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The Venus-76 Newtonian reflector is a great starter telescope and comes supplied as a complete cased kit with two great guide books for just £101.99 incl UK mainland p&p.

Time-honoured classic design and affordable pricing make this telescope the ideal entry-level instrument. The alt-azimuth mount allows the observer to point the optical tube simply and without fuss.

The whole telescope, tripod and accessories comes packaged in a hard plastic case which is ideal for storage and to transport the instrument. The Venus-76 is supplied complete with full-sized aluminium tripod, 1.5x erecting lens, 6x25 optical finder, three eyepieces (6mm, H-12.5mm and H-20mm), accessory tray and hard storage case.

Specification

Telescope: Newtonian reflector

Focal Length: 700mm

Aperture: 76mm (Primary mirror diameter in mm)

Finder: Optical 6x25

Weight: 3.80kg

Brightness 117 (Light transmission factor)

PC Ocular compatible: Yes (suitable for use with an electronic eyepiece)

Mount: Alt-azimuth type

Resolving power in arc-seconds: 1.82

Focal Ratio: 1:09

Stars visible up to magnitude: 12

Magnification: 35x-232x (range of magnifications with eyepieces supplied)

Tripod: Yes - full-sized field tripod

Focuser: Rack & pinion type; accepts 1.25" and 0.96" eyepieces.

The Venus-76 may seem small and budget-priced, but itīs power-packed and is, in our opinion, one of the the best small astronomy telescopes around for under 60 quid.

Despite the up-to-date design this telescope is a classic Newtonian reflector - and itīs a well made one. The heart of the Venus-76 is a top-quality 3-inch (76mm) modern primary mirror that produces pin sharp, high-contrast images free of false colour (a common and frustrating shortcoming of most low-cost astro scopes) and images that are over 130% brighter than typical 2-inch (50mm)astro scopes.

We realise you may be buying this as a gift, but allow us to get slightly technical for a moment.

The telescope is ready to go virtually out of the box - simply erect the garden tripod and install the optical tube. Insert an eyepiece and you are ready to explore - itīs that simple!

6x25 optical finder The Venus 76 is equipped with a simple optical finder (basically a very small secondary telescope used to steer the larger primary one) to show you exactly where the scope is pointing - this makes finding targets much easier than searching with the primary scope alone.

The Venus-76 comes with a special erect image lens for comfortable terrestrial viewing.

2x Free Gifts: As well as the manufacturerīs instructions, the Venus also comes with a great kit that includes a guide book and the classic Philip's Planisphere starfinder. This will introduce the night sky and some of the marvellous and extraordinary things that can be seen with the Venus-76 telescope from your back garden (Normally Ģ10.49).

Philip's Compact Planisphere - starfinder A practical and convenient hour-by-hour tracker of the stars and constellations. This invaluable tool has informed and educated generations of astronomers.

Made of sturdy plastic with "reminder" instructions printed on the rear - the Planishere is supplied in a storage wallet complete with a simple to follow but detailed tutorial.

Philips Guide to the Northern Constellations By Robin Scagell. (64 pages).

A great starter guide for stargazers in the Northern hemisphere. Simple to read charts show the position of stars and other celestial objects for the entire Northern sky (ie the sky above Britain). A simple guide that explains the basic facts of the night sky.

Whatīs so great about the Venus-76?

This is a great little telescope to awaken a first interest and the fantastic hobby of astroomy. Itīs lightweight and easy to set-up and use (good for kids, to be sure - but good for adults too!). It can be employed rather like binoculars. But remember, this little scope has a 3-inch (76mm) diameter mirror, delivering high magnification images.

What can you see with the Venus-76

At low power the lowland "seas" and highland craters of the Moon will be seen (too many to count) as will the four large moons of the giant planet Jupiter. The phases of Venus (much like the Moon) can be observed. At higher powers and at favorable observing times, Jupiter will appear as large in the eyepiece as half the diameter the full Moon does to the unaided eye, and the main bands in its dense gaseous atmosphere will be discerned. The rings of Saturn can be seen with this scope, and the Moon becomes an incredible ancient landscape of impact craters and intricate rills and valleys with views of the most spectacular mountains in the solar system (and all from your back garden and for less than Ģ60!). Deep-sky targets like the Great Orion nebula and the giant M31 galaxy in Andromeda (over 2 million light years away from Earth!) are unforgettable views in the Venus-76.