Celestron FirstScope 76
A 76 mm mirror in a short tube on a small rocker box, light enough for a child to carry to the table. The Moon in detail, Saturn's ring, Jupiter's moons — and not much beyond them, because 76 mm is not much light.
€85seen 7 Oct 2026 at Astroshop
- 76 mmAperture
- f/3.9Focal ratio
- 1.9 kgTypical weight
- 13–152×Useful magnification
Should you buy it?
- Yes if what you mainly want is sharing it with children, taking it with me: that is what this family does best.
- No if your priority is the moon and the planets, nebulae, clusters and galaxies, by eye, serious deep-sky imaging, first astrophotography: other families do better for the same money.
Computed from its family's per-goal scores and its own numbers — not a rating, not one evening's opinion.
Where to buy
Also search at First Light Optics · Optique Unterlinden · Pierro Astro · Teleskop-Express (searches; neither price nor stock checked)
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What it shows, really
These circles are simulations, computed from the aperture, the magnification and the sky — indicative, not exact. A real night also depends on the turbulence, your eyes and your experience. Closer to the truth than the photo on the box; still not a promise.
Under a suburban sky (Bortle 6), through a common 25 mm eyepiece for wide targets and a 10 mm for planets. Every circle is the true field — nothing is enlarged.
Photo credits
These thumbnails are built from real photographs, scaled and darkened by the same arithmetic as the large view.
The numbers
| Aperture | 76 mm |
|---|---|
| Focal ratio | 300 mm · f/3.9 |
| Mount | Tabletop Dobsonian base |
| Typical weight | 1.9 kg |
| Eyepieces | 20 mm and 4 mm |
| Useful magnification | 13× to 152× at 76 mm |
| Practical ceiling | about 40× on 76 mm (an exit pupil of 1.9 mm)Experience, not arithmetic: where a named source reports this optic going soft, well below the usual rule of twice its aperture in millimetres. Telescopic Watch (Zane Landers) |
| Resolution (Dawes) | 1.5″ — the tightest double star this aperture can split |
| Faintest star, suburban sky | around magnitude 10.7 |
| Observed price | €85 seen 7 Oct 2026 at Astroshop |
Made for
- Sharing it with children
A child can carry it to the table and move it themselves; an adult focuses and finds the first targets. From experience, a child who stays interested outgrows it within a year or two.
- Taking it with me
Under 2 kg and rucksack-sized. The table it needs is the part that does not travel: a wall or a picnic table will do.
- The Sun
In white light: sunspots with their penumbra, faculae near the edge, and granulation on a steady morning. Dawes' limit on the Sun: 1.5″ (116 ÷ 76 mm, arithmetic). Measure the outside diameter first, then one of: Omegon Helievo 72 (64–88 mm), Omegon Helievo 92 (84–108 mm), Omegon Helievo 112 (104–128 mm) (€55–€69). Every time: certified filter over the front · finder capped · never an eyepiece filter · an adult with children · never without the filter · measure first.
Not made for
- The Moon and the planets
The Moon in detail; Saturn's ring and Jupiter's four moons. Dawes' limit is 1.5″ (116 ÷ 76, arithmetic). How much power these short mirrors take before the image goes soft is experience, and differs by model: where a named source reports a ceiling, the model's page gives it.
- Nebulae, clusters and galaxies, by eye
The bright showpieces — the Orion Nebula, the Pleiades, the Double Cluster — at 12× on 76 mm (an exit pupil of 6.3 mm) and about 4° of field. Galaxies beyond Andromeda's core are out of reach: a third of a 130's light is arithmetic, and faint objects are where it shows.
- Serious deep-sky imaging
No. No tracking, no camera connection, no mount to grow into.
- First astrophotography
Not an imaging instrument. The base does not track, so beyond a phone held to the eyepiece on the Moon there is nothing to photograph.
The Sun, safely
No solar filter in the box
The Sun with this model
No source we have states the outside diameter of its tube or dew shield. Measure it at the front, then take the cell whose range holds it. For 76 mm of aperture, one of these:
In white light: sunspots with their penumbra, faculae near the edge, and granulation on a steady morning. Dawes' limit on the Sun: 1.5″ (116 ÷ 76 mm, arithmetic).
- Omegon Helievo 72 (64–88 mm): holds 64–88 mm, €55 (seen 26 Sept 2026) Astroshoppaid link
- Omegon Helievo 92 (84–108 mm): holds 84–108 mm, €59 (seen 26 Sept 2026) Astroshoppaid link
- Omegon Helievo 112 (104–128 mm): holds 104–128 mm, €69 (seen 26 Sept 2026) Astroshoppaid link
The listing names no standard; no international standard exists for filters on telescopes, binoculars or lenses (AAS).
Every time
- A certified solar filter over the FRONT of the instrument, fastened so it cannot slip or blow off.
- Cap or remove the finder. It is a second telescope, and it has no filter.
- Never a filter at the eyepiece end: the concentrated sunlight there can crack it in an instant.
- With children, an adult is there every time.
- Never look, or point, without the filter on. Check it before each use; a scratched or torn filter goes in the bin.
- Measure before ordering. A cell that sits loose can fall off.
Sources for the Sun
- American Astronomical Society — How to View a Solar Eclipse Safely — filters on optics go on the front; eclipse glasses never with optics; children supervised
- American Astronomical Society — Solar Filters for Optics — eyepiece filters are dangerous; the finder capped, removed or filtered; the filter attached securely
- American Astronomical Society — About the ISO 12312-2 Standard — EN ISO 12312-2:2015 covers naked-eye viewers only; no international standard covers filters on telescopes, binoculars or lenses
- Société astronomique de France — Guide des observations solaires — a filter at the front, never one screwed into the eyepiece, the finder capped
- NASA — Keep Your Eclipse Glasses to See the Sun's ‘Freckles’ — a large enough sunspot shows through eclipse glasses
- AAVSO — Le Guide d'Observation Solaire de l'AAVSO, v1.1 (2017), p. 6 — archived copy — “Les ouvertures plus grandes que 100 à 125 mm sont généralement limitées par les effets de turbulence atmosphérique”; 50 to 80 mm is enough to count sunspots
The family it belongs to: 76 mm tabletop Newtonian
What it does well
- Under 2 kg with its base: a child can carry it, and it fits in a rucksack
- A 25 mm eyepiece on its 300 mm focal length gives 12× on 76 mm — an exit pupil of 6.3 mm and about 4° of sky, so finding things is easy
- Nothing to align, nothing to power, nothing to break
What it costs you
- About a third of the light of a 130 mm — (76 ÷ 130)² ≈ 0.34, arithmetic. Faint things stay out of reach
- The usual rule — twice the aperture in millimetres — allows about 150× on 76 mm (an exit pupil of 0.5 mm); these short f/4 mirrors go soft far below that, at a power that differs by model — where a named source reports one, the model's page gives it (experience)
- Needs a table, a wall or a crate. On the ground you are lying down
Worth knowing about this model
The 4 mm eyepiece in the box gives 75× on 76 mm, an exit pupil of 1 mm; the 20 mm gives 15×, an exit pupil of 5.1 mm, with nothing in between. The spec table gives a central obstruction of 37%, which costs contrast on the Moon and planets.
Same family, other sizes
Read next
- Which telescope for a child?Age by age: who sets the instrument up, what they will see on the first night, and what not to buy.Updated 24 Sept 2026
- Tabletop telescopes: which one, and for whomThe 76, the 130, where to put them, and what a tabletop telescope does not do.Updated 24 Sept 2026
- Telescopes under €200: what is worth itTwo good buys, one honest one, and the number that rules out the rest — with what each really shows.Updated 24 Sept 2026
€85seen 7 Oct 2026 at Astroshop
Where to buy