I am looking for a beginner telescope for my wife and the NexStar 130 or the SpaceProbe 130 seem to be good choices .
72105
I have recently purchased a NexStar SLT 130 with the hope of seeing a planet. Nowadays every evening Mars is visible but can not see any detail through the telescope. The planet looks like a small orange disk. I am new to using telescope so do not know if Mars can be visible with any other telescope. Not able to see any deep space object yet. May be from a city it is not possible, Overall NexStar 120 SLT seems to be ok. There is too much vibration sometime.
72106
I just ordered the Celestron Nexstar SLT 130, as recommended by a friend who has been into astronomy for years..as a beginner myself I would definitely recommend this telescope...I've used it every night since I've gotten it...the computer makes it really easy to set up and find planets and stars right away!
72107
Rick,I purchased this telescope for my daughter and family in Colorado - so I haven't looked through it yet. However, they are very happy with the ease of use and the abundance of what they can see. I was very confused myself when purchasing - but I feel this is a good choice for a beginner. I did by the accessories as well by the way.
72108
My sister and I just bought this for our mother's 60th birthday. None of us know much about operating telescopes but this one is really user-friendly and the views of the moon are fabulous. It's very light so it's easy to move it around. My mom loves it and is starting to get involved with the local astronomers' club.
730729
Yes and no. It depends on what you want to do. This is a great starter scope. If your ideal night is looking out and seeing nothing more than planetary objects, then this will be the scope for you. If you have no experience with other telescopes, and this'll be the scope for you. I enjoyed this telescope however there are two big drawbacks. One is the telescope will only hold a 1.25 inch eyepiece. Once again this is ideal if you're just looking at planetary objects, however larger objects like Andromeda will require at least a 25mm to 35 mm eyepiece. The other drawback is the tripod, unfortunately it's very shaky despite what you do. When trying to look at things through the eyepiece a simple bump or even a little wind will knock it around, this is something that you would adjust to overtime. The upside are that it is very portable, Gives you a fundamental idea of how to use a telescope if you have no idea, and it has good imaging. I would highly recommend investing into new pieces as the two that come with it are very poor. Remember, your telescope is only as good as your eyepieces. If you are newer to telescopes then I would suggest this one, it's a cheap way to get an idea of what you're doing and will give let you know if you want to invest more into this fairly pricey hobby.
2010276
Quite suitable---easy to set up and focus towards planets and stars for a novice.
1449070
These are two different types of telescopes, but both are on the same mount. The 127 is a Maksutov design; the 130 is a Newtonian design. The 127 is better; it's better because you don't have to do something called collimation, which is where you have to adjust the mirrors so that they're in line with each other. If you search for collimation on YouTube, you'll see what that's all about. The 127 comes collimated from the factory, and you don't have to collimate it once you receive it.
1844556
Yes this is a great scope for casual viewing I Sold a much more sophisticated scope to get this one because it is much easier to set up and faster to use (using star charts). The scope can use any 1.25" astronomy eye pieces. The scope is also perfect for Bird watching and of course as a spotting scope . The optical quality is as good as scopes costing two and three times as much and there are lots of reviews on birding sights and astronomy sights to back that up. It's just a great all around scope. I have owned one for five years and it is my goto scope for all my hobbies. Astronomy, Birding and Shooting. Yes this is a great scope for casual viewing I Sold a much more sophisticated scope to get this one because it is much easier to set up and faster to use (using star charts). The scope can use any 1.25" astronomy eye pieces. The scope is also perfect for Bird watching and of course as a spotting scope . The optical quality is as good as scopes costing two and three times as much and there are lots of reviews on birding sights and astronomy sights to back that up. It's just a great all around scope. I have owned one for five years and it is my goto scope for all my hobbies. Astronomy,... » Read More Yes this is a great scope for casual viewing I Sold a much more sophisticated scope to get this one because it is much easier to set up and faster to use (using star charts). The scope can use any 1.25" astronomy eye pieces. The scope is also perfect for Bird watching and of course as a spotting scope . The optical quality is as good as scopes costing two and three times as much and there are lots of reviews on birding sights and astronomy sights to back that up. It's just a great all around scope. I have owned one for five years and it is my goto scope for all my hobbies. Astronomy, Birding and Shooting. « Show Less
1713857
Hello, I would say the images for me are the same as I have the basic eyepieces and two sets of as you need two sets for the bino viewers but what I like is the eye relief that you get when looking through them and a almost 3d effect like you get when looking through binoculars. If you can afford it I would highly recomend it, not for just yourself but for other viewers as well. I have a Celestron 8SE and looking at Saturn, Jupiter, the moon, well its pretty awesome. My plan is to do astrophotography, if I was really into eyepieces I would go with the two inch and some nice Nagler eyepieces. Hope this helps, Good luck and dark skies. Hello, I would say the images for me are the same as I have the basic eyepieces and two sets of as you need two sets for the bino viewers but what I like is the eye relief that you get when looking through them and a almost 3d effect like you get when looking through binoculars. If you can afford it I would highly recomend it, not for just yourself but for other viewers as well. I have a Celestron 8SE and looking at Saturn, Jupiter, the moon, well its pretty awesome. My plan is to do astrophotography, if I was really into eyepieces I would go with the two inch and some nice Nagler... » Read More Hello, I would say the images for me are the same as I have the basic eyepieces and two sets of as you need two sets for the bino viewers but what I like is the eye relief that you get when looking through them and a almost 3d effect like you get when looking through binoculars. If you can afford it I would highly recomend it, not for just yourself but for other viewers as well. I have a Celestron 8SE and looking at Saturn, Jupiter, the moon, well its pretty awesome. My plan is to do astrophotography, if I was really into eyepieces I would go with the two inch and some nice Nagler eyepieces. Hope this helps, Good luck and dark skies. « Show Less
283850
i use Orion Min-EQ Tabletop Equatorial Telescope Mount. that's enough for me
177101
You can see them fairly clear, i'll put a link at the bottom of my comment to a guy who takes photo's with his 4se. Keep in mind, when you're looking through the scope, the view is not as fuzzy as his photos and video. You can't magnify much more than 150x with the 4se but you can see Saturn with it's rings, and Jupiter very clearly. I'm not sure what the other person is talking about the motors jumping, mine tracks beautifully. This is a great starter scope, but, I also agree there are way better ones out there. For a first scope just to get you familiar with the sky and Astronomy, the 4se works great. If you're like me though, you'll probably want something bigger and faster within a year. I'm actually thinking about selling my 4se to step up to a much higher end scope for Astrophotography. May I ask where you're from? https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7LIfGL0G50jj7sP_aktkHA
406859
you can purchase a good set from celestron, orion telescopes, meade instruments, also check ebay and astro mart.
925016
It's a start...hopefully it will pique your interest in astronomy...it's a fair telescope. ..start out on low power in a very dark area till you get familiar with it...good luck!
2010274
I think a refractor telescope is hard to use and hard to see objects other than a bright moon. I would suggest looking into a reflector telescope instead. As far as the telescope itself, I think it is well built and good quality. It was just hard for our 9 yr old to use...and hard for me too.
1527056
I have a Meade ETX70 with Autostar. I find the included alignment system to be too time consuming. The SkyScout does a pretty decent job in locating my objects of interest. I then point the telescope to that area and fine tune the location until I have it centered. For the price I find it to be a worthwhile investment.
572210
I would recommend maybe one or two higher quality lenses, I purchased the extra lenses as well that came with the moon filter, finderscope and the skyX planetarium software by Celestron. All these have come in handy @ one time or another. The Grandkids are still enjoying the telescope when they come tour place in the country.
1696569
Thank you for the info, I have had my celestron 130 about 4 years, love the telescope, hate the finder sight. Taakes a "watch" battery, and I am always having to replace it.
1384887
That looks like a nice telescope! According to the literature, the SkySync GPS works with all nexstar computerized, non-gps telescopes, which should include the 127. You could contact Celestron via their website and ask them, or just order this from Amazon and give it a try. I am sure you can return it if there is a problem.
1844559
Though designed for terrestrial viewing, it would work fine for casual astronomical use. Astronomical scopes are typically of higher magnification (I wouldn't recommend the zoom as the image quality on this older design is simply not that good). BUT the fixed eyepieces are excellent. The SMC XW14 offers 37x and is sharp- probably best suited for astronomical use due to the higher magnification. The SMC XW10 gives 26x and has a really wide bright sharp field of view. As a multipurpose eyepiece this one is great but might be a bit low on magnification for your purpose (and even 37x isn't much for astronomical use). I loved the XW10 though- it's a joy to look through. Though designed for terrestrial viewing, it would work fine for casual astronomical use. Astronomical scopes are typically of higher magnification (I wouldn't recommend the zoom as the image quality on this older design is simply not that good). BUT the fixed eyepieces are excellent. The SMC XW14 offers 37x and is sharp- probably best suited for astronomical use due to the higher magnification. The SMC XW10 gives 26x and has a really wide bright sharp field of view. As a multipurpose eyepiece this one is great but might be a bit low on magnification for your purpose (and even 37x isn't much... » Read More Though designed for terrestrial viewing, it would work fine for casual astronomical use. Astronomical scopes are typically of higher magnification (I wouldn't recommend the zoom as the image quality on this older design is simply not that good). BUT the fixed eyepieces are excellent. The SMC XW14 offers 37x and is sharp- probably best suited for astronomical use due to the higher magnification. The SMC XW10 gives 26x and has a really wide bright sharp field of view. As a multipurpose eyepiece this one is great but might be a bit low on magnification for your purpose (and even 37x isn't much for astronomical use). I loved the XW10 though- it's a joy to look through. « Show Less
613056
First, which Meade 10 are you talking about. This is a Dobsonian style without a computer. It is a very good, inexpensive telescope. You need to direct it yourself, which means you have to know the sky, or be willing to learn it. If you are looking for quick an easy way to look at celestial objects without having to learn how to find them, a Schmidt-Cassagrain with a computerized guiding mount, while more expensive, is the way to go. Orion, Meade, Celestron are 3 of the biggest names in amateur astronomy (there are others.) All market both Dobsonians and Schmidt-Cassagrains and all make quality products, so brand preference is a personal thing.