Celestron PowerSeeker 114EQ: A Beginner’s Guide to the 114 mm Equatorial Reflector

The Celestron PowerSeeker 114EQ is a budget reflector telescope on a manual German equatorial mount. It offers a larger 114 mm (4.5 inch) aperture than small beginner refractors at a similar cost. This page expands a short earlier post into a full guide, and corrects some details from it, using Celestron’s own product page.

Corrections to the original post

• The earlier post said the kit included “The Sky Level 1” software. Celestron’s current page instead offers Starry Night Basic software as a download. Bundled software has changed over the years, so check what comes in the box.
• The original gave a “34” tube length without units. Celestron lists the optical tube as 875 mm, which is about 34 inches.

Verified specifications

From Celestron’s PowerSeeker 114EQ product page:

• Optical design: Newtonian reflector with a spherical primary mirror
• Aperture: 114 mm (4.5 in)
• Focal length: 900 mm; focal ratio f/7.89
• Eyepieces: 20 mm erect-image eyepiece (45x) and 4 mm eyepiece (225x)
• 3x Barlow lens
• 5×24 finderscope
• Highest / lowest useful magnification: 269x / 16x
• Limiting stellar magnitude: 12.8
• Light-gathering power: 265 times the unaided eye
• Optical tube: 875 mm long, 6.4 lb
• Mount: manual German equatorial with two slow-motion control knobs (right ascension and declination)
• Total kit weight: 12.3 lb

The eyepieces and Barlow

The 20 mm is an erect-image eyepiece, which means land views appear the right way up. That makes the telescope usable for daytime scenery, though in a Newtonian the eyepiece sits at the side of the tube near the top.

Using the 3x Barlow:

• 20 mm with the Barlow gives 135x
• 4 mm with the Barlow gives 675x, which is far beyond Celestron’s 269x highest useful magnification. The image will be dim and soft, so this combination is not worth using.

In practice, the 20 mm (45x) and the 20 mm with the Barlow (135x) will give the best results. The 4 mm (225x) is for the Moon and planets on nights of very steady air.

Setting up the equatorial mount

An equatorial mount has one axis, the polar axis, tilted to match your latitude and pointed towards the celestial pole. In the Northern Hemisphere that is near Polaris, the North Star. Once it is set up:

• Turning the right ascension slow-motion control follows objects as the Earth rotates.
• The counterweight balances the tube, so the mount moves smoothly.

Basic steps:

• Set the latitude scale to your local latitude.
• Point the polar axis north, roughly at Polaris.
• Balance the tube by sliding the counterweight until the tube stays put when released.
• Use the slow-motion controls to centre and follow objects.

It feels awkward at first, but after a few sessions it becomes natural, and it is a useful skill for later telescopes.

Collimation

Newtonian reflectors need their mirrors lined up, a job called collimation. It is a simple adjustment using screws at the back of the tube and near the small mirror. A well-collimated mirror makes a noticeable difference to sharpness, especially on planets.

What can you see?

With 114 mm of aperture and a limiting magnitude of 12.8:

• The Moon’s craters, mountains and rilles
• Jupiter’s cloud belts and four bright moons
• Saturn’s rings
• Bright nebulae such as the Orion Nebula
• Star clusters and the brighter galaxies from dark skies

Beginner tips

• Align the finder in daylight using a distant object.
• Start with the 20 mm eyepiece to locate targets.
• Let the mirror cool outside before observing for steadier views.
• Never point at the Sun without a certified solar filter covering the front of the tube.

Who is it for?

The PowerSeeker 114EQ suits budget-minded beginners who want more aperture than a small refractor and are willing to learn an equatorial mount. If you want the simplest possible set-up, an altazimuth telescope may suit you better, but the 114EQ rewards a little practice with good views of the Moon and planets.

Quick summary

• 114 mm spherical-mirror Newtonian, 900 mm focal length, f/7.89.
• 20 mm erect-image (45x) and 4 mm (225x) eyepieces, a 3x Barlow and a 5×24 finder.
• Manual German equatorial mount with RA and Dec slow-motion knobs.
• Highest useful magnification 269x; kit weight 12.3 lb.

Jargon buster

• Newtonian reflector: uses a curved main mirror and a small flat mirror.
• German equatorial mount: a mount with a tilted polar axis and a counterweight.
• Right ascension and declination: the two axes the slow-motion knobs control.