First night with my Skywatcher Explorer 130p

[Lpeek]

After weeks of being unsure what to buy I eventually went with the Skywatcher Explorer 130p with Supatrak AUTO tracking mount. It arrived and last night was a beautifully clear night to get it out in the garden and take a look.

After everyone telling me to go for a larger telescope instead of the 130p I was expecting much, much less. I was very ready to be disappointed. But to my amazement what I got to see was unbelievable. I didn't look at much, as I just wanted to get a feel for how the telescope works and understand what all the eyepieces do, so I spent much of my time on a few objects changing the eyepieces.

I managed to see Jupiter perfectly, along with it's belts and it's 4 Galilean moons, something I definitely didn't expect to see. I knew I would be able to see Jupiter as a disc but being able to see the belts on my first attempt I'm very happy. I then had a look at a few smaller constellations/clusters, one of the best being the seven sisters, which looked amazing. My last challenge was the Orion nebula and again I was amazed by how well I could see it.

Everything I tried to look at, I expected not to see, or not to see very well, and everything amazed me.

The only problem is now I want to spend loads more money! I only have a 10mm and a 25mm eyepiece at the minute, so I would like to get what people seem to call a high-powered eyepiece, something around a 5-6mm? And possibly a moon filter, as I was also amazed by how bright the moon was. I could only look at it for a few seconds at a time.

I'm very happy with the Supatrak mount as well, I wasn't sure if I would like having to use the handset to move the scope, but it is so easy, and I can't imagine using an EQ mount as my first, or at least, if I did have the EQ mount I wouldn't have spent so much time looking at the objects I wanted to as I would be understanding the mount more than the sky.

Anyone else considering the Skywatcher Explorer 130p I would say definitely go for it, I wasn't sure, and after buying it I still wasn't sure if I had got the right one, but to say I'm pleased with it is an understatement. I didn't expect to see a fraction of what I could actually see!

[hippie]

Welcome to SGL 

They are good starter scopes,  Better EP's will improve your viewing 10 fold over the standard lenses that come with the scope,  

Try a local star party to try other peoples EP's to see what suits you?,  

If your on a tight budget there are some good BST lenses from Alan @  http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Skys-the-Limit-Astro-and-Optical?_trksid=p2047675.l2563

There are plenty of helpful folk here who are only to pleased to answer any questions you may have!   

[brantuk]

The 130P is a very capable little scope that will show you loads of stuff - and they're ideal as a first scope for adults as well as kids - not too expensive for a dabble in the hobby - and a proper working instrument. Of course the larger apertures will reveal objects deeper into the night sky which are a lot fainter.

But as you rightly say - there's plenty of brighter objects to look at with the smaller scopes too. Congratulations on your first views - you're in for a lot of fun over the coming months.

[NGC 1502]

Brilliant, nice enthusiastic report 

I remember my first use of my new 114mm reflector,back in 1979, and Jupiter was up. Wasn't expecting the great view....just like you had.

I'd not go too high with the magnification, better to have a smaller sharper view than larger and fuzzier, maybe around 150x, but see what others say, not just me.

Regards, Ed.

[Mowbs]

Hi, I never tire of reading about other peoples experiences, it's amazing how similar all us beginners are.

I'm in almost the exact same position as you with the moon (also thought my retinas were going to catch fire) and Jupiter (it's just amazing to be able to see detail in something that just looks like a bright star with the eyes) Orion Nebula will be one of my first objects to look at when I get my next opportunity, I've heard it's quite stunning.

I bought a Skywatcher 200p with an EQ5 goto mount. One of the things I remember reading when I was choosing a scope was that the 'best' scope for you is one you use most. I'm fortunate that I have double doors and it's only a few feet from where the scope sits to where I set it up but I have already been looking in the observatory section of the forum and getting carried away with thoughts of building my own.

The thing that made me buy a telescope was a few weeks ago on a particularly starry night I took my (not particularly good) binoculars out and could just about make out Jupiter's moons if I squinted my eyes and avoided looking directly at them. I'd give my right arm for a starry night like that now that I've got my scope, unfortunately I've had about 2 hours of use with it. I can imagine that all this waiting and anticipation will just make it all the more magical when these nights happen.

Hope you have many many happy hours of new discoveries with your scope

[m37]

Excellent stuff. Jupiter is a really nice target at the moment.

[Lpeek]

Thanks everyone for your replies and for further advice

hippie, (or anyone else), are there any recommendations on EP's? I don't really have anything to spend so I was just going to get another cheaper Skywatcher. Are there particular brands that are or aren't good? any that I should avoid or others that you always use?

Thanks!

[Astro Imp]

What a great report.

Really good when the experience exceeds your expectations.

As you enjoyed the Seven Sisters have a look at the Hyades with Aldebaran a great sight in your lowest power eyepiece.

For finding your way around have you downloaded Stellarium? Get it here:- http://www.stellarium.org/ This is a great free planetarium program that is a terrific help for navigating the night sky.

Good luck and clear skies.

[Lpeek]

Thanks Alan, I'll make sure I take a look!

I have downloaded Stellarium, although it behaves a bit weirdly on a mac with the touch-scroll magic mouse so I'll have to get used to that! Seems like it could be a good tool though! Thanks!

[drnat]

Thanks Alan, I'll make sure I take a look!

I have downloaded Stellarium, although it behaves a bit weirdly on a mac with the touch-scroll magic mouse so I'll have to get used to that! Seems like it could be a good tool though! Thanks!

I have found skysafari + much better than stellarium, esp on a mac. Great report - fantastic seeing things for the first time isn't it - sadly, I'm just using bins at present.....

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[drnat]

Great value looking scope - does it track or just goto? Thanks,

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