What can I do with this Telescope? Newbie question

[adamwebb28]

Hi

I'm a complete newbie to Astronomy and have never used a telescope in my life, but it's something I've always wanted to get into.

I've done a little bit of reading up already but theres so much it gets a llittle confusing!

I've been looking at a Celestron Astromaster 130EQ as it seems a relativly good starter telescope and is on Amazon for £127 at the moment.

So is this a good starter telescope and what sort of things can I realistically see with it? I'll be starting as a backgarden observer.

I don't mind paying a bit more if it's worth it though. My budget is about £200.

Thanks for any help!

[sunshine185]

I wouldn't bother tbh, for roughly the same price you can get a skywatcher heritage 130, much simpler to store, set up and use, our you could push the boat out and get a skywatcher 150p dobsonian, again it is simple to set up and use but is quite a bit bigger. Even so, with the heritage 130 there are still some wonderful sights to be seen, Jupiter, Saturn, the moon, maybe a few fuzzies and star clusters. This has a 5" mirror, the 150 dobsonian has a 6" mirror, which will enable you to see more faint objects. Almost everyone and his granny has this scopes big brother, the 200p, so you can see how highly regarded these telescopes are. Anything else you need to know, feel free to ask.

[JonnyP]

Iirc the 130eq has the same red dot finder as my old 76eq - and it's the most useless thing I've ever used.

The actual 76eg telescope was ok, but I just couldn't line it up on anything in the sky which meant hours of frustration.

I found Jupiter accidentally, after 60 minutes of moving the scope about, trying to line up the red dot, and eventually threatening to throw the scope in the hedge. Jupiter then moved into view, nothing to do with the scope, just an accident.

[Parus major]

For £200 I'd be after the Skywatcher Skyliner 150P Dobsonian.

[adamwebb28]

Thanks.

I have actually just ordered the 130eq as I got free Saturday delivery from Amazon. I did look at the Heritage 130, but it seems to be the same spec as the 130eq? I wasn't too keen on not having a tripod either.

I want to see how I get on with the lower spec telescopes for now and hopefully be able to upgrade later on.

Can the mount with the Celestron be used with other telescopes?

[kostur]

Look man, it's realy big for first scope, better than 76mm or 114mm. You'll be able to see a lot, but better solution is 6" dob. Still I suggest you to take that offer. Buy it - you'll enjoy, except you'll have to struggle to find objects. But for 70 bucks you can find a new finderscope. So my opinion is: buy it.

p.s. that will be for you meeting with eq mount. when you learn how to use that eq mount, it should not be a problem to use eq 6 mount. So good luck, what ever u choose.

edit: I think so.

[doubleclix]

I have the powerseeker 127 which is essentially the "old" model of the astromaster. I actually like it a lot.

You will find a lot of people saying the money is all spent in the mount and to be honest it's true. The newtonian tube I have is pretty good and feels solid, but I am let down by the mount. I'm currently looking at upgrading the mount to an eq5 or something but not really had a huge amount of time to look into it much.

If you're new at the game I'd get a cheaper one and see how you feel about it but keep a very open mind that performance wise it'll be fairly poor. I've kept this in mind and its made me want a better set up now rather than it putting me off.

I can't speak for the lazer dot thingy as mine has a finder scope, well I say finder scope but its about as much use as a toilet roll tube stuck to the top of the OTA.

Hope that helps,

Olly

[adamwebb28]

Thanks for your help guys. I really do appreaciate it!

I think the Celestron is about right for where I want to start. If I get on well with it I plan on then upgrading to a much better telescope later on.

[kostur]

@doubleclix

127eq celestron is not much of a good buy. It has a lens inside between main and secondary mirror (short tube reflector). Therefore there could be a lot of abberation (which there shouldn't be). 130eq doesn't have it, so it's a better buy.

You will se it later when you start using it more often. Any way if you're pleased, it's ok by me.

[doubleclix]

Ah fair doos! Cheers for the update

[vincent1cat]

I had a Celestron 130 for Christmas. Forget the finderscope and get yourself 'Turn Left at Orion'-much more useful. I got a great view of the Orion Nebula last week when the sky was clear. Enjoy.