Visionary STARLA 80
This fantastically simple refractor is a great instrument to boost you into the celestial scene
Visionary is not a brand that everyone is familiar with, but its latest offering the STARLA 80 - has impressed us as a novice-style refractor. This telescope includes everything you need to immerse yourself in the finest objects the night sky has to offer. Its lightweight design, makes it the ideal telescope for portability.
Everything a beginner needs to start their hobby in astronomy is in this box, the main centrepiece being the optical system that sports a 900mm focal length and a 80mm objective lens. The STARLA 80 features a sturdy tripod with an altazimuth (AZ) mount and accessory tray, 5x24 finderscope, 90-degree star diagonal and two eyepieces, all of which have the standard 1.25” fitting. The 10mm and 25mm Plössls, provide magnifications of 90x and 36x respectively, offering a good range to begin your night-sky tours.
All of these items lay a decent foundation for observations of not just the Solar System, but bright deep-sky objects, too.
The STARLA 80 is fitted with an AZ mount for simple operation that will suit beginners to the hobby, since it utilises simple horizontal and vertical motions perfect for slewing the sky. However, the telescope is also compatible with equatorial mounts, and with one of these you could open up a whole new world of astrophotography.
This is because an equatorial mount follows the right ascension (the celestial equator) and declination (perpendicular to the celestial equator) motions, meaning you are better served in tracking the motions of the stars for crisp images.
The main selling point of this telescope is how easy it is to set up, which immediately became obvious when we began building it. It took us less than five minutes to set up, which is extremely convenient if you find that you have a small window of clear skies to make your observations. All that’s required is to extend the tripod and its legs, clip in the accessory tray, attach the telescope via a clamping dovetail joint and there you have it: you are now ready to start gazing upon your chosen night sky target. As this is a non-mechanical mount, you will have to manually slew to your desired locations, but not to worry, the telescope is fitted with a mount handle, which is perfect for moving the telescope tube carefully and precisely. The mount features an adjustable knob that controls the tension on the horizontal motion, while the tip of the mount handle can also be altered to control the tension of vertical slewing. By being able to control the tensions of the mount, you can ensure you get a sturdy and still view of all the celestial objects.
An important tip for beginners is to always ensure you decide which targets you are looking to observe during the duration of the night before dusk sets in so that you can optimise your time under the sky.
Turning the telescope to the heavens, we had to wait for some clouds to clear from view, taking advantage of large gaps in cloud cover to see our autumn faithfuls re-emerging for the new season.
Before we checked them out, we started with the brightest star in the sky, Vega of the constellation Lyra, shining brilliantly at a magnitude of
“Everything a beginner needs to start touring the night sky is in this box”
0.03. Vega served as a great target to begin with, being easy to find and brilliant enough to test the optical system. The first thing that became immediately apparent is the finderscope is very poor. This 5x24 crosshair finderscope gave a blurred view of the brightest star in its field of view. Given that it is not moulded onto the telescope tube, we recommend replacing it, preferably with a finder that employs a red-dot system to pick out fainter targets for star hopping. Looking through the field of view, however, the STARLA 80's optics proved to be more than capable, showing a crisp view of its bluish-white hues.
At this point in the night, Taurus began to rise in the east, bringing with it the beautiful sight of open star cluster M45, also known as the Pleiades. As this is visible with the naked eye, it’s incredibly easy to locate, and with the 20mm eyepiece this made a fantastic sight, with a glorious sea of blue stars all fitting within the field of view. Next, we decided to challenge ourselves with the telescope, so we went to seek out the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). After finding the neighbouring spiral, it became apparent that the refractor isn’t the best telescope to use. This is because the core concentration of light was much more fuzzy than usual. Slewing across to the Moon the following evening, we were rewarded with good views of the lunar surface, as the STARLA 80 effortlessly picked out craters and lunar mare highlighted by the rays of the Sun.
In conclusion, despite not having a big name like Celestron, SKYWATCHER or Meade, this telescope is a good starter telescope for a novice astronomer, despite the limitations in its optical system. It is easy to carry and assemble, which can normally be the most daunting and frustrating aspect of getting into astronomy.
“With the 20mm eyepiece this made a fantastic
sight. The telescope showed a glorious sea of
blue stars”