First light with a R4,000 Celestron eyepiece (that I bought for 300 bucks)

Let me start out by saying that Aliexpress sometimes hides genuine treasure. The brand-new Celestron Regal Wide Angle spotting scope eyepiece that I paid R300 for (about $16, shipping and customs duties included) retails, in South Africa, for upwards of R4,000 (about $220).

Picking one up at this price had me expecting a knock-off or some other form of shenanigans but it turned out to be the real article, right down to Celestron’s lovely purple XLT coatings. Of course, since I got a stunning bit of astronomy kit at a truly amazing price, it’s been raining almost constantly since it turned up. Almost.

Grabbing the gap

I’ve had three occasions to take the Celestron M2 Regal Wide Angle out, snatching gaps in clouds to turn it on the moon and the constellation of Orion for about 30 to 40 minutes at a time. It’s not enough for a definitive assessment but it is enough to put it through its paces in three very different telescopes. The first was my 80mm f/5, the ubiquitous ST80. The entire tube was recently flocked, lending extra contrast in my light-polluted Johannesburg skies.

As you might expect, the eyepiece’s performance suffers a little due to the telescope. I use a generic mirror diagonal for my grab-and-go setup, with a #8 filter down in front to slightly tame the chromatic aberration. With this setup, I got pleasing views of the waxing January moon. Crater detail seemed more defined than a 17mm Celestron Plossl or a 9mm Celestron Kellner. Without another eyepiece at this focal length (15mm, despite it not being mentioned anywhere in the eyepiece’s spec), a more direct comparison wasn’t possible.

Wide-field is where this one should excel and it does… to an extent. Fields in the region of Orion’s belt and the nearby M42 nebula were characterised by neat pinpoints. The Trapezium split neatly into four separate stars, despite the low magnification. The downside? Obvious pincushion distortion along the outer edge. Somewhere between 15 and 20 percent of the outer field curves down at the edges. Is it the scope? Well, it’s certainly not helping.

Take 2 and take 3

The other two outings involved my 6in f.12 Maksutov and 4in f/6.5 refractor. The session with the Mak was all too brief but obviously had the best performance. Edge distortion was nil and stars remained clear pinpoints throughout. It also proved to be excellent at both lunar and Jupiter views. Atmospheric conditions were the limiting factor in the former.

The 102in refractor was a similar outing to the 80mm but performance was noticeably better. This time I used a 2in dielectric diagonal and hit the same targets — the moon, Jupiter, Orion, M42, and the Trapezium. All were excellent. Lunar detail in particular was engaging. Several swooping curves that I don’t really take note of jumped out. Maybe it was the time of the lunar cycle but given how sharp the Celestron Wide Angle has proved, I don’t think that’s the only factor.

Hitting up the constellations, that pincushion distortion is still there but it was trimmed back to about the outer 10 percent. The field is wide enough, for me at least, to negate that as an issue. I’ve got to actively look for the downward-curving stars, which is a bit like poking a mostly healed finger against a wall. It’s fine if you don’t do that.

Celestron Regal M2 Wide Angle eyepiece initial verdict

I can see why this eyepiece retails at R4,000 in South Africa. Sort of. There’s a wicked markup here at home but I, thankfully, didn’t have to pay it. The risks of purchasing from Aliexpress are obvious — it takes time to arrive and there’s a proper chance that you’ll get a dog that can’t be easily replaced. That’s not the case here, both on actual examination and from other opinions out there. The build is excellent (though I’m not that fond of the twist-up eye shield) and the optics are excellent, if optimised for a Celestron spotting scope. Views are excellent throughout, with the best performer being my f/12 Mak. That said, I’m most fond of the views in the 80mm refractor. The focal length suits itself well to wide-field skimming, even if the edge distortion is most pronounced here. You’re not risking much and you’re also getting far more than you’d expect from this R300/$16 eyepiece.