Cyber Monday 2024 is coming up on Monday 2 December.
Below you can see the best Cyber Monday Telescope Deals from last year. This page will be updated with the 2024 deals once they start becoming live.
Quick links to the best offers are provided here, with further detail on each recommended telescope (and cameras and other items) further below.
Best Cyber Monday Celestron Telescope Deals
- Celestron StarSense Explorer DX 130AZ (38% off) – Brilliant smartphone interactive telescope that’s perfect for beginners
- Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 80AZ (20% off) – Cheaper alternative to the above model
- Celestron NexStar 8SE (19% off) – High-powered Computerized telescope. Possibly the most popular telescope of all time
- Celestron NexStar 4SE (15% off) – Affordable GOTO package
- Celestron 70mm Travel Scope DX (33% off) – Budget pick for those who want to spend less than $100 and have something very portable (inlcludes smartphone adapter for photography)
Best Cyber Monday Smart Telescope deals
- Dwarflab Dwarf 2 (20% off) – the best budget smart telescope is now even cheaper. This is the cheapest I have seen it since launch so now is a good time to go for it if you’ve been considering for a while
- Unistellar eQuinox (47% off) – Amazing deal to save nearly $1500!
- Unistellar eQuinox 2 (20% off) – Great value premium smart telescope
- Unistellar eVscope 2 (20% off) – Premium smart telescope (the best there is)
Best Sky-Watcher Cyber Monday Telescope Deals
- Sky-Watcher Classic 8-inch Dobsonian (33% off) – Absolute bargain for the power (but is big and without GOTO)
- Sky-Watcher GOTO 12-inch Collapsible Dobsonian (18% off) – Mega power, with GOTO and is collapsible
- Sky-Watcher Virtuoso GTI 150P Collapsible Tabletop GoTo Dobsonian (15% off) – Great for beginners and for those with less space at home
Best Cyber Monday Camera deals
- Nikon Z6 II (20% off) – Our recommendation as the best camera for astrophotography in 2023
- Nikon Z7 II (23% off) – Premium, higher resolution alternative to the Z6 II
- Sony A7 III (25% off) – Great value mirrorless and one of our top recommended cameras
Best Cyber Monday Astronomy Binocular Deals
- Celestron SkyMaster 20×80 (35% off) – Great value option suitable for most
- Celestron SkyMaster Pro 20×80 (23% off) – Premium upgrade pick
Other Astrophotography Cyber Monday Deals
- Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i Star Tracker (24% off) – Take your Milky Way astrophotography to the next level
- Move Shoot Move Star Tracker ($50 off)
Read on for more detail on each of these items.
Cyber Monday Telescope Deals
We recommend here:
- A number of Celestron telescopes – in my option they are the most reliable and trustworthy telescope manufacturer and you can be sure that what you buy will be worth the money and accesible for users of any level
- Larger Dobsonians from Sky-Watcher – these provide good value for the price, but you need to be aware of how physically big they are and so only suit those with enough space to use and store them
- Smart telescopes from Dwarflab and Unistellar
I would not recommend being tempted by no-name brands on Amazon or elsewhere that promise a lot but seem to good to be true.
Celestron StarSense Explorer DX 130AZ
This is a great Cyber Monday telescope deal for beginners looking for a first telescope.
How the StarSense Explorer technology works is that you attach your smartphone and it works with the telescope to show you what you are looking at.
This makes it extremely easy to find things in the night sky and takes away one of the common sources of frustration with new telescope owners.
It features a powerful 130mm (5-inch) aperture to give you amazing views of the planets and more.
Also on sale is the Celestron StarSense Explorer DX102 AZ. The advantage of this model is that it is less bulky (being a different telescope type), but the downsides are that it is more expensive and less powerful. Therefore, if you’ve got the space to handle and store the 130AZ then it makes a better deal.
130mm Newtonian Reflector Smartphone App-Enabled Telescope
- Smartphone-interactive telescope that automatically generates a list of objects currently visible above you on any night, including planets, nebulae, galaxies, star clusters and double stars.
- Follow the on-screen arrows to your desired target. When the bullseye turns green, it’s ready to view in the telescope’s eyepiece.
- Great for beginners and families
Celestron NexStar 8SE
This is a computerized telescope from Celestron’s extremely popular NexStar range.
With this, you will be able to take advantage of GoTo technology to automatically locate planets, stars and other objects at a press of a button from the database of 40,000 objects.
It is great for a beginner astronomer or just for someone keen to spend more time viewing and less time hunting those objects in space.
This is the most powerful option in the Nexstar SE range. The 8SE has a huge 8-inch aperture which gives it advanced capacity for the views it will provide.
Also on sale are the smaller Celestron NexStar 4SE, Celestron NexStar 5SE, and Celestron NexStar 6SE telescope packages.
These feature the same technology but are less powerful. However, the upside is that they are cheaper and still great, so provide great options for those with different budgets.
Celestron's most popular advanced GOTO telescope package
- Powerful 8-inch aperture
- Easy-to-use computerized mount finds objects for you to view at the press of a button
- All you need in one package, with telescope, mount, and tripod
- Price is kept down by the inclusion of the less-sturdy mount
- No built-in WIFI
Celestron NexStar Evolution 9.25
If you want the upgrade from the the NexStar 8SE, then the even more powerful Evolution 9.25 is for you.
It has a huge 9.25-inch aperture and comes with a better mount.
It is fully computerized/GOTO and so is suitable for a beginner to just set up and go from home.
9.25-inch Aperture GOTO Premium Telescope Package
- Compact, portable Schmidt Cassegrain telescope with StarBright XLT optical coatings and Fastar compatibility
- Large 9.25-inch Aperture for great light gathering capacity
- Control wirelessly from your smartphone or tablet
- Premium computerized mount with high-performance worm gears and motors for improved tracking accuracy
Celestron Travel Scope 70DX
Celestron is one of the best telescope manufacturers and so you can be confident in any of the options we have selected here.
This is a great family telescope. Whilst it is sold as a travel telescope and works brilliantly for that, it is also great to have at home and use in the backyard.
It’s sturdy, easy to use, and packs up nice and small for easy storage.
Included is all you need, like a backpack, tripod, a smartphone adapter for photography, and all necessary accessories like eyepieces.
Portable Refractor Telescope
- The Celestron 70mm Travel Scope features high-quality, fully-coated glass optics, a potent 70mm objective lens, a lightweight frame, and a custom backpack to carry it all.
- Equipped with 2 high-quality eyepieces (20mm and 10mm) plus bag, tripod, moon filter, 2x barlow, bluetooth shutter release, smartphone adapter and software.
- Perfect for families to use in the backyard or take on trips.
- Aperture not huge
Dwarflab Dwarf II Smart Telescope
The Dwarf 2 is an amazing budget smart telescope.
You operate it with your smartphone and it has an in-built camera that can shoot deep sky objects at the press of a button and send the image to your phone.
This deal at 20% off is the cheapest it has even been.
Budget Smart Telescope
- Shoot deep space objects in minutes with no expertise or experience necessary
- Great value at a budget price
- Light and portable - easy to store and travel with
- Limited image quality with relatively low aperture
- Not good for planetary imaging with short focal length
- Slightly fiddly setup and calibration processes
Unistellar eVscope eQuinox
The Unistellar eVscope eQuinox is also a smart telescope.
It is operated completely via an app on your smartphone or tablet and completely automatically scans the skies above you, asks you what you want to look at, and then – with the in-built camera – sends the image of the planet, galaxy, or whatever to your phone to look at or share.
You can watch a quick overview here:
It requires absolutely no experience with telescopes to operate as you literally just have to turn it on and follow a few instructions. It is amazing, but not cheap.
You can read more here about smart telescopes but this is a rare deal on any of the models and is a $1000 price reduction.
Unistellar eVscope eQuinox Smart Digital Telescope
- Powerful reflector telescope with a 4.5-inch aperture lens
- Control with your smartphone via dedicated app
- Join Citizen Astronomy networks and help detect near-earth asteroids
Unistellar eVscope 2
The Unistellar eVscope 2 is the more premium smart telescope option and it is also on sale at $1000 off.
It is a very similar build to the eQuinox above but with an improved high-resolution sensor and additional eyepiece on the side of the telescope for real-time viewing.
This is a cool feature as it makes it feel much more real to be looking through the telescope rather than just on your phone, but it also makes the telescope significantly more expensive (along with the improved image sensor).
You can watch this overview here:
There are only a handful of smart telescopes on the market and deals like this hardly ever occur, so this is a good opportunity to buy if you were waiting for the right time.
Premium Smart Telescope with Eyepiece
- Eyepiece allows realtime viewing
- Control with your smartphone via app
- Join Citizen Astronomy networks and help detect near-earth asteroids
- May need occasional adjustment (collimation)
Sky-Watcher Classic 8-inch Dobsonian
This telescope provides huge power (aperture) at a very low price.
The downside is it’s size – like all dobsonians it is big, bulky and heavy, and this one is not collapsible. It is also a manual model, without GOTO.
It therefore suits someone with the space at home to store and the time to operate without the assistance of a computerized mount.
8-inch Aperture Classic Dobsonian Telescope
- Large aperture gives a bright, bold viewing experience at a fraction of other optical designs
- Comes complete with all accessories
Sky-Watcher GOTO 12-inch Collapsible Dobsonian
This is approaching the maximum power that you can get in a home telescope – 12-inch aperture.
Unlike the above model, it is fully-computerized and is collapsible for easier storage (it is still big though).
The downside is that you have to pay for this with a higher price.
Sky-Watcher Flextube 300 SynScan 12-inch Computerized Dobsonian Telescope
- Huge 12-inch Aperture - one of the most powerful telescopes you can buy to use at home
- Fully GOTO/Computerized - automatically find and track planets, galaxies and any other astronomical object from a database of over 40,000
- Collapsible design makes it easier to store and transport
Sky-Watcher Virtuoso GTI 150P Collapsible Tabletop GoTo Dobsonian
Lastly, this is another great option for beginners. It is much smaller and is designed to be used on a tabletop or similar surface and therefore suits those with less space at home.
It is also fully-GOTO.
The downside is the much-reduced power and viewing capacity compared to the models above.
Collapsible Tabletop GoTo Dobsonian Telescope
- 6-inch aperture for great views
- Fully GOTO Computerized base
- Convenient collapsible tabletop design
What Cyber Monday Telescope Should I Buy?
If you are not sure what to look for in a telescope, our advice is to consider these five things:
- Brand: Go for a trusted manufacturer like Celestron or Sky-Watcher, or Unistellar or Dwarflab for smart telescopes. These have a history of leading the market for telescopes, providing good customer support, and having a big customer base who can support you through ‘how-to’ videos on YouTube, etc.
- Aperture: This is the key measurement of how powerful a telescope is. The higher this is the better, but also the more expensive it will be.
- Mount: In general, alt-azimuth and dobsonian mounts are the best for astronomy, as they are simple and easy to operate by hand and point where you want to look. Equatorial mounts are better for astrophotography, but are more difficult to operate and fairly cumbersome.
- GOTO: GOTO/Computerized mounts use software to scan the skies above you and then locate and track what you want to view. Smart Telescopes add in-built cameras to this. This makes it easier but they are also more expensive and need a power source. This loses some of the simplicity of a grab-and-go telescope you can take into the backyard with little effort or planning.
- Size and weight: Think about what suits you with regard to where you will use and store it. For example, some big aperture dobsonians are brilliant and provide great value for the price, but they are very big and heavy. You need to consider if you have the space at home or whether something more compact is better for you, with a trade-off of either higher cost or lower power.
If you want to understand more, check out some of our guides:
You can also search for the best Cyber Monday telescope deals from these outlets:
Cyber Monday Astronomy Binocular Deals
I recommend two options here.
The Celestron SkyMaster 20×80 are the best for beginners and have a perfect balance of performance to price:
Binoculars for Astronomy from Celestron
- 80mm aperture and 20x magnification for a great viewing experience
- Easy to use for astronomy beginners
- Great value for the price
- Need to be used with a tripod for the best experience
- 80mm aperture is mid-range, so don't have viewing expectations too high
The Celestron SkyMaster Pro 20×80 binoculars are very similar but with upgraded optics and so are a good option if you have the extra money to spend:
Premium 20x80 Giant Astronomy Binoculars
- Large objective lenses, BaK-4 prisms, and fully multi-coated optics utilizing Celestron’s proprietary XLT coatings
- Every lens surface is coated multiple times with Celestron's unique XLT coatings to improve color and contrast and maximize brightness. You'll enjoy brighter and sharper images, even when lighting conditions are dim.
- A rubber-armored, polycarbonate housing protects your binoculars from damage and stands up to the toughest weather conditions. They're also fully waterproof and nitrogen purged to prevent internal fogging of the lenses.
What Cyber Monday Astronomy Binoculars Should I Buy?
Binoculars are defined by two measurements that are usually stated in the model name:
- The first number is the magnification which indicates how close you will be zooming in. For example, a 10X model means you are viewing ten times closer. High magnification obviously means you get closer to what you are viewing, this is generally good but can be a hindrance if you are using it by hand, where it will exaggerate shakiness, or if the aperture is not high enough, where you will just be magnifying unclear views.
- The second number indicated the aperture which is the size of the lenses in millimeters and determines how good they are for gathering light. This is always the higher the better, but they will also be more expensive as this gets higher.
For a full overview, see here our guide to the Best Astronomy Binoculars.
Cyber Monday Camera Deals
These cameras are all great and well-proven for astrophotography. We have selected the best available to suit different budgets:
The Nikon Z6 II is our recommendation for the best camera for astrophotography in 2023:
Full frame Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Camera
- Great new mirrorless from Nikon
- Proven astrophotography performance
- Mid-range price
- Lower resolution than the Z7 II
The Nikon Z7 II is the premium, higher resolution alternative:
Full Frame Interchangeable-Lens Mirrorless Camera
- Full-frame sensor
- 45.7 MP resolution
- Premium all-round camera that is proven for astrophotography
The Sony A7 III is a great value mirrorless that is one of our top recommended astrophotography cameras:
Full-Frame Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Camera
- No.1 Camera in Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2024
- Light Weight, High-Quality
- 24.2 Megapixel Resolution
- Sony UX can be hard to master
For bigger budgets the more recent Sony A7 IV is also on sale, as is the top-of-the-range Sony A7R V.
Finally, the Canon EOS RP is a great budget option for someone looking for the cheapest full-frame mirrorless camera:
Full Frame Mirrorless Digital Camera
- Lightest, smallest full-frame EOS camera
- High image quality with 26.2 Megapixel Full-frame CMOS Sensor
- Cheapest full frame mirrorless camera on the market
What Cyber Monday Camera Deal Should I Go For?
For astrophotography, you want a Sony, Canon, or Nikon model with a full-frame sensor. See the Best Cameras for Astrophotography for more info.
Other Cyber Monday Deals for Astrophotography
We have selected deals on other gear for astrophotography.
The Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i Star Tracker enables much longer exposures and is the best star tracker around:
Motorized Star Tracker Equatorial Mount for Astrophotography
- Perfect for capturing the Milky Way and other astronomical objects
- Smartphone controlled using free app
- Deluxe equatorial base helps position at the perfect angle for polar alignment
- Can be used with any photographic tripod
FAQs: Cyber Monday Telescopes
When is Cyber Monday 2024?
Cyber Monday 2024 will take place on Monday 2 December 2024.
When is Black Friday 2024?
Black Friday falls on the day after Thanksgiving. In 2024, it will take place on Friday 29 November.
