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Fall is also an excellent time for casual stargazers, with the earlier evenings and cooler temperatures offering a comfortable compromise before we head into those freezing winter nights when we can't feel our toes. Don't worry if you're just starting out and don't have any gear yet, as many of this season's celestial objects are visible with the naked eye — and some are actually best viewed that way.

This September, October and November are great times to view the distant planets at opposition, catch several meteor showers and photograph far-flung galaxies and nebulas with your smart telescope. Plus, November brings the first full supermoon of the year. So, grab your telescope, your headlamp and a cozy sweater, and let's see what lies ahead.

Lunar & Planetary events

Neptune at opposition

Neptune reaches opposition on September 26 at 02:00 UTC, which is the best time to view it at its brightest, magnitude +7.8. Unfortunately, the full moon will somewhat ruin the party, and Neptune isn't particularly easy to spot at the best of times. That said, the opposition window lasts for several weeks, so waiting a couple of weeks to observe during the new moon week won't make any noticeable difference.

You'll need a good telescope to spot the big blue planet — at least a 6-inch aperture, although an 8-inch or bigger will give you the best chance. Make sure you have a good quality, high-powered eyepiece (something like a 6mm or 9mm) or a good Barlow lens to boost the magnification of your existing eyepieces.

But even with high magnification, Neptune will only appear as a small disc with a bluish hue — you won't see any cloud bands or surface features, because it’s just too far away. Still, it's worth trying to get a glimpse anyway.

Saturn at opposition

A week later, on October 4 at 12:00 UTC, Saturn reaches opposition, shining at magnitude +0.3. It will be easily visible to the naked eye, although to see Saturn's rings or any of its largest moons, you'll need a telescope.

The moon will be just below 50% illuminated and doesn't rise until past midnight, so you'll have a good portion of the late evening to observe Saturn while it's high in the sky before the moonlight affects visibility. Even though the rings are only partially tilted, you can still make out a lovely golden oval around the planet, and in larger telescopes you'll be able to spot the Cassini division. We recommend a telescope with at least 4 or 5 inches of aperture, and a good quality, high-powered eyepiece to observe the finer details.

Full supermoon

November 24 brings the first full supermoon of fall/winter, when the bright Beaver Moon will light up the skies, shining around 15% brighter than a normal full moon.

You can enjoy this moon without any gear whatsoever, but observing with binoculars or a telescope, or capturing its magnificence with a camera, makes the experience much more enjoyable.

Until then, you can catch the other full moons of the season on September 26 and October 26.

Uranus at opposition

The third planetary opposition of the fall belongs to Uranus on November 25 at 23:00 UTC. But like Neptune in September, the almost full moon will dampen its visibility, so we'd recommend waiting until the new moon week.

Like the other outer planets, you'll need a larger telescope with an aperture of at least 6 or 8 inches to view Uranus, alongside a good quality, high-powered eyepiece for the best views. These larger scopes gather enough light to distinguish Uranus's turquoise color, although you'll need to go even bigger if you want to see its brightest moons.

Meteor showers

Draconids

The first meteor shower of the season — and unlike most showers, which involve a lot of caffeine and an all-nighter, the Draconids are best seen in the late evening instead of the dead of night.

This meteor shower is active between October 6-10, peaking on the night of October 8-9. With the radiant point in Draco being highest at nightfall and the thin crescent moon not causing any interference, the best viewing hours are in the late evening before midnight.

These meteors are leftover debris from comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner, and you can expect to see around 6-10 meteors per hour under ideal conditions.

Orionids

The Orionid meteor shower happens every October, when Earth passes through the trail of debris from Halley's Comet. In 2026, it's active between October 2 and November 7, with the peak occurring on the night of October 21-22. This shower brings between 10 and 20 meteors per hour under dark skies, radiating from the Orion constellation.

The waxing gibbous moon during the peak will add a fair bit of light pollution, but the moon will set between 03:12 am and 04:15 am depending on where in the States you're watching from, so you'll have a few hours before dawn to catch the darkest skies. You just need your eyes and clear, dark skies to see them, and a good astrophotography camera equipped with a wide-angle lens is perfect for capturing photos.

Taurids

The Taurids meteor shower comes in two parts. The first is the Southern Taurids, active between September 10 and November 20, peaking on the night of November 4-5 (during a thin waning crescent moon). The Northern Taurids come slightly later and are active between October 20 and December 10, peaking on November 12 (during an even smaller waxing crescent moon).

The hit rate is one of the lowest of all the meteor showers, with only around 5 meteors per hour. However, the Taurids are known for producing bright, slower-moving fireballs that linger in the sky — making them a particularly appealing astrophotography target.

Peak viewing time will be around midnight, when the Taurus constellation reaches its highest point in the sky.

Leonids

Radiating from the Leo constellation, the Leonids come from the dust and debris left behind by comet 55P/Tempel–Tuttle, which orbits the Sun every 33 years. They produce between 10 and 15 meteors per hour, and the shower period runs from November 6 to November 30, with the peak falling on the night of November 17-18.

The first quarter moon will set around midnight, making way for the best of the shower between midnight and 4 am in totally dark skies.

Star clusters and constellations

Pleiades (and Hyades)

A favorite among many stargazers, the Pleiades (M45), an open cluster known as the "seven sisters" in the constellation of Taurus, slowly returns to the night sky this fall. By October, it rises in the east a couple of hours after sunset and is visible from dusk to dawn from November. Although it's about 440 light-years from Earth, you can see it with the naked eye under dark conditions — even though it's usually just a faint, fuzzy patch — but binoculars or a telescope provide a much more impressive view.

As Greek mythology has it, the sisters — named Maia, Alcyone, Asterope, Celaeno, Taygete, Electra and Merope — were the daughters of the Titan Atlas and Pleione. The story is that Zeus transformed them into a cluster of stars to escape the relentless pursuit of the giant hunter Orion, who fell in love with the sisters and chased them for seven years. It seems he couldn't take the hint.

Look below the Pleiades, and you'll find their five half-sisters, the Hyades — an open cluster which makes up the V-shaped face of Taurus, the Bull.

The Pleiades are a fantastic target to capture with a smart telescope. If you want to stack multiple sessions across fall and winter, start in late November when they're high in the sky. You want an altitude of 50 degrees or higher, and ideally 60 degrees or more. The cluster itself is easy to capture, but the less atmosphere you're looking through, the more you can pull out that delicate blue nebulosity, which is what takes an image of the Pleiades from good to spectacular.

Another enemy of that lovely blue glow is the moon, so make sure you're imaging under completely dark skies with no more than around 25% moonlight. If you get a clear, moonless night, aim for 2-3 hours minimum to capture the faint nebulosity, and go for 3-5 hours for a really impressive image.

Pegasus

The best time to see the Great Square of Pegasus is during the fall evenings between September and January, with October offering the clearest and highest views in the night sky.

This asterism is a large, prominent square shape made up of four bright stars in the eastern sky — Markab, Scheat, Algenib and Alpheratz — with the latter belonging to the neighboring constellation of Andromeda. The square is said to make up the body of the winged horse, and the four stars range from about 133 to 670 light-years away from Earth. Point a pair of binoculars at them, and they'll reveal many more stars that are not visible to the naked eye.

Cassiopeia

Cassiopeia is one of the Northern Hemisphere's circumpolar constellations, so although it's technically visible all year, it's best seen during the autumn and winter months. Throughout the fall, it climbs higher and higher in the sky, reaching its upper culmination in mid-November, when it is best viewed between 9 pm and midnight.

Depending on its rotation in the sky, Cassiopeia appears as a "W" or "M" shape made up of five bright stars ranging from 19 to 425 light-years away and visible with the naked eye.

Cassiopeia was a vain, arrogant queen in Greek mythology, and after boasting that she and her daughter, Andromeda, were more beautiful than the Nereids, the gods placed her in the sky tied to her throne, where she spends half of the year upside down as punishment for her vanity.

The Owl Cluster

In addition to the constellation itself, there are some fun hidden objects within Cassiopeia that require binoculars or a telescope. The Owl Cluster (NGC 457) is a bright, open star cluster near the bottom-left star of the W shape, containing around 150 stars (although only 60 are identified as true cluster members), and is roughly 8,000 light-years from Earth. The blue and yellow "eyes" consist of the stars Phi Cassiopeiae (magnitude +5.0) and HD 7902 (magnitude +7.0).

You'll need a pair of astronomy binoculars to see it — go for 15x70 for a decent view, or 20x80 for an even better observation.

Caroline's Rose

Caroline's Rose (NGC 7789) is another open cluster in Cassiopeia, situated close to the last of the five bright stars in the "W" shape. Astronomer Caroline Herschel discovered the cluster in 1783 and it contains over 1,000 confirmed member stars, with estimates suggesting up to 3,000 potential stars.

It was named "Caroline's Rose" or the "White Rose" because its winding loops of stars and dark empty lanes resemble the petals of a cosmic rose, and it is estimated to be around 1.4 to 1.7 billion years old.

You can see it with a pair of binoculars under reasonably dark skies, but the best views will come from a telescope.

Deep-sky nebulas & galaxies

Andromeda galaxy

Our closest neighboring galaxy, Andromeda (M31), is about 2.5 million light-years from Earth and may one day collide with the Milky Way ("one day" being a 50/50 chance around 10 billion years from now, according to new research). But until then, we can easily make do with observing from afar with binoculars and telescopes.

October and November are prime evening viewing time, with the galaxy reaching its highest point between 7 pm and 11 pm. Under clear, dark skies, it's the most distant object visible to the naked eye, appearing as a very faint smudge — provided you know where to look. Binoculars provide a marginally better view of a somewhat larger, slightly brighter faint smudge — we've managed to see it with a pair of 8x25s under dark skies — but for the best views, you want a telescope.

It's a great first target for beginners using a smart telescope, with the prominent dust lanes revealing themselves after 30-60 minutes. If you want more detailed images of the faint outer arms, leave it for 3-4 hours. Moonlight can wash out the faint galactic arms and dust lanes, so if possible, choose a dark night with minimal light pollution.

In Greek mythology, Andromeda was the daughter of the aforementioned Cassiopeia. After angering the sea god Poseidon, Cassiopeia (who was not exactly Mother of the Year) chained Andromeda to a rock as a human sacrifice to the sea monster, Cetus, that Poseidon had sent to ravage their kingdom's coast. Andromeda was saved by Perseus, who she then married, and after her death, Athena placed her in the stars as a constellation.

Helix Nebula

The Helix Nebula (NGC 7293) is a large planetary nebula around 650 light-years away in the constellation Aquarius. Often called the "Eye of God", it has a striking eye-like appearance, and it features thousands of comet-like radial filaments and complex gas rings.

It stays relatively low in the southern sky, with September being the best time to view or photograph before it gradually sinks over the coming months. Moonlight will completely wash out its faint outer gaseous ring, so it's best to shoot during a new moon (or when the moon hasn't yet risen) to get the best image possible.

The best hours to capture it are between about 10:30 am and 2 am, when it's either rising or at its highest. This should get you a pretty decent standard image, but if you want more detail, try to capture it over several nights to pull in the faint outer nebulosity and stack the images.

Triangulum Galaxy

The Triangulum Galaxy (M33) is the third-largest in our local group of galaxies, behind the Milky Way and Andromeda. This stunning spiral galaxy — not to be confused with the Pinwheel Galaxy (M101), which is best seen in the spring — sits in the small Triangulum constellation about 2.7 million light-years from Earth and is a great astrophotography target.

Its peak viewing time is October to December, when its highest and clearest position is after dark in the late evening. Because it's so faint, you need a moonless night away from light pollution. The sweet spot for smart telescopes is around 90 minutes, but if you can shoot for longer or want to split your shoot across multiple nights, 2.5 to 4+ hours can bring out more detail in the core and spiral arm.

Heart and Soul Nebula

The Heart and Soul Nebula is a nebula complex consisting of two massive emission nebulas located about 6,000 to 7,500 light-years from Earth in the constellation Cassiopeia. They are primarily made of glowing ionized hydrogen gas, darker cosmic dust lanes and trace amounts of ionized oxygen and sulfur.

Like most other nebulas, they aren't visible to the naked eye, so you'll need a telescope or a long-exposure astrophotography setup to see them. The Heart Nebula (IC 1805) is, unsurprisingly, named after its heart-like shape, while its neighbor, the Soul Nebula (IC 1848), has a more irregular shape with large cavities made by stellar winds.

If you're imaging the Heart and Soul with a camera or smart telescope, a total integration time of 6 to 12 hours will provide you with the cleanest details and most contrast in the faint gas structures. That said, 2 to 4 hours will give you a good basic stacked image.

As Cassiopeia is at its highest in the fall, this is the best time to see and photograph it with the least amount of atmospheric interference.

Ghost of Cassiopeia

The Ghost of Cassiopeia, often referred to as the Ghost Nebula (IC 63), is a mixed reflection and emission nebula around 550 light-years away in Cassiopeia. Its eerie red glow is caused by its proximity to the nearby blue giant star, Gamma Cassiopeiae, which sits right in the middle of the constellation's distinctive 'W' shape. The star’s powerful ultraviolet radiation causes the hydrogen to emit a soft red glow, while the surrounding dust reflects the star's light in fainter blue hues.

Like the other celestial sights in Cassiopeia, autumn and winter evenings are the best times to see and photograph it due to its high altitude in the sky. As the nebula is so faint and elusive to capture, you can only see it with a smart telescope or a long-exposure astrophotography setup.

When it comes to integration time, the longer the better. Aim for 3-5 hours minimum, ideally 6+ hours if the skies allow, and avoid shooting during moonlight if you can.

The DX 130 AZ is certainly one of the better telescopes in the StarSense Explorer series; there are also several decent Dobsonians, a pair of decent Schmidt-Cassegrains, the merely acceptable DX 102 refractor, a 114mm Bird-Jones model and some small refractors that aren’t of much use.

The DX 130AZ is definitely on the small end of what can be called a "serious" instrument, but even under a fairly light-polluted sky, it’s big enough to show you plenty of deep-sky objects and, of course, stunning detail on the moon and planets.

Celestron StarSense Explorer DX 130AZ review

Celestron StarSense Explorer DX 130AZ: Design

• 130mm f/5 Newtonian reflector with a parabolic primary and flat secondary mirror
• Manual alt-azimuth mount and tripod with StarSense smartphone dock — no motors
• Two 1.25” eyepieces included (25mm yielding 26x, 10mm yielding 65x)

The DX 130 rides on the same alt-azimuth mount/tripod shared with the other StarSense Explorer DX models. It’s reasonably sturdy, with one major caveat: you can’t actually point the DX 130 straight up. When aimed above about 70 to 75 degrees, the tube crashes into the mount or the tripod legs.

However, there is a simple workaround here. Deliberately set the tripod up unlevel, which lets you reach the zenith without affecting the mount or the StarSense system at all. It looks a little silly, but it works. The tripod is fairly stable as long as you’re not in a windy spot. Loading the accessory tray with sandbags or diving weights, or filling the hollow aluminum legs with sand or foam, helps considerably if you’re willing to do a bit of DIY work.

The mount has slow-motion controls with small gears for fine adjustments. They have a fair amount of play in them, but since this telescope is really only meant to be used up to about 200x magnification or so, it doesn’t matter much. In practice, the author barely used the slow-motion controls and simply nudged the scope by hand. For aiming the DX 130AZ, a red dot finder is provided in addition to the StarSense Explorer tech.

The StarSense Explorer DX 130 AZ comes with two eyepieces: a 25mm (26x) and a 10mm (65x). These are three-element eyepieces, likely Konigs or reversed Kellners. They work acceptably; the 25mm is a little blurry at the edges, and the 10mm shows some chromatic aberration toward the edge, but both are reasonably sharp. The bigger problem is that the housings are all plastic and there are a lot of internal reflections as a result.

Better aftermarket eyepieces would be a wise investment, both for improved performance and a wider range of magnifications. We’d recommend a 6mm redline (108x), a 2x Barlow of some sort and a good wide-field eyepiece like the 24mm APM/StellaLyra UFF (27x), if you can afford it — the 6mm redline gets a bit closer than the provided 10mm eyepiece and offers a much sharper view, while the 24mm UFF is far crisper than the stock 25mm. With a Barlow lens and the 6mm, you can go up to 216x on the moon, planets and double stars — about the highest magnification this telescope can allow. Or you can choose your own eyepiece set to suit your needs.

The StarSense Explorer DX 130’s focuser is a 2.5-inch rack-and-pinion unit with a metal drawtube and plastic body. There’s some play in it, but it works acceptably well as long as you don’t overload it with too much weight. The focuser has adapters to accept both the provided 1.25” eyepieces as well as aftermarket wide-field 2-inch eyepieces, but at f/5, you really need a coma corrector of some sort to use the latter, which, along with the eyepieces themselves, will set you back quite a bit.

Being a Newtonian reflector, the DX 130 will usually need to be collimated for sharp images. Celestron doesn’t include a collimation tool, which is mildly annoying, but a basic collimation cap is cheap, easy to 3D-print, or can be improvised from a film canister. Overall, the DX 130 is lightweight and very portable, which is one of its real strengths — it’s easy to carry about, and the StarSense Explorer app will have no trouble plate-solving, even if you have to pick the scope up and carry it around the yard to avoid trees or other obstructions.

Celestron StarSense Explorer DX 130AZ: Performance

• Sharp, detailed lunar and planetary views
• Excellent wide-field deep-sky performance from dark skies
• Light and quick to reposition around obstructions

The DX 130 shows a great deal of detail on the moon, down to features a few kilometers across, and it’s genuinely sharp. The focuser is a little coarse, but with some finesse it will reach focus even at high magnifications. The 130mm f/5 optics can handle up to about 250x magnification on a night of steady atmospheric conditions, though the best lunar and planetary views are usually found somewhere between 150-220x and the mount starts to get wobbly as you push towards the higher end of that range.

On the planets, the DX 130 handles shadow transits of Jupiter’s moons easily, shows all four Galilean moons as disks and even reveals the Great Red Spot. Saturn’s rings are obvious, along with a smattering of a half-dozen moons, and the Cassini Division is visible when the rings are tilted more open than they are at present. Uranus is also visible as a tiny greenish disk, though its moons are not. It’s a struggle to distinguish Neptune from a star at all, but the StarSense Explorer app will help you identify which blue dot it is in a sea of similar looking 8th-magnitude points.

One practical note: you do need to keep your phone screen dim and red while using this telescope with the StarSense Explorer app. The app has a red mode, but notifications, or your phone simply reverting to the lock screen, can flash the screen bright, and even at its dimmest a phone screen can affect your eyes’ dark adaptation quite a bit. But for most people this won’t be a serious problem if the screen is dimmed fully and used with a proper red filter — either a software solution or a physical red film.

As for deep-sky objects, the spiral arms of the Andromeda Galaxy and M33 look fantastic under a dark sky, though under light pollution only their cores are visible. Globular clusters such as M13 and M3 begin to resolve, while more difficult targets are harder going — M53 was tough from Bortle 5 but doable from Bortle 2 conditions. Under a bright sky, open clusters like M11, M35 and the Pleiades are the main deep-sky attractions with this telescope; under a dark sky, fainter nebulae and galaxies shine far better while the strands of dark nebulae and galactic cirrus begin to show up around open clusters.

The brightest planetary nebulae start to resolve with the DX 130 regardless of sky conditions. Most observers won’t see much color in them with this scope’s relatively small aperture — though some people pick out a bluish-green tint in objects like the Ring Nebula and the Cat’s Eye Nebula — but regardless, they’re reasonably easy to see even from light-polluted areas, especially with an aftermarket nebula filter.

Celestron StarSense Explorer DX 130AZ: Functionality

• StarSense app is optional
• Quick and easy setup
• Wide field of view forgives manual pointing errors

The StarSense Explorer DX 130 is, by design, a wide-field telescope, and one of its appeals is that you don’t strictly need any computerized pointing aids at all. The nice thing about the StarSense Explorer system is that it’s entirely optional — you can aim the telescope manually, with or without your phone docked, just like any other manual scope.

Set-up is quick: assemble the tripod and mount, attach the tube and an eyepiece, dock your phone, run the app’s alignment routine, and you’re observing. It’s much easier to get started with the StarSense Explorer than with a GoTo telescope, and you aren’t required to use it, either — for a quick gander at the moon or Jupiter for instance, there’s really no need to deal with the phone dock and app. With experience you might find yourself eventually not needing the StarSense Explorer tech at all, especially given the telescope’s wide field of view, which is quite forgiving of any manual pointing errors.

Should you buy the Celestron StarSense Explorer DX 130AZ?

On the value for money front, you could get a 6-inch or even an 8-inch Dobsonian for the price of the DX 130 if you’re happy with a fully manual scope, or you could look at one of the other options below. The DX 130 is more portable than a full-size 6- or 8-inch Dobsonian and has a much wider field of view with any given eyepiece — but if you don’t have a fairly dark sky, that advantage is somewhat less valuable compared to those telescopes’ considerably larger aperture, which helps reveal more on targets less affected by light pollution.

A reflector like this gives much better views than the cheap refractors sold at this price and offers a much wider possible field of view than catadioptrics. The StarSense Explorer DX 102, effectively this scope’s sister model, has too much chromatic aberration to deliver sharp high-power images and doesn’t gather as much light as the 130. The StarSense Explorer 5-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain is decent optically and is admittedly a little more forgiving of cheap eyepieces thanks to its longer focal ratio, but it’s no better for planetary work than the DX 130 with proper eyepieces, can’t deliver a wide deep-sky field of view, and gathers slightly less light overall.

Overall, the DX 130 wouldn’t be the author’s top recommendation, but it’s certainly in the top 10 for the price range. If you’ve already decided this is the kind of telescope that you want, it’s a perfectly good choice; just consider the Dobsonians first if you want a manual telescope, or a fully automatic GoTo instrument if you want something more high-tech.

If this product isn't for you

The CL Companion sits between the pocket-size CL Pocket and full-size EL and NL ranges, making it the perfect mid-range model that combines portability with excellent optical prowess.

The Companion is a grab-and-go, "take it anywhere and everywhere" binocular that is perfect for many different activities, whether that's spotting birds, scoping out your hiking trail or sweeping across the starry sky at night.

We spent a week with both the 8x30 and 10x30 CL Companions to test them out, with the former being ideal for tracking movement with a wider field of view, while the latter brings you closer to the details.

Swarovski CL Companion: Design

• Simple, fuss-free design
• Rubber grip ensures a secure hold
• Choice of three earth-tone colors

The biggest change in comparison to the old-style CL Companion is in the design. The original version was more of a traditional binocular aesthetic, but this updated design breathes life into the range with three new earth-toned colorways: mountain green, desert orange and safari brown. While some users have said they look somewhat toyish (or just downright ugly), when you handle them in person, they are much more sleek and stylish than the product images would have you believe.

Both the 8x30 and 10x30 weigh just 1.21 pounds (550 grams), so you can easily wear them around your neck all day without even knowing they're there. They're compact enough to put in a large jacket pocket, or you can just wear the included carry bag.

The central focus wheel has just the right amount of slip to make it easy to change focus, but is not so loose that you don't have enough control over it. The diopter is located on the front of the focus wheel, which felt a little off at first, but once we set it, there was no danger of accidentally changing it.

They also have generous eye relief, which is great news for users who wear glasses. The eye relief is 19mm on the 8x30 and 18mm on the 10x30. We used them on a bright, sunny day during a heatwave and were easily able to observe while wearing sunglasses with no issues at all.

Swarovski CL Companion: Performance

• Sharp optics throughout the image circle
• Minimal defects
• Excellent for daytime birding

Out in the field, the CL Companions proved to be particularly well suited to daytime birding — although with 90% light transmission, they'll still hold their own at dawn or dusk. Both the 8x30 and 10x30 had a clear, sharp image, with plenty of detail across the image circle. The 8x30 felt particularly easy to use when trying to pick up birds quickly, while the 10x30's extra magnification was great for getting a closer look at more distant subjects.

The color reproduction was natural, and the views had good contrast without looking over-processed. Fine details on feathers were easy to pick out, even on smaller birds. There was a tiny sliver of color fringing towards the edges in high-contrast situations, but it didn't spoil the view whatsoever, and you'd only notice it if you were actively looking for it (which we were). Every time we have used a pair of Swarovski binoculars, there's a three-dimensional viewing experience and depth to the image that you just don't get with cheaper brands.

Both models performed well in the bright daylight conditions we were using them in, both in terms of optical clarity and comfort when using them for longer periods. Their small size and light weight meant we could comfortably track birds in flight without having to take breaks, which is often a dealbreaker when it comes to choosing a pair of birding binoculars.

Swarovski CL Companion: Functionality

• Wide field of view for birding
• Waterproof down to 13 ft/4 m
• 3m close focusing distance

The wide field of view is one of the more useful features for birding. The 8x30 has a 549 ft (140m) FOV, while the 10x30 has 377 ft (115m) — both of which are wider than the original generation of CL Companion. Both made it easy to find birds when scanning trees and bushes, and there was enough space around the subject to follow them easily after they took flight.

The close focusing distance of 9.8 feet (3m) was also handy when birds came closer, and enables you to observe insects like bees and butterflies without spooking them by getting too close. And with the smooth focus wheel, it was easy to change focus between the two distances.

Both models are waterproof down to 13 feet (4 m), which is likely more protection than most people will need, but it is reassuring when using them outdoors in the rain, or if you were to accidentally drop them in a puddle.

Should you buy the Swarovski CL Companion?

On paper, they tick all the boxes. The optics are excellent, and they're lightweight and easy to carry. But with Swarovski being very upfront about the fact that it’s going after a younger audience with these CL Companions, we have to wonder what young person would have a spare $1,500 to spend on a pair of binoculars? It's not a small investment, so you'd need to be a dedicated observer to spend that kind of money.

That said, they're much more than your typical compact binoculars. They're a genuinely impressive binocular with stunning optics built into a small and compact package. Typically you need to compromise on one or the other, but the CL Companion gives you the best of both worlds.

If this product isn't for you

We took the lens out to the dark skies of Wales to photograph the night sky and the Perseids, giving it a real-world test in some of the best conditions we could find.

With a premium L-series build and a price tag to match, there's a lot to consider before adding this lens to your kit. We wanted to find out how it actually performs in the real world, and whether it's worth the investment.

Canon RF 20mm f/1.4L VCM: Design

• Premium, solid build
• Surprisingly manageable for an f/1.4 lens
• A few small quirks keep it from being flawless

The Canon RF 20mm f/1.4L VCM feels like a proper L-series lens from the moment you pick it up. It's solid and reassuringly well-built, but it never felt excessively heavy or awkward on the camera. At 1.41 pounds (519 grams), it's certainly not a tiny 20mm prime, but the weight is well balanced and it was comfortable to carry and shoot with. And considering it'll often be used for astrophotography, it'll be on a tripod a lot of the time anyway.

The focus and control rings both feel smooth and nicely weighted, while the switches and customizable buttons are easy to find without having to look at the lens. The weather-resistant build is another bonus for outdoor shooting, which will come in handy if you also use the lens for landscapes where you might encounter inclement weather.

The dedicated aperture ring is also a nice feature, especially if you prefer having more physical controls rather than relying on the camera body and remembering which dial is set to each setting. Plus, the clickable nature of the aperture ring is an ASMR dream.

Canon RF 20mm f/1.4L VCM: Performance

• Excellent low-light performance
• Sharp in the center with some corner softness
• f/1.4 makes a real difference under dark skies

A fast 20mm is a pretty exciting combination for astrophotography. It gives us plenty of sky to play with, while the f/1.4 aperture pulls in a lot of light. Under those dark skies, the Milky Way came through beautifully, with plenty of detail without needing to resort to boosting the ISO too high.

We took the lens out to Carmarthenshire in Wales under Bortle 3 skies to photograph the night sky during the peak of the Perseids, which also coincided with the new moon — the perfect recipe for astrophotography.

The center of the frame is where this lens is at its best. Stars are crisp and well-defined, which is exactly what we want from a lens that is being used for astrophotography. The edges aren't quite as impressive, though. There is some softness and a little stretching of the stars towards the outer parts of the frame, particularly when the lens is wide open. It's not enough to ruin an image, but it becomes obvious when zooming in and pixel-peeping at the corners.

Canon RF 20mm f/1.4L VCM: Functionality

• Quick and reliable autofocus performance
• Customizable controls are genuinely useful
• A practical choice for everyday shooting

The Canon RF 20mm f/1.4L VCM is very straightforward to use out in the field — especially in the dark. The autofocus was quick and reliable during testing, and for everyday shooting of landscapes, or even for video, this means there's very little to think about.

The customizable controls are useful, too. The lens function button and control ring can be assigned to different settings, allowing you to put the controls you use most within easy reach. It's a small thing, but being able to set the lens up around your personal shooting style makes it feel more intuitive and can save a surprising amount of time.

The 67mm filter thread is another practical advantage, as it's a common filter size, so you won't necessarily need to invest in an entirely new set of filters if you already own that size.

The lens doesn't feature a ton of bells and whistles, but that's not a bad thing. It's designed to be picked up and used without much fuss, and after spending time with it, we found that its simplicity is one of its strengths.

Should you buy the Canon RF 20mm f/1.4L VCM?

The Canon RF 20mm f/1.4L VCM lens makes the most sense for photographers who regularly work in low light or want a dedicated wide-angle prime. Astrophotographers are likely to get the most from it, but it also has plenty to offer for landscapes, architecture, interiors and environmental photography.

Its biggest appeal over a zoom is its f/1.4 aperture. If you already have a wide-angle zoom but regularly find yourself having to bump up your ISO in low light, this lens fills that gap while also offering the control of a fast prime.

However, it's a fairly specialist addition to a lens lineup, and the price makes it tricky to justify if you only occasionally shoot wide. If you need the flexibility of changing focal lengths, or if you primarily shoot distant subjects, you'd be served better by a zoom or longer lens

If this lens isn't for you

It is controlled through the Seestar app on a smartphone and offers automatic slewing and autofocused views of galaxies, nebulas, star clusters and more. That said, in our experience, it sometimes needs manual adjustment with the on-screen joystick to perfect centering.

This being the Pro version of the original S50, which released three years prior, it's more expensive; you'll be paying $450 more than the original S50, with the S50 Pro coming in at $999. For that you get double the storage capacity (128 GB instead of 64 GB) and a higher resolution (4K not Full HD). ZWO claims the Pro has an extended battery life of nine hours, though we can't test this yet because the app version responsible for this uplift from the originally stated seven hours (version 3.3.1) wasn't released during testing.

So are these upgrades enough to warrant the extra spend?

ZWO Seestar S50 Pro review

ZWO Seestar S50 Pro: Design

• Lightweight and easy to carry in the case provided
• Dual-lens system mirrors the S30 Pro
• Simple, two-button design and an easy push-on solar filter

The Seestar S50 Pro is instantly recognizable as a smart telescope. A neat, rounded and glossy plastic casing protects the fragile but automatic optical and electrical insides that power this pocket rocket. Only two buttons are found on the entire device: a large power button on the side enveloped by a ring of light that glows when powered on, and a small reset button on the bottom of the telescope.

The carry case that the S50 Pro ships in looks like black compressed polystyrene but has neat latches and a red handle that tucks away in a slot at the top, making it easy to pack — similar to a drone case. This is much better than some of the bags you can buy for smart telescopes as it feels more rigid and secure. The S50 Pro and its tripod and solar filter all ship together and are snugly held inside.

It's light, too. We weighed it all, and the whole setup weighs 8.6 pounds (3.9 kilograms) fully packed, 6 pounds (2.7 kg) of that being the S50 Pro itself. It's also small; we measured it at 5.7 x 10.6 x 5.4 inches (146 x 270 x 138 mm), including the rubber feet on the bottom. Incidentally, we like that because it means you don't have to use the tripod if you don't want to.

We even received a bunch of ZWO-branded stickers that, if we were so inclined, we could pop on the telescope. But we're probably going to give them to the nephews.

Everything is controlled via the Seestar app, the same as all the other ZWO Seestar telescopes. This is typical for smart telescopes, which are almost always operated via an app.

As usual, and as we said in our S30 Pro review, it has a 3/8-inch tripod thread underneath, but the tripod itself is very small. We ended up using a larger photographic Gitzo carbon fiber tripod without the tripod head. But beware — if you're going to do this, take the tripod head off first. It won't fit the 1/4-inch thread of your standard mirrorless camera, which is likely what your tripod footplate will be.

ZWO Seestar S50 Pro: Performance

• Aligns and tracks automatically
• Live stacking reveals faint objects quickly
• Solar eclipses can be shot as photo or video timelapses

It took a matter of minutes for the live-stacking feature to give us clear and bright views of any object we slewed to. Live-stacking enables the smart telescope to take image after image to produce more detailed results of dim deep sky objects.

M27, the Dumbbell Nebula, was our standout favorite during testing, which we imaged over 10 minutes and 20 seconds. The final image captured the vibrant greenish blue core shining through, sandwiched by the red and orange glow of the nitrogen, hydrogen-alpha and sulfur.

Other notable objects we observed included M31 (the Andromeda Galaxy), which had good shape and reasonable clarity over the nine-minute exposure and filled the frame nicely considering this is an 8.3 MP image. It's also possible to image M81 (Bode's Galaxy) and M82 (the Cigar Galaxy) together on the S50 Pro due to the wider field of view, and after only 6 minutes and 30 seconds' exposure time we saw clear arms on M81 and fragmented detail and deep coloring in M82 which we were pleased with.

We also observed the sun, both before, during and after the Aug. 12, 2026 solar eclipse. Sunspots were clearly visible on the S50 Pro, and the solar filter that ships with the S50 Pro as standard gives it a warm orange tone, which is pleasing, even if we couldn't see much other detail like granules or faculae. However, we wouldn't expect that with a smart telescope of this spec at this price point.

Something that did frustrate us, though, was the S50 Pro's automatic exposure metering. This became most apparent during the Aug. 12, solar eclipse when taking a timelapse video.

The sun was overexposed most of the time, only allowing the darkest of sunspots to appear on the surface, but as the moon moved in front of the sun the exposure kept changing up and down, which it also did when clouds moved in front. The resulting timelapse was fun to share with friends and family over instant messaging but was far from ideal.

We also urge you to use a taller photographic tripod or similar when observing, due to our first session of nighttime imaging being obscured by a nearby tree bending into view during a long exposure, thanks to an occasional gust of wind.

ZWO Seestar S50 Pro: Functionality

• Smartphone app is easy to use
• A few niggles irk us, like typos and mislabelling
• Zero-backlash motor purportedly reduces wind interference

Setting up the Seestar S50 Pro is easy, and if we hadn't run into some synchronization issues with the app, or if we had used the NFC (near-field communication) feature, it could have been up and running in around five minutes.

Things being as they were, though, we had to restart and reinstall the app once or twice, with the telescope not visible to connect with in the app. It took around 30 minutes total, which is no big deal for a first-time setup, but it's something to consider.

There were a few niggles that struck us as odd, considering ZWO's outstanding ability to produce high-end astronomy products. Namely, we experienced the Seestar S50 Pro naming the sun as the moon (it was a few hours before the solar eclipse and it's possible it got visually confused because of the solar filter). There was also a typo when checking if the sun is "in the fram."

Plus, when observing long exposures, ZWO's Seestar mascot clung to the side of the screen and couldn't be removed. These are nothing super major but are all things we would like to see addressed before spending $999.

Everything about the S50 Pro's functions is almost identical to the S30 Pro, which we reviewed in April 2026. Live-stacking of 10-second exposures reduces the signal-to-noise ratio and improves details over time. It automatically slews to and autofocuses on subjects. The S50 Pro also has plate-solving in order to orient itself on the stars of the night sky as most smart telescopes do. It has an equatorial mode for better subject tracking, and it's operated by the same Seestar app.

One big difference, however, is the S50 Pro's zero-backlash motor, which is used for tracking subjects. Compared with the S30 Pro's stepper motor, which is internally geared, the S50 Pro has more precise tracking and better resistance to wind movement. We saw clear and sharp images produced during testing, but there was minimal wind on the nights we tested, so further observations are required to confirm how much of a difference this really makes to the average user.

Should you buy the ZWO Seestar S50 Pro?

If you don't have a smart telescope already and haven't tried any other ZWO smart telescopes, the S50 Pro is an easy win. It sits at the top of ZWO's smart telescope range, has the joint-largest aperture they offer, the joint-highest resolution and ships with everything you need to get started, even a solar filter for daytime observing. It's the best ZWO smart telescope currently available.

However, unless you have nearly $1,000 to spend on an instrument such as this, there are cheaper alternatives that do almost as well at a much lower price point. ZWO's own S30 Pro is $300 cheaper and bags a large amount of the same features and specifications as the S50 Pro. At nearly half the price, the S50 gives you the same aperture, but you will be restricted to much lower resolution.

If this product isn't for you

Unlike a solar eclipse, a lunar eclipse is completely safe to observe with the naked eye and unfolds slowly over several hours, giving observers and photographers plenty of time to enjoy it. Whether you're using binoculars, a telescope, a mirrorless camera or a smart telescope, it will be one of the best lunar photography opportunities for years.

Solar and lunar eclipses often come in pairs because they occur during the same eclipse season — a period of about 34 days when the sun, Earth and moon line up closely enough for eclipses to occur. A solar eclipse happens at new moon, when the moon passes between Earth and the sun. Then, about two weeks later, at full moon, the alignment can produce a lunar eclipse as the moon passes through Earth's shadow.

This eclipse will favor observers in North and South America, where every stage will be visible high in the night sky. Europe gets a different, but equally photogenic experience, with the eclipse occurring before dawn as the moon sinks toward the western horizon.

Whatever equipment you use, the biggest challenge for most people won't be finding the eclipse, but deciding how to see and photograph it. Here's some gear worth considering.

Best binoculars for the Aug. 27-28 lunar eclipse

Best telescopes for the Aug. 27-28 lunar eclipse

Best smart telescopes for the Aug. 27-28 lunar eclipse

Best cameras for the Aug. 27-28 lunar eclipse

Best lenses for the Aug. 27-28 lunar eclipse

Essential accessories for the Aug. 27-28 lunar eclipse

FAQs

Its popularity does not come from its ruggedness nor its out-of-the-box convenience. Whether bought as a loose sheet for making filters or as ready-made Baader solar filters for binoculars, camera lenses and telescopes, it enables super-sharp captures of sunspots on the sun, allowing much faster shutter speeds than some rival solar filter materials.

Although a brighter Baader AstroSolar Filter Film OD 3.8 Photo Film is also available (which is not designed for visual use), this review focuses on the Baader AstroSolar Filter Film OD 5.0, both as a practical DIY filter material and as the core of ready-made solar filters.

Baader AstroSolar Filter Film OD 5.0: Design

• Thin and delicate
• Perfect for crafting homemade solar filters
• Available as A4 and A5 sheets and ready-made filters

The defining feature of Baader AstroSolar Filter Film is how little there is to it. The film is extremely thin — around 0.01 mm — and feels much more fragile than tougher solar polymer materials. That can be disconcerting the first time you handle it. It wrinkles easily, but should never be pulled tight. However, initial fears are misplaced because a good homemade solar filter does not require the film to be flat. In fact, it should be mounted slightly slack, because wrinkles and ripples in the filter material actually improve the image.

The real design advantage is that AstroSolar Film is hugely versatile and can be cut to suit almost anything. A single sheet can be used to make a front filter for a telephoto lens or two, as well as for a couple pairs of binoculars. Any filter must always go over the front of the optics, never behind them. For binoculars, make a filter for one objective lens for safe one-eyed viewing and securely cap the other.

The film is sold as a loose sheet of material for DIY use in four sizes: ECO (140x155 mm/5.5x6 in), A4 (20x29 mm/8x12 in), 100x50mm/40x20 in, and Giant (117x117 mm/46x46 in). Also sold are the ASTF: AstroSolar Telescope Filter OD 5.0 (80-280mm), ASSF: AstroSolar Spotting Scope Filter OD 5.0 (50-150mm) and ASBF: AstroSolar Binocular Filter OD 5.0 (50-100mm). All come in multiple sizes.

They are, of course, neater and more durable than homemade cardboard versions, but the optical principle is exactly the same. Besides, the loose sheet version is more attractive if you have several lenses or binoculars to cover, or if you want to make a filter that precisely fits a specific lens hood.

Baader AstroSolar Filter Film OD 5.0: Performance

• Sharp solar detail
• Neutral white color
• Suits cameras and binoculars

Although its versatility makes it unusual, making DIY solar filters won’t be for everyone. However, the main reason to choose Baader AstroSolar Filter Film is for its image quality. When used correctly, it produces a sharp, high-contrast, white-light view of the sun. Sunspots appear cleanly defined, the solar limb looks crisp and the image has a neutral white tone, rather than the deep orange produced by some polymer filters.

That white rendering will not be to everyone’s taste. Casual eclipse watchers often expect the sun to look orange through solar filters because that is how it often appears through eclipse glasses and some glass or polymer solar filters. Baader’s version is a lot more clinical. For photographers, however, that is an advantage. A neutral white solar disk is easy to warm up later in editing, while a heavily colored orange image gives a little less flexibility. It all depends on your point of view.

The sharpness advantage comes from the fact that it allows shorter exposures, something that becomes more obvious as the focal length increases. In a short-lens or wide-field composition, the sun is small, so differences between filter materials are less obvious.

On a 400mm, 500mm or 600mm lens, where sunspots and the edge of the solar disk matter more, Baader AstroSolar Film OD 5.0 shows why it has such a strong reputation among eclipse photographers. In our tests at 400m set to f/8 and ISO 100, we found that exposures of 1/800s and 1/1,000s achieved the best results.

It also works well with binoculars. In fact, we’ve been traveling to watch solar eclipses using the same DIY solar filter fashioned from Baader AstroSolar Film OD 5.0 for a decade. Over the years, it’s been reinforced with plastic tape to extend its lifespan. It turns a pair of 10x50 binoculars into a safe solar-viewing instrument for the partial phases of an eclipse (just remember to cap the non-filtered lens).

The use of Baader AstroSolar Film is, of course, solely for capturing the partial phases of a solar eclipse, allowing safe imaging of the shrinking solar crescent. If you’re in the path of totality and about to watch a total solar eclipse, you’ll need to gently remove the filter when it gets dark.

That makes a homemade slip-on filter particularly attractive: it can be designed to slide off quickly, avoiding the fiddly delay of unscrewing a hot, threaded plastic or metal filter during the brief moments of totality. It’s wise to have an empty shirt pocket ready to take that filter for the few minutes of totality, which will keep it safe until the post-totality partial phases a few minutes later.

Baader AstroSolar Filter Film OD 5.0: Functionality

• Easy to use for DIY projects
• Works across many optical devices
• Safety checks required

If you buy a solar filter that uses Baader AstroSolar Filter Film OD 5.0, you have an excellent product that requires care when traveling and storing. If you purchase it as a sheet of material, it requires some time and patience as well as cardboard, tape, glue and scissors to custom-build your own Baader AstroSolar Solar Filter for almost any optical device. That’s a huge advantage over many screw-in photographic filters, which only fit specific thread sizes.

As you’d expect, making a new solar filter for any new gear from an existing sheet of Baader AstroSolar Filter Film is much cheaper than investing in an all-new screw-in photographic filter.

The DIY construction is simple: two cardboard rings sandwich the film, then a short cardboard sleeve fits snugly over the lens hood, binocular objective or telescope tube. The result should be secure enough that it cannot fall off accidentally, but easy enough to remove deliberately. It’s a good idea to have some masking tape handy in your camera bag for added security, particularly if it’s windy and/or the sun is low on the horizon.

Whether your solar filter is pre-made or homemade, it’s important to inspect it before use, especially when using Baader AstroSolar Filter Film. Any holes, tears, or scratches are reasons to stop using the filter.

Should you buy Baader AstroSolar Filter Film?

Baader AstroSolar Filter Film OD 5.0 is neither the most robust nor the quickest solution for casual eclipse viewing. Its delicate construction demands careful handling, storage and inspection before every use. For some users, a ready-made polymer or glass filter will be less stressful.

However, for photographers and binocular users, it’s hard to beat. It is light, sharp, adaptable and available in various forms for different solar imaging needs. Its greatest strength is that it allows you to create exactly the filter you need, whether that’s for a 400mm camera lens, one side of a pair of binoculars, a compact travel telescope or any other equipment.

Treat it gently and mount it securely, and Baader AstroSolar Filter Film remains one of the most useful solar filter materials available.

The American Astronomical Society states, "ISO 12312-2 specifies the properties that a solar viewer should have in order to protect your eyes from injury and provide a comfortable view."

With the eclipse fast approaching, there is still time to pick up some last-minute solar viewing equipment, but some retailers are already selling out and won't be able to deliver before Wednesday, August 12.

Here are the best options you can still get hold of before the solar eclipse.

That will be especially true on Aug. 12, 2026. The total solar eclipse crossing Greenland, Iceland and Spain is the headline attraction that day — closely followed by a partial solar eclipse across Europe and in Canada and the U.S. Northeast — but it won't be the only celestial event worth seeing. Just hours later, the Perseid meteor shower reaches its peak beneath moonless skies. So any eclipse kit built for the Aug. 12 eclipse should therefore be designed with one eye on a night-shoot capturing "shooting stars."

Here's what to buy for your eclipse-meets-Perseids double-header, according to your budget.

Under $50: Keep it simple

If your budget is less than $50, the good news is that you're not excluded from the eclipse experience. In fact, you can assemble everything necessary for a memorable eclipse day without spending very much at all.

The first purchase should always be certified eclipse glasses. Find some safe suppliers that meet the ISO 12312-2 standard for solar viewers, and consider buying more than you need (somebody nearby will almost certainly forget theirs). A handheld solar viewer is a worthwhile alternative, offering a slightly larger and often more comfortable view than eclipse glasses alone.

With the remaining budget, I'd focus less on astronomy equipment and more on practicality. A compact power bank and a reclining lawn chair (handy for the eclipse and the Perseids) could all be within your budget. Eclipse day involves a great deal of waiting, but if you're standing in the path of totality — or primed to see a partial eclipse — eclipse glasses and a clear sky are all you really need to experience something extraordinary.

Under $200: The biggest upgrade you can make

Once your budget reaches around $200, I'd start thinking about binoculars. For many people, the single best upgrade is a pair of dedicated solar binoculars. You can get mini pairs, such as the Celestron EclipSmart 10x25 and Lunt 6x30 Mini Sunoculars, or more substantial pairs like the Celestron Eclipsmart 10x42 and Celestron EclipSmart 20x50. We've tried them all, and can tell you that the Lunt 8x32 SUNoculars are the best (and easiest to find the sun with, which beginners always find is surprisingly small in the sky).

Unlike eclipse glasses, which show the sun as a small orange or white disk, solar binoculars reveal sunspots and make the moon's gradual progress across the solar surface much more engaging. They offer far more detail without introducing the complexity of a telescope. These are the best upgrades you can make if you're not in the path of totality and want to maximize your view of the partial phases of the eclipse.

If you're in the path of totality awaiting a total solar eclipse, forgo the solar binoculars and get yourself a good pair of conventional binoculars. The reason is simple: the partial eclipse will be interesting to watch through your eclipse glasses, but it's the totally eclipsed sun — and the beautiful solar corona that's revealed when it gets dark — which is the star attraction. You can safely see it with the naked eye or through conventional binoculars (but ONLY when the entire disk of the sun is blocked during totality, which will be for a minute or two).

A good choice would be a pair of 10x42 or 10x50, not only because you'll get a great view of the solar corona and prominences — loops of plasma from the sun's surface — but because they'll double as excellent stargazing binoculars for sweeping across the Milky Way's rich star fields, bright clusters and countless stars when it gets dark. Using products like DayStar Filters and Baader AstroSolar Safety Film ND 5.0, you can make any pair of conventional binoculars into temporary solar binoculars (use a solar filter for one lens and cap the other).

Under $500: Enter the smart telescope

At around $500, a completely different category of equipment becomes available. If we were building an eclipse kit from scratch, this is probably the budget level that would tempt us most because it opens the door to smart telescopes. Devices such as the Seestar S30 and Seestar S30 Pro (as well as the upcoming Seestar S30 Pro Eclipse Edition), DwarfLab Dwarf Mini and Vaonis Vespera Pro are portable and can automatically track the sun. All either have solar filters in the box, or their makers sell them separately (or you can make your own — see above).

The appeal of a smart telescope is that it can track the sun and photograph the eclipse while demanding relatively little attention from the user. With a solar filter fitted, a smart telescope can safely image the partial phases. For those in the path of totality, the totally eclipsed sun can also be imaged — just remember to take the solar filter off, and put it back on again when totality ends. You can then switch to capturing deep-sky objects at night, something you can do without much fuss while you watch the Perseid meteor shower peak with your naked eyes (the only way).

Over $1,000: Getting a close-up

Once you move beyond the $1,000 mark, your options are myriad. Personally, we would go straight for some image-stabilized binoculars. Models such as the Canon 10x42L IS WP, Canon 15x50 IS All Weather or Canon 12x36 IS III are among the most impressive astronomical instruments available to eclipse chasers because they combine premium optics with stabilization technology that effectively removes hand shake.

When you're standing in the path of totality looking at the sun's corona in close-up, image stabilization is absolutely what you want. If you chase solar eclipses every few years, they're worth buying for the few minutes of totality you get to experience. For the partial phases, we use a homemade solar filter on one lens and cap the other lens. Alongside those binoculars, we'd be tempted by a smart telescope for getting basic, but impressive images.

If you like a challenge, you could, of course, go straight for manual photography. Get a mirrorless or DSLR camera and a zoom lens, and you can have a go at imaging the solar corona yourself. You could also consider pairing a camera with a telescope and a star (or solar) tracking mount that can automatically track the sun. You'll also need to add a quality tripod and solar filters. If you fancy imaging the Perseid meteor shower later that night — or for any landscape astrophotography and the Milky Way — you'll also need a wide-angle lens.

Research, rehearse, prepare

The danger at this budget level is believing that more equipment automatically produces a better experience. It doesn't. Every eclipse attracts photographers and observers carrying thousands of dollars' worth of gear, but many — typically first-timers — spend totality worrying about camera settings instead of looking at the sky.

Whatever gear you buy, the best investment is always time — time to research, rehearse and prepare, and also to arrive early enough to settle into your observing location. That applies to whatever kind of solar eclipse you're in line for.

Whether your budget is $50 or $5,000, the perfect eclipse kit is the one that allows you to experience a solar eclipse — and if that includes totality, know that it will be a priceless experience.

If you're planning to watch, one question matters more than almost any other: how are you going to observe it safely?

The answer depends on where you are, your budget and what kind of experience you're after. Some people want to simply look up and enjoy the spectacle. Others want to study sunspots, photograph the eclipse or capture loved ones gazing at the eclipsed sun. Many away from the path will stay at home and livestream it. There is no correct way to watch a solar eclipse, but it's important to stay safe. Here are eight ways to safely view the Aug. 12, 2026, solar eclipse.

1. Eclipse glasses for viewing from land

If you're planning to watch any part of the eclipse with your own eyes, eclipse glasses should be your first purchase. Certified eclipse glasses that comply with the ISO 12312-2 standard block more than 99.999% of sunlight, making it safe to look directly at the sun during the partial phases.

Without them, even a brief glance at the uneclipsed or partially eclipsed sun can cause permanent eye damage. Through them, the sun appears as either a bright orange or a whitish disk against a black background. As the moon gradually moves across it, the changing crescent shape becomes immediately obvious. During the final minutes before totality, the solar crescent shrinks to an impossibly thin sliver.

For observers in Britain, Europe and North America outside the path of totality, eclipse glasses are arguably all you need. The entire eclipse remains partial, so the glasses stay on from beginning to end. Even if you're traveling to Iceland, Greenland or Spain for totality, eclipse glasses remain essential throughout the partial phases before and after totality, when the sun is still dangerously bright.

However, you should buy them early. Before every major eclipse, supplies tighten and some retailers sell out entirely. For reputable sellers, check out the American Astronomical Society's list of safe products. Recommended manufacturers include American Paper Optics, Rainbow Symphony and Thousand Oaks in the U.S. and Baader in Europe.

2. Handheld solar viewers for cruise ships

Many eclipse chasers prefer handheld solar viewers to eclipse glasses. These use the same safe solar-filter material and are made by the same manufacturers, but provide a larger viewing window. They typically hang around your neck on a lanyard, which makes them essential if you want to observe an eclipse from a cruise ship — it stops them from blowing into the sea. The actual view is almost identical to what you'll see through eclipse glasses.

3. Totality with the naked eye

If you're fortunate enough to observe from within the path of totality, there is one viewing method that rules all others during totality only — the naked eye. Although you must never look at the sun without eclipse glasses during the partial phases, during totality it's not only perfectly safe, but also the only sane thing to do.

During totality, you MUST take your eclipse glasses off to see the solar corona — one of nature's most extraordinary sights. The naked eye will also help you find bright planets around the eclipsed sun and the horizon glowing with twilight colors in every direction. If this is your first total solar eclipse, make a promise to yourself beforehand: spend at least some of totality doing nothing except looking up.

4. Solar binoculars

If observing the eclipsed sun through eclipse glasses and solar viewers leaves you unimpressed, you can upgrade your experience by opting for dedicated solar binoculars, which have permanently attached solar filters. They offer a significant jump in detail over eclipse glasses without introducing the complexity of a telescope. Sunspots become obvious, and you can more easily see them get covered by the advancing edge of the moon.

All kinds of magnifications are offered, but 10x42 is about the limit. Any more and they not only become hard to hold steady, but the eclipse then gets more difficult to find in the sky.

Since you can't use them during totality, solar binoculars are best seen as a good upgrade for observers outside the path of totality.

5. Regular binoculars

Normal binoculars are arguably a better choice if you plan to be within the path of totality. This is what experienced eclipse watchers do, and with good reason — they simply add solar filters for the partial phases, then remove them during totality for a close-up of the solar corona.

For the partial phases, solar filters must completely cover the front objective lenses. Never place filters over the eyepieces and never rely on improvised materials such as sunglasses, smoked glass or photographic filters — you must use dedicated solar eclipse filters.

However, since objective lenses come in all shapes and sizes, it's often easier to make your own solar filters using Baader AstroSolar Film. Typically, users will make a solar filter for one lens and cap the other, removing both during totality.

Image-stabilized binoculars deserve special mention. Models from Canon and other manufacturers can provide remarkably steady views of the eclipse without requiring a tripod, making them particularly attractive for travel.

6. Telescopes

The same applies to telescopes as applies to binoculars — you can buy a solar telescope with a permanently attached solar filter, or (a more popular method) put a solar filter on any telescope. However, there is another unusual option here — a dedicated hydrogen-alpha solar telescope, which reveals an entirely different side of the sun.

Rather than showing the photosphere, they isolate light emitted by hydrogen atoms in the chromosphere and show prominences arching above the solar limb as well as dark filaments across the disk. The downside is that hydrogen-alpha instruments are among the most specialized and expensive telescopes in amateur astronomy.

7. Smart telescopes

Few areas of amateur astronomy have changed as rapidly as smart telescopes. Devices such as the Unistellar Odyssey Pro, ZWO Seestar S30, DwarfLab Dwarf Mini and Celestron Origin have introduced a new generation of observers to astronomy by automating much of the traditional setup and operation.

For eclipse observing, the appeal is obvious. Once fitted with a solar filter, these systems can automatically track the sun, display images on a smartphone or tablet and save photographs with minimal fuss.

For eclipse travelers heading to Iceland, Greenland or Spain, smart telescopes can also reduce some of the stress associated with eclipse photography. Many users plan to have the telescope automatically capture the eclipse during the partial phases, then simply enjoy totality with their own eyes. Just don't spend the entire eclipse staring at a smartphone!

8. Livestreams

What if you can't travel? Or if it's cloudy? The Aug. 12, 2026, eclipse will be streamed by observatories, astronomy organizations and media outlets around the world. A livestream can never replace standing beneath the moon's shadow, but it guarantees you'll see totality even if clouds intervene.

Confirmed live streams so far include the total solar eclipse by TimeAndDate and the European Space Agency, while partial solar eclipse images will come from the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, U.K. When cell signal allows, some eclipse observers keep a livestream running on a nearby phone while observing the real eclipse overhead, and/or livestream views from their own telescope on social media.

What's the best way to look at the eclipse?

The best viewing method for a solar eclipse depends entirely on what you want to get from it. Just remember that the purpose of the technology is to support the experience, not replace it — no instrument can replace the experience of seeing the solar corona with your own eyes if you're within the path of totality. Choose the viewing method that helps you do that — and spend as much time as possible simply looking up.

Hours later, the sky show continues with the peak of the Perseid meteor shower on the night of Aug. 12-13. The shower occurs when Earth passes through debris left behind by Comet 109P/Swift-Tuttle, producing bright meteors and occasional fireballs. In 2026, the timing could hardly be better. The same new moon that makes the solar eclipse possible will also create moonless skies for meteor-watching, with observers under dark skies potentially seeing 30 to 50 "shooting stars" per hour.

All of that happens after the eclipse. As a bonus, Venus will blaze low in the west during twilight, the Milky Way will stretch overhead after dark and, in Iceland, there is even a slim possibility of an early-season aurora display. Many visitors will spend 12 hours or more outdoors, arriving long before first contact and remaining under the stars until after midnight. Here’s what to consider buying for this very special day and night beneath the sky.

Some first-time eclipse chasers heading to the path of totality pack expensive gear they've never used before, hoping to capture expert-level images without any preparation. Others just take a smartphone. Guess who usually comes back with the best images? Practice and rehearsal — or simplicity — are key.

Remember, you should never look at the sun directly without specialist solar equipment (unless you are in totality), or you risk permanent damage to your sight.

Preparing for totality

Photographing a solar eclipse is unlike photographing anything else. Solar safety matters, exposure changes dramatically, and totality lasts only a few precious minutes. Despite that, memorable eclipse photographs can be taken with almost any camera. The best approach depends on your equipment, your experience and what kind of memory you want to bring home.

However, you don't need to stand in the path of totality to photograph some of the event. Across much of Europe, a deep partial eclipse will occur near sunset, with more than 90% of the sun obscured in many locations. In northeastern North America, observers will see a smaller partial eclipse during the afternoon. While neither experience matches the drama of totality, both offer opportunities for striking photography.

1. Take a souvenir shot through eclipse glasses

To watch any partial solar eclipse, you'll need a pair of eclipse glasses or solar viewers; the former you wear and the latter you look through. Either works well as a solar filter for a smartphone. Simply wrap some eclipse glasses around your phone's camera lens or hold a solar viewer in front, and you can take basic images of a partial eclipse.

The way to get more than just a rough souvenir shot is to put your smartphone on a tripod or purchase a Solar Snap, which not only provides a solar filter that attaches to your phone with Velcro but also includes an app that zooms in on the eclipse.

If you want pinpoint sharpness without having to spend too much or travel with much gear, get yourself a smart telescope like the ZWO SeeStar S30 Pro, DwarfLab Dwarf Mini or Vanois Vespera Pro.

2. Use a smartphone during totality

If you're traveling to Greenland, Iceland or Spain to see the total solar eclipse, take a simple smartphone photograph during totality. A smartphone cannot compete with a camera's zoom lens for close-up detail, but it's perfect for recording a wide view of the landscape you're in.

In Greenland and Iceland, the eclipsed sun will hang about 25 degrees above the western horizon, making it possible to include fjords, volcanic landscapes or distant mountains in the frame. In Spain, where totality occurs late in the day, the low altitude of the sun offers opportunities to photograph the eclipse above villages, church towers, castles and mountain ridges.

Before the eclipse, switch off auto-flash and enable RAW images if your phone offers them. Burst mode works well — as does filming the event in 4K from a tripod and extracting stills later.

3. Take a wide-angle shot during totality

Many photographers using a manual mirrorless or DSLR camera become obsessed with the corona and forget that the eclipse affects the entire environment. The resulting images often feel disconnected from the actual experience. A well-composed landscape photograph can communicate the atmosphere of totality far more effectively.

The image above was shot by expert eclipse photographer Alan Dyer, author of How to Capture the Coming Solar Eclipses, in Teton Valley, Wyoming, during the Aug. 21, 2017, total solar eclipse. It was shot with a Canon 6D and a 14mm SP Rokinon lens at f/25 for 1/10 second at ISO 100. It's one shot from a 700-frame time-lapse and was taken just as totality began, moments after the diamond ring ended, and the dark shadow of the moon is approaching from the west.

4. Capture crescent suns

When a partial solar eclipse reaches about 50% — something it will only do in extreme northeast Canada and Europe on Aug. 12, 2026 — it's possible to project crescent suns through anything with defined holes. It works really well through a colander or spaghetti spoon.

By projecting crescent suns onto the floor, the walls and people around you, unique portrait images of eclipse chasers can be created. Unlike photographs of the corona, which thousands of people will capture, photographs like this, which document the human experience of an eclipse, can be really special.

• Read: Astrotourism, dark-sky and Northern Lights travel essentials

5. Take a close-up of the solar corona

This is the classic eclipse photography setup and the one most commonly used by experienced eclipse chasers — though it demands some serious equipment, commitment and practice.

A camera fitted with a telephoto lens between 200mm and 600mm provides enough magnification to reveal detail in the corona while remaining portable enough for travel. At 400mm, the eclipsed sun fills a useful portion of the frame. At 600mm, the corona becomes significantly more prominent and fine detail begins to emerge. Lenses like the Canon RF 200-800mm f/6.3-9 IS USM, Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS and SIGMA 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG DN OS Sport would be good options.

Focus carefully on the partially eclipsed sun through a solar filter, and leave the focus untouched thereafter. With a camera set to ISO 100 and f/5-f/8 aperture, exposure bracketing is essential because the corona spans an enormous range of brightness. Automated exposure sequences, or bracketing, allow photographers to capture multiple exposure levels to combine later, if desired.

It's always best to rehearse in advance; the excitement of totality very often leads to basic errors — the classic being leaving the solar filter on during totality.

6. Shoot a close-up sequence of the eclipse

If you want to shoot a sequence throughout the entire solar eclipse that shows all of the various stages, you need to be in position, ready to take images as soon as first contact occurs, and stay there until fourth contact.

Since the size of the sun won't be huge in your finished image, you don't need a huge telephoto lens. Instead, concentrate on imaging the partial eclipse at very specific times before and after totality, so that you can produce a mirror image on either side of an image of the solar corona.

7. Shoot a wide-angle sequence of the eclipse

A wide-angle eclipse sequence is a different kind of image, showing not just the changing shape of the sun, but the landscape. Start with a base exposure taken during totality, when the eclipsed sun sits in a darkened twilight sky, then layer in the partial phases at regular intervals from first contact to fourth contact.

The result can show the sun's path across the sky, the moon appearing to bite across it in the opposite direction, and even bright planets nearby. It's a powerful way to tell the whole story of an eclipse in one frame, especially if you include water, mountains, people or a dramatic horizon.

Dyer's image above is a single exposure taken with a Canon EOS Ra and a Canon RF15-35mm lens at ISO 125, f/2.8 and 1/6s. The partial phases were photographed every five minutes from start to finish of the eclipse.

• Read: Best lenses for astrophotography 2026

Of course, at an eye-watering $10,500, it's not for everyone. It's not even for "many people"; it's for a select few who either have serious money lying around or make serious money from photography, where a lens of this caliber would be a sensible investment. Still, we took it for a test drive to see just how much better the performance is compared to the more reasonably priced wildlife zoom lenses.

Canon RF 100-300mm f/2.8L IS USM: Design

• Weight is surprisingly manageable
• Internal zoom
• Solid and sturdy build quality

Although its weight is comparable to that of the much cheaper SIGMA 60-600mm Sport lens we tested recently, this lens from Canon is actually the lightest f/2.8 300mm lens on the market. And because the zoom is internal, the weight distribution feels much more manageable in the smaller package than it does on a lens that extends. (But that’s not to say our arms weren’t aching the following day).

It's also dust- and weather-resistant, which we’d expect on a lens that's this expensive. It's solid and sturdy with a plethora of lens coatings to eliminate glare and ghosting, and it feels every bit the professional-grade Canon L lens you would want.

It comes with plenty of buttons and switches on the barrel, including the standard AF/MF switch, focus limiter and IS on/off. It has another switch to choose between three stabilization modes (mode 1 for static subjects, mode 2 for panning and mode 3 for tracking erratic moving subjects).

The final switch is a focus preset button, which enables you to pre-focus on a certain spot where you expect the action to be, then switch back and forth as you're shooting. Alternatively, you can set this switch to L-Fn to utilize it as a programmable function button instead.

This lens isn't expensive because it introduces any revolutionary build features. It's expensive because Canon has combined every premium design element — internal zoom, magnesium construction, professional weather sealing, compact packaging and meticulous engineering into a lens that is designed to meet the needs of professional photographers.

Canon RF 100-300mm f/2.8L IS USM: Performance

• Outstanding image quality
• Basically no image defects
• Beautiful bokeh

Image quality is, unsurprisingly, absolutely beautiful. The shots we took are razor-sharp and clean with basically no defects whatsoever. There's a tiny bit of distortion, which is easily corrected in Lightroom (and wouldn't be detectable unless you were directly comparing the before/afters), but the images have no chromatic aberration or vignetting at all.

This lens shows every strand of fur or feather and effortlessly captures the moment perfectly every time. The bokeh is soft and creamy thanks to the constant f/2.8 aperture, which beautifully isolates the subject and blurs out distracting background elements.

We took images at f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8 and f/11 at 100mm, 200mm and 300mm to see how the lens performs across a variety of settings. Looking at the center portion of our test chart shots, the sharpest images are f/5.6 at 100mm, f/2.8 at 200mm and f/2.8 at 300mm. At 100mm, our f/2.8, f/4 and f/5.6 shots were all of similar quality in terms of central sharpness, but f/5.6 has the edge when it comes to contrast.

Those same three apertures were also very similar at 200mm, but in this instance, f/2.8 has the edge. At 300mm, there was a significant drop in contrast between f/2.8 and f/4, but both images were of similar sharpness. Unsurprisingly, the corners were sharpest towards the f/8 range, but wildlife photography rarely ever calls for sharpness across the entire frame, so the softer corners at f/2.8 - f/5.6 aren't a dealbreaker.

Canon RF 100-300mm f/2.8L IS USM: Functionality

• Constant f/2.8 aperture throughout the whole zoom range
• 5.5 stops of image stabilization
• Versatile focal length and teleconverter compatibility

A big selling point with this type of lens is the constant f/2.8 aperture throughout the entire focal range — and this is a common feature with many lenses at this price range. The wide aperture allows for faster shutter speeds, which is ideal for capturing sharp images of fast-moving wildlife or sports photography, and the wide aperture also increases light intake in low-light situations, like photographing animals at dawn or dusk or indoor sports.

Although the 100-300mm focal length wouldn't be the best choice for photographing small birds or distant subjects, it provides a good focal range to cover many other types of wildlife, like equine or safari photography, as well as a variety of indoor sports. While it's not the biggest zoom range on offer, it eliminates the need to switch between lenses while on a shoot.

This, in turn, means faster reactions to changing scenes, less chance of missing shots when the subject moves unexpectedly and better protection from dust and rain due to less swapping. Plus, when paired with the Canon 1.4x teleconverter, this lens becomes a 140-420mm f/4, and a 200-600mm f/5.6 with the 2x extender, opening up the possibilities even further.

With the lens's 5.5 stops of image stabilization (which increases to 6 stops when paired with EOS R cameras with IBIS), this lens has no trouble following fast-moving subjects smoothly and efficiently — which is useful for both image quality and viewfinder steadiness.

Should you buy the Canon RF 100-300mm f/2.8L IS USM?

It feels counterintuitive to give this lens 5 stars but say "no, don't buy it," and it's not that we're saying "don't buy it," but as good as this lens is, it's quite niche, and we are finding it hard to justify the price compared to other setups from Canon.

Currently, this lens is the only way to get 300mm at f/2.8 (unless you get a used EF 300mm f/2.8L IS II USM and an EF-EOS R adapter), so unless you really need to shoot between 200-300mm at f/2.8 and have the money to do so, there are more sensible options that either save money or give you more value.

For example, you could buy an R1 and a used EF 300mm f/2.8L lens with an adapter for around the same price as this 100-300mm lens. And if you find good deals, you could even add the Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM to that lineup with a teleconverter. The only advantage the 100-300mm would then have is that you wouldn't need to change lenses — but is that worth such a steep price?

If this lens isn't for you

We primarily tested it for wildlife photography with Canon's 100-300mm f/2.8L IS USM lens, but the R6 III is such an impressive all-rounder, it can easily turn its hand to astrophotography, sports or event photography, too.

Canon EOS R6 III: Design

• Comfortable grip to accommodate larger lenses
• Identical layout to previous model
• One SD card slot, one CFexpress card slot

Existing Canon users will feel right at home with the Canon EOS R6 III, as the build and button layout are nearly identical to the R6 II, and similar to many other R-series bodies. We tested the R6 III with the Canon RF 100-300mm f/2.8L IS USM lens and found it comfortable to get a good grip on, and it feels satisfying in the hand, especially when paired with bigger lenses.

The LCD screen and viewfinder are exactly the same as the Mark II, but there are a couple of small differences elsewhere in the design. The R6 III now has a CFexpress Type B card slot as well as an SD card slot, allowing for faster workflows and data transfer. However, considering this camera sits in the more intermediate level, we have to question whether two SD slots would be more useful for the majority of users, especially because CFexpress cards are more expensive. Plus, we used fast SD cards during our tests and encountered no problems at all with the write speed or buffer.

Canon EOS R6 III: Performance

• An absolute joy for wildlife photography
• 32.5MP sensor is a very welcome improvement over the Mark II
• Autofocus and subject detection are accurate and sticky

The Canon EOS R6 III features more advanced AI-powered autofocus, which enables it to track people, animals and vehicles more easily compared with the Mark II. When we were photographing animals at a zoo, the autofocus was generally very good, although there were a few occasions when the camera got confused. The focus jumped between the giraffe’s eyes, nostrils and ossicones, and the camera couldn’t quite figure out what to focus on, even when the animal was facing towards the camera with the eyes in view. There were also a few unfortunate occasions when the camera would find and track an "eye" on the — how do we put this — wrong end of the animal. Generally, though, it was fast and accurate.

In our review of the previous model, the Canon EOS R6 II, we said, "Considering it's the next step up from the Canon EOS R8, we'd hoped for a bump in resolution. Matching the 32.5MP resolution of the crop-sensor Canon R7 would have given the R6 II an even sweeter spot between the R8 and the 45MP powerhouse Canon EOS R5 II." It seems Canon was listening, as the 32.5MP sensor in the Canon EOS R6 III sits perfectly between the beginner and professional lineups. The images are clean, detailed and not too noisy, making this camera a compelling choice for photographic styles that require excellent resolution without excessive noise.

Canon EOS R6 III: Functionality

• Canon claims battery life allows for around 620 shots (CIPA) — we took around 6,000
• Blackout-free burst shooting up to 40FPS
• Pre-continuous shooting

For wildlife photography, blackout-free shooting enables you to follow the subject a lot easier as it's moving, to ensure you can keep the subject centered and maintain your composition. What's more, with the R6 III, you can shoot up to a massive 40 frames per second (FPS) blackout-free, which is perfect for fast-moving wildlife. (Keep in mind, this means you need to hone your timing to avoid the "spray and pray" method and end up with tons of photos of the exact same moment). This is one feature of a wildlife camera that makes a big difference.

The R6 III also features pre-continuous shooting, where it'll record up to 20 frames (approx 0.5 seconds) before the shutter is fully pressed — another useful feature for wildlife and sports photographers who need to capture fleeting moments.

The Mark III uses the upgraded LP-E6P battery, shared with the R5 II, which offers significantly more shots per charge than the LP-E6NH in the R6 II. That said, it means that if you're upgrading from a different Canon model, your current spare batteries won't work in the R6 III, so you'll need to invest in a few spares. However, we managed to get more than 6,000 photos without having to swap out the battery, so you won't need to worry about the battery running out unless you're shooting all day for multiple days.

Should you buy the Canon EOS R6 III?

We can confidently say: yes, you should buy it. It seems to tick all the boxes for a lot of shooting scenarios, whether it's your main wildlife camera or a backup body for weddings. The 32.5MP sensor produces beautiful images with minimal noise and accurate color reproduction; it's lightning fast with a 40FPS burst speed and can capture up to 7K 60p video. However, if you're looking for a more serious pro-level camera, perhaps opt for the R1 or R3 instead.

If this camera isn't for you

For new astronomers, keen youngsters and anyone on a budget, Celestron has some really great small telescopes that fit the bill perfectly. In this review, we’ll be looking at the Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 70AZ — the smallest scope in the StarSense range.

It’s easy to set up, lightweight and portable, and we were impressed with the optics for such a small and affordable telescope. Its main party trick is the StarSense app integration, which is perfect for anyone who doesn’t have any prior knowledge of the night sky. The 70AZ is great for the moon, some planets and brighter targets, but needless to say, you’ll be needing one of the very best telescopes if you want to do any deep-sky viewing. Still, it makes a wonderful telescope for kids or anyone new to the hobby.

Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 70AZ: Design

• Easy to set up
• Good quality build
• Comes with two eyepieces and a Barlow lens

The Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 70AZ is the smallest telescope in the StarSense Explorer range, with a compact, lightweight construction that still feels like you’re peering through something substantial. The optical tube itself, alongside the tripod, accessory tray and accessories, are all excellent quality for an entry-level scope — especially compared to equivalent scopes in the PowerSeeker and AstroMaster ranges that we were testing alongside it. However, that’s not to say you won’t want to upgrade them in time.

The setup process is easy for new users to understand, especially with the printed instructions included in the package, and we were able to get it set up and start observing in no time. The aluminum tripod can extend up to 52 inches (including the mount), which we felt was a good height for most users, but we found it a little annoying that the eyepieces wouldn’t fit in the holes in the accessory tray while still in their protective cases. It’s a small detail, but we’d have liked to keep the eyepieces protected while we were using the scope.

It comes with a red-dot finderscope, an erect image diagonal, two eyepieces (10 mm and 25 mm) and a 2x Barlow lens, alongside the StarSense smartphone dock. To get the best views, we ended up using upgraded eyepieces from the Celestron eyepiece and filter kit, so if you want a simple and affordable way to improve the quality of the views, we’d recommend investing in some better eyepieces.

Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 70AZ: Performance

• Beautiful lunar views
• We spotted the bands on Jupiter and its moons
• Limited for deep-sky viewing

This isn’t a "see everything" telescope; it’s a "see the highlights clearly" telescope. By far the best thing to look at is the moon, particularly with the 10 mm eyepiece and 2x Barlow lens. We were easily able to observe the craters and shadows on the lunar surface, and we thoroughly enjoyed our sessions gazing at the moon.

We were also able to distinguish the bands on Jupiter — although they were quite faint — and we could easily spot three of the four Galilean moons (the fourth was hiding behind the gas giant). Saturn was too low in the sky for us to see before dark, but this telescope should be perfectly capable of showing its rings.

The Pleiades were stunning, as expected, and we were able to make out the Orion Nebula and Andromeda Galaxy — but realistically, at this aperture, you’re unlikely to see much further afield.

It covers a good magnification range for a beginner scope, with the 20 mm eyepiece giving you 28x power, upgradable to 70x with the 10 mm eyepiece — and even more with the Barlow, which takes you closer to the highest useful magnification of 165x power.

The manual tracking means objects drift out of view quickly, especially when using a high-power eyepiece. While the manual alt-azimuth mount is advantageous for its quick set-up and user-friendliness, this is where you see its drawbacks. We did notice some drooping, particularly when we were viewing Jupiter at a very high altitude, and there was some wobbling when focusing, but once it settled, the views were sharp and clear.

Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 70AZ: Functionality

• StarSense app guides you to specific objects
• No prior knowledge of the night sky needed
• Easy focusing of objects

The biggest selling point of the StarSense Explorer range is the StarSense app functionality. Once connected, you pick an object from "Tonight’s Best Objects," and you’ll see arrows on the screen guiding you to where the object is located.

This is an attractive feature for beginners and kids, as it takes away half the battle of knowing where certain objects are in the sky. We found it to be mostly accurate — it’s not perfect by any means, but it got us in the right area and we were easily able to locate the object from there. Once we located our subject with the 20 mm eyepiece, focusing was smooth and easy for us to then switch to the 10 mm for a closer look.

The app requires the latest version of iOS in order to download, so make sure you download it before you head out to use it (we found this out the hard way). It's also compatible with Android users. The app tells you which objects are best to view depending on your location, and it shows whether they are city-viewable, and the rising and setting times for each object. Further down, it shows "challenge" objects that you might see under dark sky conditions, which is a nice touch if you live close to a dark sky reserve (though it doesn’t say what Bortle class you’d need to be in).

There’s also a search function, where objects are separated into different categories depending on what type of object you want to view (planets, brightest stars, Messier objects and more). And the good thing is that you don’t have to use the app if you don’t want to — unlike more expensive smart telescopes.

The app tells you which objects are best to view depending on your location, and it shows whether they are city-viewable, and the rising and setting times for each object. Further down, it shows "challenge" objects that you might see under dark sky conditions, which is a nice touch if you live close to a dark sky reserve (though it doesn’t say what Bortle class you’d need to be in).

There’s also a search function, where objects are separated into different categories depending on what type of object you want to view (planets, brightest stars, Messier objects and more). And the good thing is that you don’t have to use the app if you don’t want to — unlike more expensive smart telescopes.

Should you buy the Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 70AZ?

Overall, it’s a very user-friendly scope for beginners to sink their teeth into, and it doesn’t feel like the kind of telescope you’d only use a few times and then get bored with. We found it easy to locate objects and obtain a good focus, the views were impressive, and the whole experience felt very intuitive — which is exactly what you want from a beginner telescope.

It’s compact and lightweight, although you could still go a step further with this class of telescope. It’s at the top end of Celestron’s beginner range, being by far the best entry-level model of the three we tried. But if you are looking for a step-up from your existing telescope, we’d recommend going for one of the larger aperture models in the range for brighter views and to potentially see more deep-sky objects. Its limited deep-sky viewing isn’t a flaw, just a limitation of a telescope of this aperture. But for the price, you absolutely cannot go wrong with the Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 70AZ.

If the Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 70AZ isn't right for you

The Celestron NexStar 8SE missed out on the flawless review mostly for its price, which at full MSRP made it a significant investment. However, Jase still highlighted its value for money versus performance, which now that Amazon has knocked $200 off the retail price is even better, taking it down to just $1,499.99.

While there's still a lot of numbers on that price tag, even at this price Jase reckons it's still an ideal option for a beginner telescope. Intermediate or advanced astronomers can also benefit from upgrading to the NexStar 8SE, with its motorized function and scalability being attractive features, making it ideal as a deep space telescope or for viewing planets.

Amazon Prime Day lands later this month, but as this is the lowest price for the NexStar 8SE we've seen this year, you're unlikely to see a better telescope deal than this. You'll have to be quick though — the listing says it's marked as limited stock, and at this price it could sell out fast.

However, Walmart is price-matching the Amazon deal along with Adorama, should you wish to purchase away from Amazon.

The Celestron NexStar 8SE is a Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope design, which is renowned for impressive optical quality, and the NexStar 8SE certainly delivers here. Jase was blown away by the stunning clarity thanks to its 8-inch aperture up front, which simply drinks in light and makes it incredibly easy to see detail in the night sky.

Jase also highlighted the smoothness of the motor, and with the help of the Celestron SkyAlign app, you can align the scope using three bright stars and enjoy automated viewing almost instantly in your stargazing journey.

Although for a beginner the Celestron is a considerable outlay, Jase also noted the build quality and performance make it a telescope that will last for decades, and potentially the only telescope you'll ever need.

There are cheaper and smaller aperture versions available in the Celestron range, including the Celestron NexStar 4SE. That's our top choice as the best small telescope, and is currently discounted on Amazon by 13% to $649.99. Of course, the smaller you go, the less light captured, thus making your views less awe-inspiring with a drop in aperture.

Key features: 8-inch (203.2mm) aperture, 80-inch (2032mm) focal length, f/10 focal ratio, 180x highest useful magnification, 32 lbs (14.48 kg) weight, two-year warranty.

Launched: June 2005

Price history: The best price we've seen on the Celestron NexStar 8 SE telescope was $1,299 during the Black Friday sales of 2024. The MSRP is $1,699, which makes the current on-sale price of $1,499 a significant saving on what is a seldom-discounted model.

Price comparison: Amazon: $1,499 | Adorama: $1,499 | Walmart: $1,499

Reviews consensus: There is no doubt that the Celestron NexStar 8 SE is a fantastic telescope: It pairs Celestron’s legendary orange tube with a fully computerized GoTo system — ideal for those ready to step up from manual scopes and explore more of the night sky with precision and ease.

Live Science: ★★★★½ | Space: ★★★★½

Featured in guides: Best telescopes

✅ Buy it if: You want to view deep space objects and planets, whether you're a beginner or advanced sky watcher. The automated motorized function means this telescope can be used by anyone with any level of experience and knowledge.

❌ Don't buy it if: You are seeking a more budget-friendly option. One of our recommended best budget telescopes might be more suitable, or even one of the best telescopes for beginners.

Check out our guides to the best telescopes, telescopes for kids, binoculars, cameras, star projectors, and much more.

It’s a compelling option for wildlife photography beginners looking to invest in their first big lens, so we put it through its paces to test its sharpness, handling and overall performance out in the field, to see whether it earns a spot among the best lenses for wildlife photography.

SIGMA 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG DN OS Sport review

SIGMA 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG DN OS Sport: Design

• Slightly lighter than the Sony equivalent
• Two custom buttons
• External zoom adds 100 mm to physical length

Getting the obvious out of the way — this is a big lens. It’s long and it’s heavy, but that’s par for the course with this type of super-telephoto lens. What is noteworthy, however, is that it’s actually a few grams lighter than the closest native Sony equivalent.

The SIGMA lens weighs 2,100 grams (approx 74.07 ounces) compared to the 2,115 g (74.60-ounce) Sony. Realistically, 15 g makes basically no difference at all in practice, but third-party lenses are typically substantially heavier (one of the trade-offs of being cheaper), so the similar weight is a point in the SIGMA’s favor.

It features many of the same buttons and design elements as the native Sony — an AF/MF switch, focus limiter, image stabilization switch with two modes and a custom stabilization switch, also with two modes. There are two custom buttons — one on the top and one on the side of the lens barrel (just one shy of Sony’s three) — and a zoom lock switch with options to lock the zoom completely, or set it to a Smooth (S) or Tight (T) level of friction.

One fairly big difference compared to the Sony lens is that the zoom on the SIGMA lens isn’t internal. Even though the SIGMA is fully weather-sealed, it still leaves room for dust or moisture to get inside the lens, not to mention the zoom adds another 100 mm onto the length of an already long lens.

SIGMA 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG DN OS Sport: Performance

• Sharpest wide open (f/5) at 150mm, f/8 at 300mm and f/8 at 600mm
• Struggles with small subjects at 600mm
• Some colour fringing around tree branches

As we directly compared this lens with the Sony, we could easily see the performance drawbacks associated with the cheaper Sigma model. The overall image quality is great, although we found the images weren’t as sharp when we had to crop in on a small bird, even with a 61 MP camera that allowed for a harsh crop. We still got some great images with beautiful sharpness and detail, but our keep rate was a lot lower than when we were testing the Sony. When the subject fills the frame at 600mm, however, the image is a lot sharper.

There was some chromatic aberration around tree branches, and subjects that were photographed against a bright sky, which isn’t wholly surprising with a lens at this price point — but it’s worth noting that we didn’t see any of this with the native Sony lens. Still, the colors are vibrant and true to life, with only minor vignetting and distortion that can easily be corrected by enabling the lens profile corrections in Lightroom.

Looking at the test chart images, the sweet spot is around f/8 at 300mm and 600mm, whereas at 150mm, the sharpness and contrast look best when shooting wide open at f/5.6. Interestingly, the lens seems to perform best overall at f/8 at 300mm, and the sharpness and contrast drop significantly compared to the 600mm f/8 shot. In the test chart shots for the Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens, we found it to be sharpest at 600mm. We still took some lovely images with this SIGMA lens at 600mm, but it’s worth knowing if you plan on spending most of your time at full zoom.

SIGMA 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG DN OS Sport: Functionality

• Compatible with Sony E mount and Leica L mount
• Lock switch stops lens creep
• Not a low-light lens

As far as compatibility goes, this lens is somewhat limited. It’s only compatible with Sony E and Leica L mounts, which could be frustrating for Canon or Nikon shooters who might want to save money with a third-party lens. Still, we thought it fit well on our Sony camera, and although a lens of this size is naturally going to feel big, the weight distribution was well-balanced. It suffers from strong "lens creep" if you’re holding the lens vertically, but there’s a lock button to prevent it when you aren’t using the lens.

The f/5-6.3 aperture is actually not bad at all for a lens of this focal length at this price point, but it’s not going to be particularly strong at shooting at dawn or dusk, especially as you’ll likely be spending most of your time at the long end with an f/6.3 aperture. Plus, it’s unrealistic to expect a telephoto lens of this price to have a particularly fast aperture.

Should you buy the SIGMA 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG DN OS Sport?

This lens is certainly good enough as a "first" dedicated super-telephoto lens for wildlife photography. The image quality is sharp, full of contrast and saturated colors, and it’s a great way to save a few hundred dollars if you don’t mind not having a native lens and don’t need to shoot at super-fast speeds.

If, however, you’re at the stage where you want to go pro, you’re going to need a lens with a faster aperture and better image quality than this lens affords. This is where you’re going to need to invest some serious money into a super-telephoto prime lens to take your wildlife images to the next level.

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On paper, that kind of flexibility makes it sound like a serious contender among the very best zoom lenses for wildlife photography, particularly for photographers who don’t want to carry multiple lenses out on shoots. But it has one major caveat: it’s insanely heavy.

We took it to a nature reserve to put it through its paces and test its performance in real-world conditions, and see for ourselves how that hefty weight feels in practice.

SIGMA 60-600mm f/4.5-6.3 DG DN OS Sport review

SIGMA 60-600mm f/4.5-6.3 DG DN OS Sport: Design

• Uncomfortably heavy
• Solid build quality
• Feels very sturdy

The Sigma 60-600mm f/4.5-6.3 DG DN OS Sport lens feels exactly like what you’d expect from Sigma’s sport series — big, solid and built like it could survive a few knocks. It’s definitely not a small or lightweight lens, though, and we found ourselves struggling to hold it for long during wildlife sessions, to the point where the 5.5-pound (2.4-kilogram) weight tipped it into "too heavy" territory and it became somewhat of a chore to shoot for long. The weight is especially cumbersome when tracking birds in flight, but the silver lining of the extra heft is that it feels incredibly sturdy as a result.

The zoom ring is smooth. We did notice a tiny bit of lens creep every now and then, but this was nowhere near as severe as it was when we tested the Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG DN OS lens. There’s no shortage of physical controls, either. There’s an AF switch, stabilization controls and customizable buttons all around the barrel. The removable tripod foot is solid, too, and balances the lens nicely on a tripod.

SIGMA 60-600mm f/4.5-6.3 DG DN OS Sport: Performance

• Lovely image quality
• Good autofocus in reliable light
• Image stabilization helps when shooting handheld

Performance is impressively strong considering the massive zoom range this lens covers. The sharpness is excellent through most of the range, especially through the shorter and mid-range focal lengths, with plenty of detail and contrast straight out of the camera.

The autofocus performance was also better than we expected for such a large telephoto zoom. Paired with Sony’s autofocus and subject detection, the lens tracked birds and wildlife reliably in good light, and the focus was fast and sticky. The image stabilization is a huge help when shooting handheld, and we were able to get sharp shots even at 600mm.

We photographed some test charts to analyze the image quality, and shooting wide at 60mm gave the best result at the wider apertures. Going all the way up to f/11, the image becomes very soft in the center. Zooming in to 200mm improves things, where the image is sharpest with the best contrast at f/5.6. At 400mm, f/5.6 and f/8 are very similar, with f/5.6 having the edge slightly, whereas at full zoom at 600mm, f/8 produced the sharpest images — although the 600mm images were the softest overall.

However, it’s worth noting that although we made these assessments while pixel-peeping at the test chart images, the real-world images we took at a nature reserve were mostly all taken at 600mm, and the image quality is still beautiful, even after cropping.

SIGMA 60-600mm f/4.5-6.3 DG DN OS Sport: Functionality

• Very versatile focal length
• Good close focusing distance
• Overkill if you won’t use the wider focal lengths

In use, this lens’ biggest strength is its versatility. Having everything from 60mm all the way up to 600mm in a single lens makes it much easier to react quickly when subjects move. For wildlife photography especially, we found it useful when birds flew towards us, since we could zoom out instantly rather than miss the shot entirely.

That said, the huge zoom range can feel a little excessive, but this will depend on what style of photography you do. We found ourselves staying closer to the longer focal lengths for wildlife work, which is fine if you’re a dedicated wildlife shooter, but it does beg the question of whether a smaller, lighter telephoto zoom lens would be a more practical option for some photographers, particularly for those who stay at the wider end.

We also liked how close the lens can focus, particularly on the wide end. It’s not a macro lens, but being able to shoot closer to the subject without changing lenses adds even more flexibility when shooting outdoors.

Should you buy the SIGMA 60-600mm f/4.5-6.3 DG DN OS Sport?

The big questions you need to ask yourself here are: "Are you fine with a heavier lens?", "Are you bothered about having a shorter close focusing distance?" and "Do you shoot wide?". If you answered yes, then it makes sense to get this lens.

If, however, you want a slightly lighter lens and you don’t need the wider focal lengths, we’d suggest going for the native Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS lens instead. For us, the weight of the Sigma felt significantly heavier than the Sony, to the point where it would make us think twice about investing in it, particularly as the Sigma is the more expensive option.

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The Celestron NexStar 6SE is the middle child of the NexStar SE Schmidt-Cassegrain series, positioned between the 5- and 8-inch models, with a 4-inch Maksutov-Cassegrain also in the family. Its 6-inch aperture is big enough to provide meaningful, sharp views of both deep-sky and solar system objects while not being too large or expensive. Its portability and small size make it a fantastic beginner telescope if you have a healthy budget, but the larger 8SE still tops our list of the very best telescopes.

Celestron NexStar 6SE: Design

• 6-inch f/10 Schmidt-Cassegrain optics, can be used at f/2 for imaging with Hyperstar or for visual/imaging with f/6.3 reducer (sold separately)
• GoTo mount with NexStar+ controller — cannot be aimed manually
• One eyepiece included (25mm yielding approximately 60x magnification)

The NexStar 6SE has been around since 2008, and it hasn’t changed much in that time apart from some minor software upgrades. The Celestron C6 XLT optical tube is sold by Celestron in other configurations such as the NexStar Evolution, and is a 6-inch f/10 Schmidt-Cassegrain design. It can also be used at f/2 with a Starizona HyperStar reducer for imaging, or Celestron’s f/6.3 reducer, either of which is necessary for quality deep-sky imaging with the C6. The C6 is primarily designed for planetary viewing/imaging on account of its long focal length, but can be used for deep-sky work as well.

The 6SE has collimation adjustments at the front. Users probably do not need to adjust these, ever. The author has owned hundreds of Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes, and they usually arrive collimated from the manufacturer and stay that way. Swapping the collimation screws for thumb screws just leads to frequent misalignment that would otherwise not occur.

The 6SE’s mount is a simple alt-azimuth GoTo mount. It uses the position of two or three alignment stars to calculate where it is in the sky, and once aligned it can automatically point at over 40,000 objects in its internal database. Unfortunately, the technology in it is rather outdated. It cannot be aimed by hand at all, and attempting to do so will ruin the motorized pointing and tracking accuracy. You can replace the hand controller with Celestron’s SkyPortal WiFi adapter, however, and run it off an app like SkySafari, which is a little easier to learn to use. Regardless of which method you use to control it, it only takes around 5-10 minutes to set up and assemble the 6SE.

A 1.25-inch visual back and star diagonal are included with the NexStar 6SE. These are all you’ll need, as a 2-inch diagonal and eyepieces will vignette substantially and cause stability/balance issues with the mount. Celestron supplies a single 25mm E-Lux Plossl eyepiece yielding approximately 61x magnification and a true field of view of 0.9 degrees with this telescope. While it’s annoying to get only a single eyepiece with this telescope, there are endless third-party options to choose from to get the magnifications you want.

For a wider field of view, a 32mm Plossl or 0.63x reducer would come in handy. For higher power, we’d recommend a 9mm SVBONY "redline" (170x) or even a 6mm (254x) if you have fairly steady sky conditions.

Overall, the 6SE is quite sturdy and the whole telescope can easily be carried around in one trip. It breaks down small enough to fit in the author’s Mazda MX-5 Miata, and the tube is small enough to take on a plane as carry-on luggage.

Celestron NexStar 6SE: Performance

• Sharp planetary details
• Solid deep-sky views
• Good double-star splitting

The Celestron NexStar 6SE is typically optically superb, with quality units such as the review sample reaching ⅙ to ⅛ wave peak-to-valley accuracy at the wavefront (a typical standard commercial scope might be ¼ wave). This is critical when viewing the moon, planets and double stars up close. With only a 6-inch primary mirror, the common issues of image shift and mirror flop are of little concern with this telescope.

The NexStar 6SE delivers impressive performance for its size, excelling for both solar system and deep-sky observations. Within the solar system, it reveals Mercury and Venus phases, intricate lunar craters down to mile-sized features, Mars' ice caps and some dark markings when it’s close to Earth, Jupiter's cloud bands with the Great Red Spot and moon transits, Saturn's rings including the Cassini Division plus half a dozen moons, Uranus as a turquoise dot, and Neptune as a blue point with Triton perhaps faintly visible under dark skies.

Beyond the solar system, the 6SE handles open clusters like M35 and M11 well, though larger ones like the Pleiades are too big to fit in the field. Bright globulars such as M13 show partial resolution under decent skies, while emission nebulae like M42 and M8 are spectacular, especially under dark skies and/or with a filter. The brightest planetary nebulae display hints of color, and structures in bright galaxies (such as M82's dust lanes) begin to emerge under dark conditions — but for the best results, a larger telescope than the 6SE is necessary to reveal up-close details in these faint fuzzies.

The 6SE is also excellent for splitting double stars. The author was able to split Tau Coronae Borealis (2.2 arc seconds) easily with the 6SE and a 6mm eyepiece (254x).

Celestron NexStar 6SE: Functionality

• Quite a simple setup
• Two-Star Alignment mode is best
• Smooth focusing and quick acclimatisation

The NexStar 6SE is pretty simple to set up — just assemble the mount/tripod, take the caps off and power it on (either using AA batteries or a DC 12v extension cord). The controller then prompts the user to enter the time, date and location, and choose an alignment method. The recommended three-star alignment is unfortunately prone to errors, so it’s recommended you use the Auto Two-Star alignment mode instead.

Once aligned, the 6SE will automatically point at any object you choose in its catalog. Sometimes, accuracy can wane over the course of a night, but simply going to the main menu and selecting “sync” to add new alignment points usually fixes this. Focusing the 6SE is buttery smooth even at high magnifications, and the scope takes only a few minutes to cool down to chilly nighttime temperatures on account of its small size and the low-expansion glass used for the optics.

The author used the 6SE for imaging as well as visual observation by simply installing a camera at the back end where the diagonal inserts into the visual back. For planetary imaging, the author added a 2x Barlow lens.

Should you buy the Celestron NexStar 6SE?

This telescope offers a great entry into computerized astronomy with solid optics, portability and performance for visual observing of planets, the moon and brighter deep-sky objects. It's well-suited for those around a $1,000 budget who value automation over manual tracking, ranking highly among similar scopes. However, its mount's limitations for heavy accessories and lack of manual fallback make it less ideal for intensive use or imaging. Buy it if you prioritize ease and balance; skip if you are looking to do serious astrophotography or hunt down faint galaxies.

This is one of the best C6/SE units we’ve seen optically, with extremely sharp optics and very little image shift. Mechanically, the mount had an abnormal amount of backlash compared to previously tested units. This is seemingly a one-off issue, as other 6/8SE units tested previously by the author do not experience this issue.

Normally, one can take exposures as long as 10 seconds for deep-sky imaging with the 6SE, but this particular unit had a lot of backlash in the mount’s gears, so performance was somewhat restricted. The 6SE is best for planetary imaging, not deep-sky, unless you obtain a focal reducer and preferably a more sophisticated equatorial mount with better tracking.

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How we tested the Celestron NexStar 6SE

The author has owned, as of the time of writing, five Celestron NexStar 6SE units, along with eight NexStar 8SEs, which utilize the same mount/tripod. A new 6SE was sent by Celestron to the author in February 2026 and tested under a variety of sky conditions between Bortle 6 and Bortle 2, at elevations between 2,000 and 7,000 feet. The author is located in Tucson, Arizona. The sky around Tucson is very conducive to amateur astronomy, thanks to widespread adoption of dark sky ordinances, high altitude, and extremely steady/transparent desert skies.