This night telescope has a wooden barrel with a leather covering and silvered brass fittings. It has an objective lens cap and a pivoted eyepiece cover. It has a large objective lens (67 mm in diameter) to collect as much light as possible when viewing at night. The telescope gives an inverted image - additional lenses to correct the image would cut down the amount of light reaching the eyepiece.

The maker's name is inscribed on the draw tube as ‘Dollond / London’. This telescope was one of a pair, with a day telescope also by Dollond (NAV1488). They were presented to Commander George Back of the Royal Navy in February 1833 at the commencement of his command of the expedition to find Sir John Ross in the Arctic seas.