eyepieces are crystal clear, the telescope’s primary and secondary mirror are treated with a special coating, that reduce spherical aberrations and other types of distortions.

Other Specs and Features:

• 90-Degrees Star Diagonal;
• Easy to adjust focuser knob;
• 5×24 Finderscope;
• Focal Length of First Eyepiece: 6 mm;
• Focal Length of Second Eyepiece: 20 mm;
• Highest Useful Magnification: 65x;
• Highest Theoretical Magnification: 65x;
• Magnification Factor of Eyepiece One: 15x;
• Magnification Factor of Eyepiece Two: 50x;
• Lowest Useful Magnification: 15x;
• Alt-azimuth style mount;
• Dovetail Handle for increased tracking precision.

Additional Accessories for the Twinstar 60 mm Compact Refractor AstroVenture Telescope

Unfortunately, due to the telescope’s construction, you cannot attach additional accessories like Plossl lenses, Shorty Barlow lenses, or Universal T-Ring adapters. However, you can make your child’s stargazing experience much more pleasant with these great educational materials:

• “The Kids Book of the Night Sky” by Ann Love;
• “There’s No Place Like Space: All About Our Solar System (Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library)” by Tish Rabe, with illustrations by Aristides Ruiz, featuring Dr. Seuss’s famous cat;
• “Find the Constellations” by H.A. Ray;
• “Once Upon a Starry Night: A book of Constellations” by Jacqueline Mitton;
• DK’s “Space: A Visual Encyclopedia”;
• “National Geographic Readers: Planets” by Elizabeth Carney;
• Uncle Milton 3-D Star Theater;
• Uncle Milton Super Moon in My Room.

What’s in the Box?

After buying the Twinstar 60mm compact refractor AstroVenture, here’s what you’ll go to find in the box:

• The Twinstar 60mm compact refractor AstroVenture optical tube;
• German Equatorial Mount;
• 5×24 Finderscope;
• 90-degrees star diagonal;
• One 6 mm eyepiece;
• One 20 mm eyepiece;
• Adjustable aluminum tripod;
• Dust cap;
• Two-year warranty certificate.

(Click image to see more pictures on Amazon)

Customer Reviews

Unfortunately, according to the customer review section from Amazon.com, the Twinstar 60mm compact refractor AstroVenture telescope received a 3.7-star rating, which places it way below the 4.1 average so far.

While it may be a great gift for a child who’s interested in astronomy, most of the users have said that this telescope isn’t worth the investment. Most of the user’s negative review seem to be centered around the telescope’s plastic components, more specifically the knobs used to adjust the height of the tripod.

Customers have repeatedly complained that the knobs tend to break off after just a couple of uses, rendering the telescope useless, since they are unable to set its height. For this reason, you should go ahead and buy a set of metal knobs. You can find them in any astronomy shops, and costs somewhere around $6 per pack.

As for the others users, they have said that the telescope lacks in focal range and magnification power.

Twinstar 60 mm Compact Refractor AstroVenture Pros & Cons

Pros:

• Easy to set up;
• Child-friendly;
• Lightweight;
• Decent magnification capabilities;
• Attractive price;
• Mount can be adjusted to height.

Cons:

• Cheap plastic components;
• Low combined magnification capabilities;
• Finderscope is poorly designed, making calibration impossible;
• Tripod is wobbly;
• Manual doesn’t have clear assembly instructions;
• Using the telescope inside the city is impossible;
• Even with its multi-layered coatings, there’s still too much chromatic aberration;
• Poor focus capabilities.

Buy Twinstar 60mm Compact Refractor AstroVenture from 

Where to Get It From

The best place to get the Twinstar 60 mm compact refractor AstroVenture telescope is Amazon.com. As of now, Amazon has a special offer for this telescope. You can buy your first eyepiece for only $49.99, and the company will even deliver it to your house for free.

Here are some other places from where you can buy this telescope:

• protelescope.com – for $60;
• stargazerastronomy.com – for $84.99;
• www.ebay.co.uk – for $66.88.

Our Verdict

As a parting note, we have to say that this telescope would be better off passing as a children’s toy than as an actual telescope. Our advice to you is to spend that extra dollar in order to buy something of a higher quality.

We can’t say that the Twinstar 60 mm compact refractor AstroVenture telescope is a bad telescope, but since it lacks any of the specs of proficient eyepieces. Still, for a child over eight years old, this telescope is a great beginning, since it can teach him or her the basic of celestial observations.

With some effort, on a clear night, outside of the city, you will be able to distinguish some of the Moon’s craters, and, maybe, if the weather holds, you will see the Orion Nebula.

All in all, the Twinstar 60 mm compact refract Astromaster, is rather a great gift for a small child, then for an adult interest in astronomy.