Celestron 31045 AstroMaster 130EQ Newtonian Reflector Telescope, Dark Blue

Product Information

This Celestron Astromaster 130 EQ review clearly shows it is an excellent choice for amateur astronomers who want an affordable and easy-to-use telescope. 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. The Optical Tube Assembly (OTA) of the Celestron AstroMaster 130 EQ is a crucial component, comprising a durable metal tube adorned with plastic elements at both ends and featuring preassembled mounting rings with a dovetail bar. The design of the OTA is aesthetically pleasing, showcasing an appealing color scheme that enhances its visual appeal. Additionally, it is equipped with adjusting screws for the primary mirror located at the tube’s end, essential for the telescope’s collimation.

The mount sits on a steel tubing tripod that prevents shaking and vibrations. You can adjust the tripod’s height to raise or lower the telescope to your most comfortable viewing level. 3. Finderscope The inclusion of this software with the AstroMaster 130EQ adds significant educational value, offering a more interactive and informative approach to exploring the cosmos.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 CG-3 is an equatorial mount, which needs to be aligned with the Pole Star, Polaris. (Image credit: Celestron) Celestron AstroMaster 130EQ: Performance The telescope also allows for the viewing of star clusters and nebulae. These objects are often difficult to see with the naked eye but become visible through a high-quality astrophotography eyepiece. Collimating is very very time-consuming: one has to remove the 5 inch mirror at the bottom, perfectly center-dot it, put a binder-ring protector on the mirror (carefully), then align the 2ndary and primary mirrors. I used a collimating cap, not a laser collimator, it didnt sit in very well with enuf stability to get the alignment right.

Celestron Astromaster 130 EQ is a reflector telescope designed for astronomy enthusiasts. It is a part of Celestron’s Astromaster line and comes with an equatorial mount. The telescope has a 130mm aperture and uses a spherical primary mirror to gather light. How does Celestron Astromaster 130 EQ perform? Overall, while there are more advanced telescopes available on the market, the Celestron Astromaster 130EQ is an excellent entry-level option for those just starting their stargazing journey. The kinds of objects this telescope is going to be best at spotting are going to be distant stars, star clusters, nebula, other galaxies, and intergalactic dust clouds. Die mitgelieferten Okulare sind so leicht, dass man sie wegblasen kann. Ihre Abbildungsqualität ist "ok", aber es geht natürlich besser. Da gute (nicht sehr gute!) Okulare gerne mal 30-60 Euro kosten, ist es verständlich, dass hier gespart wurde. Es ist wie in der Fotografie: das Glas kostet immer am meisten.The tripod is also of heavy construction but if expanded fully it feels more shakey so I don't expand it. The focuser is actually solidly built and more than use able. I guess you could say the biggest issue here is to do with the built on finderscope. In terms of build quality it’s not all that bad but, when it comes to focusing an image it will struggle, which I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you will be quite the problem for any telescope out there. The Mount Celestron Astromaster series telescopes are made as reflectors and refractors with different apertures (diameter) and mounts. The Celestron Astromaster 130 EQ is a Newtonian reflector telescope with a 130mm primary mirror, a focal length of 650mm, and a focal ratio of F/5. Spherical mirrors are less expensive to manufacture but are prone to spherical aberration, especially in larger mirrors, affecting image clarity. Conversely, parabolic mirrors, which are free from spherical aberration, are considered superior in terms of image quality. They are particularly beneficial for larger apertures, but this comes at a higher cost.

Accessories include a 20mm and 10mm eyepiece, a finderscope, and a motor drive. The two eyepieces offer different magnifications for low and high powered views. The 20mm has a built-in erect image corrector.The AstroMaster 130EQ reflector telescope is a well-rounded instrument that comes equipped with Starry Night astronomy software. This feature allows users to delve into the night sky through a virtual setting, enhancing their astronomical experience and providing them with an opportunity to learn more about planets, stars, and celestial objects. 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. The eyepieces are average and are to be expected at this price point. The 20mm eyepiece did seem to create internal reflections, marring the narrow true field of view of just 0.9 degrees (the Full Moon’s angular diameter is just 0.5 degrees, for comparison). The 10mm eyepiece is perhaps the best of the two, but the eye relief on both is quite poor - you have to push your eyes right up into the eyepiece cup to see anything, making for uncomfortable viewing, and almost impossible viewing for spectacle wearers. The 130mm refractor telescope is intuitive to use. Explore the sky with the two slow-motion control knobs that allow for fine pointing adjustments in both Right Ascension (RA) and Declinations (DEC) axes. The included tripod has an adjustable height of up to 1.3 meters and an accessory tray.