This is an entry level telescope, or an ideal small telescope to take on holiday, or camping. It’s very a compact refractor telescope, weighing just 4.8lbs, and comes complete with a table top tripod, and carry case, making it easy to pack away, and store.
The reason that this is such a popular product is that despite its’ lightweight plastic body, this is actually a fairly sturdy telescope for the money, and you get enough accessories with it to start looking at the sky in minutes.
Refractor telescopes are the simplest to use, and require no adjustments to the lenses, as everything is fixed at the factory, you just need to select an eyepiece from the ones supplied, and away you go. This makes the Barska 40070 the perfect choice for a child’s first telescope that can also be enjoyed by the rest of the family.
Included in the kit are two eyepieces, of 9mm and 20mm, giving a maximum magnification of around 78x, when combined with the 2x Barlow lens included. (Many other websites advertise a 300x maximum magnification, but that is the theoretical maximum, and you wouldn’t actually see anything at that level.) But 78x is still pretty good, certainly enough to see the major planets, and brighter nebulae.
The lenses are all coated for longer life and protection from scratching. A handy finderscope makes it easier to line up the telescope on any object you wish to view, by just centering it in the crosshairs, and locating objects is easier with the Deepsky Astronomy software.
This software comes with a database of 10,000 objects, although I tend to use the Google Skymap phone app, which makes finding objects as simple as pointing a smartphone at the sky.
The compact tabletop tripod is perfect for anyone with a table in the garden and makes it easy and convenient to use when you are sitting down. Adjustment up and down, or left and right is simply by hand, and the eyepieces are focused using a smooth rack and pinion focuser.
With a 70mm aperture, and 400mm focal length, the Barska 40070 is about average for compact telescope size, but comes at a bargain.