Scope choices

[AnnekaM]

Hi,

I'm a complete beginner choosing my first scope, and I have narrowed it down to two. The skywatcher skymax 127 supa track auto, and the skywatcher explorer 130p supa track auto. Any suggestions as to which is better would be greatly appreciated!

Anneka

[umadog]

Welcome!

Neither is better. They are different telescopes with different advantages and disadvantages. Have a little Google and learn about the pros and cons of each design then decide which suits you best.

[JamesF]

I think either would be fine. As umadog says, it really depends on what suits you.

The Skymax 127 is more compact and probably easier to get in and out of the house and probably won't take up as much room when it's in the house. It's a long focal length scope, so has a bias towards high magnification of solar system objects, but it's not bad on "faint fuzzies" either.

The 130P is a big larger, probably a bit more susceptible to movement when the air isn't still, perhaps more awkward to get set up, but still a perfectly good scope for a beginner. It has a much shorter focal length than the 127 meaning you get a wider field of view so it may not be as good at solar system objects, but perhaps better for galaxies, star clusters and so on.

If you can find a local astro club then it's perhaps worth a visit to see if anyone has one that you can look at. There are lots of fans of the 127 in all its forms here (me included), but I think a beginner would get a lot of pleasure out of either.

James