Celestron 31045 AstroMaster 130EQ Newtonian Reflector Telescope, Dark Blue

Product Information

Now, using the finder scope, target Polaris (or Sigma Octantis) and move it into the centre of the eyepiece’s field of view. Generally speaking, there are three types of movement you may need to adjust when correcting the secondary mirror placement:

If you're looking for a dual-purpose telescope appropriate for both terrestrial and celestial viewing, then the AstroMaster Series is for you. Each AstroMaster model is capable of giving correct views of land and sky. Seemingly as part of an effort to reduce manufacturing costs and maximise profit, Celestron is putting spherical primary mirrors in at least some of its AstroMaster 130EQ units. These mirrors cannot focus light correctly (a proper Newtonian telescope uses a parabolic mirror), and they make the telescope nearly unusable at high magnifications. Raise or lower the telescope using the latitude adjustment and move it from side-to-side by rotating the mount head until you have Polaris targeted in the finder scope.

Starry Night Software

Given the telescope’s affordable price, the included eyepieces provide satisfactory performance, though more serious enthusiasts might consider investing in higher-quality eyepieces or adding a Barlow lens to further enhance their astronomical experience. The free starry night astronomy software included in the Celestron Astromaster 130 EQ box Even if you are unfortunate enough to get a sample with mediocre to poor optics, the Celestron AstroMaster 130 can show you a lot of deep sky objects, provided you obtain a better low-power eyepiece than the one included with the telescope. The brighter open star clusters and nebulae such as the Orion, Lagoon, and Swan will look fantastic with half-decent skies. Some of the bright galaxies, such as Andromeda, M82, and M64, will show their dust lanes, and under really dark skies, M51 and M101 might just reveal their spiral arms. Accessories include a 20mm and 10mm eyepiece, a smartphone adapter, T-Adapter/Barlow lens, and a finderscope. The two eyepieces offer different magnifications for low and high powered views. The 20mm has a built-in erect image corrector. The Barlow & T-Adapter can be used as a 2X Barlow right out of the box. Insert any 1.25” eyepiece into the chamber and you’ll enjoy double the magnification, while retaining all the eye relief of the inserted eyepiece.

QUESTION: How do I move the mirror? I see the center bolt on the secondary which will move the mirror to the right (towards the primary mirror) but I don't see any adjustments to move it down towards the bottom of the picture. Can I do this with the 3 tilting bolts? If I use those will that affect the eccentricity of the mirror image? It is currently perfectly round to my eye and I thought we want to keep it that way. The Celestron Astromaster 130EQ is a decent telescope for beginners. It has a large aperture, which means it can gather a lot of light and provide detailed views of celestial objects such as the Moon, planets, and deep-sky objects like nebulae and galaxies. While it may not rank as the top mount in the market, Celestron has enhanced the appearance of this EQ2 mount, making it a viable option for basic visual observation of deep-space objects. Setting up and aligning the equatorial mount, known as polar alignment, might present a challenge for some, especially beginners. However, for basic use, it’s sufficient to simply face the mount north and adjust the latitude setting according to one’s location.Remember, the performance of your telescope will always be limited by your seeing conditions. Choosing an eyepiece with too much magnification on a night with poor seeing conditions will only magnify the turbulence in the atmosphere, providing poor quality views. The AstroMaster 70AZ has a physical advantage over rivals when looking at planets and the moon. Lots of achromatic refracting telescopes aimed at beginners have a nasty side-effect when looking at bright objects like planets and the moon. Known as chromatic aberration or 'false color', it's evident as a purple or pinkish halo around planets and the moon. The AstroMaster 70AZ gets around that issue with its unusually long length, which helps keep planets and the moon looking natural. In my observations of both Jupiter and Saturn I found virtually no trace of false color, which looked much better in the AstroMaster 70AZ than in a shorter refractor I had close by. Its combination of affordability and ease of use make it a great choice for beginners looking to explore all that our universe has to offer. What can you see with the Celestron AstroMaster 130EQ? The primary mirror of the Astromaster 130 EQ has a diameter of 130mm and a focal ratio of f/5, making it ideal for both deep-space observation and terrestrial viewing. The eq mount is heavy and not practical to use for a beginner. Thankfully I had the ressources to build a custom Dobsonian mount out of plywood, which greatly improved the observation experience.

One feature you’ll really appreciate is the equatorial mount. More on that next. 2. Equatorial mount and tripod We will discuss various aspects such as optics performance, mount design, software compatibility, and limitations. Our aim is to provide readers with a comprehensive overview of the product so that they can make an informed decision about whether or not the Celestron AstroMaster 130 EQ is right for them.The high quality optics ensures sharp and clear images with minimal distortion. With the right eyepiece, and with the right night conditions, you’ll get a brilliant view of various objects in the solar system. This means that the telescope has a relatively small light-gathering capacity, which can limit its ability to capture fainter celestial objects. It also affects the resolution of the images produced by the telescope, making it more difficult to see fine details on planets and other objects. The red circle and red cross hairs show the primary mirror and its center. Notice that the yellow circle (the collimation cap), is well aligned with the primary mirror center, explaining your good star images (in the center of the field of view). FWIW, looking at your most recent alignment, the focuser axis error (blue cross hairs to red cross hairs) is probably about 0.3-inch (assuming the face of your collimation cap is about 1-inch). This just falls within the "acceptable" high magnification tolerance (any defocus near the edge of the field will likely be hidden by coma and/or eyepiece astigmatism). You've done a remarkably good job considering your primary mirror has no center reference!