Pointed my cheap telescope at Jupiter for the first time last week

I got a Celestron AstroMaster 70AZ from a garage sale for $40 and figured it'd be junk. Pointed it at Jupiter around 10pm and actually saw two of its bands and three moons clear as day - totally blew my mind. Learned that even basic gear can deliver if the conditions are right. Anyone else get a surprise with a budget scope?

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mia_anderson5mo ago

Did you get lucky with the sky conditions or something? I borrowed my buddy's 70mm refractor once and was super let down by Jupiter. The bands were just blurry smudges and the moons looked like fuzzy dots. Maybe your garage sale scope had better optics or the atmosphere was unusually still that night. I've found that cheap scopes give you just enough to frustrate you because you can sort of see things but never clearly. Maybe I just had bad luck with mine, but it made me wish I'd saved for something bigger.

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henrybaker5mo ago

That "just enough to frustrate you" thing is pretty much how most hobbies work anymore. You either drop real money or you get a half-baked experience that leaves you wanting.

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