Telescope Comparison
Bresser Arcturus 60/700 vs Celestron AstroMaster 70AZ
The specs are close. The experience isn't.
First light
Bresser · 60mm · £79
The simple alt-az visual scope
- 60mm refractor on a simple alt-az mount
- Good for: Moon, planets, bright open clusters
- No alignment required — quick to set up, intuitive to move
- Finding objects requires learning to star-hop: navigate with a finder scope and sky chart
- 3.8kg total — manageable to carry to dark-sky sites
Celestron · 70mm · £89
The simple alt-az visual scope
- 70mm refractor on a simple alt-az mount
- Good for: Moon, planets, bright open clusters
- No alignment required — quick to set up, intuitive to move
- Finding objects requires learning to star-hop: navigate with a finder scope and sky chart
- 4.9kg total — manageable to carry to dark-sky sites
The full picture
The numbers that separate these two scopes — and what they mean at the eyepiece.
Aperture
Celestron AstroMaster 70AZ gathers 1.4× more light. On bright targets — Moon, Saturn, Jupiter — you won't notice. On fainter targets — dim galaxies, faint globular clusters — the gap is real.
Focal length
Celestron AstroMaster 70AZ's longer focal length reaches higher magnification with the same eyepiece — better reach for planetary detail. Bresser Arcturus 60/700's shorter focal length gives a wider true field — better for large open clusters and extended nebulae.
Focal ratio
Bresser Arcturus 60/700's faster f/11.67 delivers wider fields with any eyepiece — better for open clusters and large nebulae. Celestron AstroMaster 70AZ's f/12.86 provides more magnification per eyepiece — better for fine planetary detail.
Mount type
Same mount type — setup experience and ergonomics will be similar. Differences lie in build quality and included accessories.
Weight (OTA)
Similar optical tube weight. Any portability difference between these setups comes from the mount, not the tube itself.
Optical design
Both are refractors — no mirrors to collimate, good contrast, colour-free stars with ED or APO glass. The differences between them are in aperture, focal ratio, and glass quality.
At the eyepiece
| Target | Bresser Arcturus 60/700 | Celestron AstroMaster 70AZ |
|---|---|---|
| Planets | ||
| Moon | Good 60mm aperture just misses the Excellent threshold, but the long f/11.7 focal ratio delivers sharp, high-contrast crater detail | Good 70mm aperture meets the threshold for detailed lunar viewing, and the very long f/12.9 ratio delivers sharp, high-contrast crater detail at high magnification. |
| Saturn | Moderate Rings clearly visible as an elongation or shape around the disc, but 60mm can't resolve the Cassini Division; 700mm focal length helps | Moderate 70mm shows the ring system clearly separated from the disc; Cassini Division requires perfect seeing and is rarely visible at this aperture. |
| Jupiter | Moderate Disc and Galilean moons visible, one or two equatorial cloud bands possible on steady nights | Moderate Two main equatorial cloud bands visible; Great Red Spot occasionally glimpsed in steady seeing. All four Galilean moons easy. |
| Mars | Challenging Small orange disc visible at opposition only — no surface detail at 60mm | Challenging Small orange disc visible at opposition; polar cap may be glimpsed but surface markings are beyond 70mm. |
Deep sky | ||
| Orion Nebula (M42) | Good Bright core and Trapezium visible, but 60mm limits nebulosity extent; 700mm focal length is a touch long for full context | Good Bright core and Trapezium stars visible, but 70mm limits extent of nebulosity; the f/12.9 ratio narrows the field of view around the nebula. |
| Andromeda Galaxy (M31) | Good 700mm focal length captures the bright core region; limited aperture means outer halo is invisible | Moderate 900mm focal length frames only the bright core; outer spiral arms and companion galaxies need wider field and more aperture. |
| Open clusters | Good 700mm focal length is adequate for compact clusters like the Double Cluster, but larger ones like the Pleiades overfill the field | Moderate 900mm focal length means many large clusters like the Pleiades overfill the field; compact clusters like M35 fare better. |
| Globular clusters | Challenging 60mm shows only a fuzzy unresolved glow — no star resolution possible | Challenging 70mm aperture shows fuzzy unresolved balls — M13 is detectable but no individual stars are resolved. |
| Faint galaxies | Challenging 60mm gathers too little light for most galaxies beyond M31 and M81/M82 | Challenging Only the brightest Messier galaxies (M81, M82) are faintly detectable as smudges under dark skies; most are invisible. |
| Milky Way / wide field | Moderate 700mm focal length gives too narrow a field for sweeping Milky Way views — binoculars outperform here | Not recommended 900mm focal length is far too narrow for sweeping star fields; maximum true field is roughly 1.5°. |
Other | ||
| Double stars | Good Long focal ratio aids clean splitting of wider pairs like Albireo and Mizar; close doubles below ~2 arcsec are beyond the resolving limit | Good The long f/12.9 focal ratio provides clean diffraction patterns and good contrast for splitting doubles like Albireo and Mizar; resolving power limited to about 1.7 arcseconds by aperture. |
The real tradeoff
Both scopes are capable. The question is which one fits the way you actually observe.
Bresser Arcturus 60/700
- You'll get a genuinely compact setup — the 700mm tube is shorter and lighter than the AstroMaster's 900mm, so you're more likely to grab it for a quick fifteen minutes on the balcony before bed.
- You'll notice more chromatic aberration on bright objects than the longer-ratio Celestron, and at 60mm you're collecting about 27% less light — Saturn's rings will look like a bulge rather than clearly separated rings, and Jupiter's cloud bands will be right at the edge of visibility.
- You'll spend less upfront, but if the hobby sticks, you'll hit the 60mm ceiling fast — a pair of decent 10×50 binoculars would match or beat this scope on every deep-sky target.
Celestron AstroMaster 70AZ
- You'll see noticeably more on planets than the Bresser — that extra 10mm of aperture and the very long f/12.9 ratio mean Saturn's rings separate cleanly from the disc and Jupiter's two main cloud bands are genuine features, not squint-and-hope details.
- You'll pay for that with a longer, wind-catching tube on a tripod that still vibrates when you touch the focuser — every nudge at 180× means waiting a few seconds for the image to settle, and a light breeze can turn a session into an exercise in frustration.
- You'll find the 900mm focal length rewards you on the Moon and planets but punishes you on anything wide — the Pleiades will overfill your eyepiece, and star-hopping to faint targets through a narrow field of view feels like looking through a drinking straw.
The dark side
Every scope has a personality. Here’s where each one gets difficult.
Bresser
Bresser Arcturus 60/700
60mm is the practical floor for a real telescope — you're one step above binoculars on deep-sky, and globular clusters and faint galaxies are effectively invisible.
The included alt-az mount is typically shaky at higher magnifications, so every time you nudge the scope to re-centre a drifting planet, you'll be waiting for vibrations to die down before you can observe again.
The supplied eyepieces and finder scope are low quality; budget at least £20–30 on top of the purchase price for a single decent eyepiece, or the views won't represent what the optics can actually deliver.
Celestron
Celestron AstroMaster 70AZ
Some versions of this mount ship without slow-motion controls, which means tracking Jupiter at 180× is a frustrating nudge-and-overshoot exercise with no fine-adjustment knob to help.
The lightweight tripod transmits vibration readily, and the long 900mm tube acts as a sail in even a gentle breeze — outdoor sessions in anything but dead-calm conditions will test your patience.
At 900mm focal length your maximum true field of view is roughly 1.5°, so large showpiece objects like the Pleiades and the Andromeda Galaxy can't be framed fully — you'll only ever see a piece of them at a time.
Which is right for you?
Two different buyers. Two different right answers.
The simple alt-az visual scope
Bresser · Bresser Arcturus 60/700
You're buying a first telescope for a child or teenager, you want to spend under £80, and the Moon is the main attraction. You'll set it up on a balcony or in the garden for quick, spontaneous sessions — no alignment ritual, no laptop, just point and look. You understand that this is a starting point, not an endpoint, and you're fine with upgrading in a year or two if interest grows. If you already own 10×50 binoculars, skip this — it won't show you more on deep sky.
The simple alt-az visual scope
Celestron · Celestron AstroMaster 70AZ
You want the sharpest possible Moon and planet views for under £100 and you're willing to tolerate a longer, less portable tube to get them. You're a first-time buyer or a family looking for a scope that a ten-year-old can set up in minutes, and your targets are the Moon, Saturn's rings, and Jupiter's cloud bands — not galaxies or nebulae. You accept that this scope will likely be outgrown within a year, and you'd rather spend £89 now to confirm your interest than £300 on something that might collect dust.
Our verdict
These two are closer than most comparisons on this site. The spec differences are genuine — mount type, focal ratio — but neither is the wrong answer for a typical observer starting out.
If I had to choose between them: the Bresser Arcturus 60/700 is the scope most people will be using regularly six months from now. The Celestron AstroMaster 70AZ rewards you more once you know what you're doing — it's worth revisiting after your first year.
Bresser Arcturus 60/700
View Bresser Arcturus 60/700 →Celestron AstroMaster 70AZ
View Celestron AstroMaster 70AZ →Deep field: Full specifications
Every data point, for those who want to go further.
Full specifications
Fields highlighted in blue or amber indicate the better value for that spec. Data is manufacturer-stated and may vary.
How much can it see?
| Spec | Bresser Arcturus 60/700 | Celestron AstroMaster 70AZ |
|---|---|---|
Apertureⓘ The most important spec — bigger = more light = better views | 60mm | 70mm |
Focal Length Longer = more magnification potential | 700mm | 900mm |
Focal Ratio Lower f-number = wider field of view; higher = more magnification per eyepiece | f/11.67 | f/12.86 |
Optical Design The type of optics — each design has different strengths | Refractor | Refractor |
Coatings Better coatings = more light transmission through the optics | Fully coated achromatic objective | Fully coated glass optics |
How do you point it?
| Spec | Bresser Arcturus 60/700 | Celestron AstroMaster 70AZ |
|---|---|---|
Mount Type The mechanical system that holds and moves the telescope | Alt-Az | Alt-Az |
GoTo Computer-controlled pointing — finds any of thousands of objects automatically | ||
Tracking Motor keeps objects centred as the Earth rotates — essential for astrophotography |
The focuser
| Spec | Bresser Arcturus 60/700 | Celestron AstroMaster 70AZ |
|---|---|---|
Focuser Size 2" accepts wider eyepieces and gives better low-power views | 1.25" | 1.25" |
Focuser Type Rack-and-pinion is standard; Crayford and dual-speed are smoother | Rack and pinion | Rack and pinion |
Size & weight
| Spec | Bresser Arcturus 60/700 | Celestron AstroMaster 70AZ |
|---|---|---|
OTA Weightⓘ Optical tube only — useful for comparing mount load capacity | 1.3kg | 1.8kg |
Total Weightⓘ Full setup including mount — this is what you lug to the car | 3.8kg | 4.9kg |
Tube Length | 700mm | 760mm |
Tube Material | Aluminium | Aluminium |
What's in the box?
| Spec | Bresser Arcturus 60/700 | Celestron AstroMaster 70AZ |
|---|---|---|
Eyepieces Included eyepieces — more is better, but quality matters more than quantity | 25mm and 10mm eyepieces | 20mm and 10mm eyepieces |
Finder Scope Helps you locate areas of the sky before switching to the main eyepiece | Red dot finder | StarPointer red dot finder |
Diagonal Tilts the eyepiece 90° for comfortable viewing — useful on refractors |
Blue highlight: Bresser Arcturus 60/700 advantage · Amber highlight: Celestron AstroMaster 70AZ advantage · Greyed cells: equal or subjective.