Celestron NexStar 130SLT Newbie

[ReeceF11]

Hi everyone!

So I'm very new to stargazing and picked up a Celestron NexStar 130SLT which came with 9mm & 25mm eyepieces. I've used it a few times already but have really only seen stars as little white dots (which I'm still very happy with haha) But I'd like potentially see some galaxies and whatever I can really get my eyes on. Can anyone tell me what I can expect to see out of this telescope and its factory eyepieces. I would like to purchase eyepieces I just have no idea which I would need.

The telescope I purchased: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0007UQNNQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

[Shimrod]

16 minutes ago, ReeceF11 said:

Hi everyone!

So I'm very new to stargazing and picked up a Celestron NexStar 130SLT which came with 9mm & 25mm eyepieces. I've used it a few times already but have really only seen stars as little white dots (which I'm still very happy with haha) But I'd like potentially see some galaxies and whatever I can really get my eyes on. Can anyone tell me what I can expect to see out of this telescope and its factory eyepieces. I would like to purchase eyepieces I just have no idea which I would need.

The telescope I purchased: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0007UQNNQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

If you haven't read it already, this thread is a good place to start - it's quite long!   What can I expect to see?

[Cosmic Geoff]

You can see quite a lot with this telescope but you need to do some homework to refine your expectations. There is a thread somewhere on this forum entitled "What can I expect to see?"

Stars as little white dots means the telescope is working properly. Double stars will be a source of perennial interest.

If you live in an urban area, you can forget galaxies except for a few bright examples.

You can see something of planets but you may need better quality eyepieces than the kit ones, and a Barlow lens.

Star clusters can give satisfying views with this kind of telescope.

Clear skies!

[Mick H]

Hi Reece, welcome to SGL.

My first scope was a NexStar 90SLT Mak, I viewed Saturn, Jupiter and four of it's moons, and M13 and plenty of other targets.

So you should be able to see plenty with your scope, just remember you will not see what others have photograghed in glorious colour.

A Celestron 32mm Omni Plossl eyepiece would be good for your collection, giving you better views of Globular/Open Clusters.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/celestron-eyepieces/celestron-omni-plossl-eyepiece.html

Try Stellarium program for free on your PC/Laptop it will help you find targets.

https://stellarium.org

Happy viewing.    

Edited July 11, 2020 by Mick H

[ReeceF11]

13 hours ago, Mick H said:

Hi Reece, welcome to SGL.

My first scope was a NexStar 90SLT Mak, I viewed Saturn, Jupiter and four of it's moons, and M13 and plenty of other targets.

So you should be able to see plenty with your scope, just remember you will not see what others have photograghed in glorious colour.

A Celestron 32mm Omni Plossl eyepiece would be good for your collection, giving you better views of Globular/Open Clusters.

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/celestron-eyepieces/celestron-omni-plossl-eyepiece.html

Try Stellarium program for free on your PC/Laptop it will help you find targets.

https://stellarium.org

Happy viewing.    

Thank you so much everyone for the tips! I think I'm overestimating what I can see so fast.

 

I have yet to see amazing things. I do love seeing the stars and I am in no way bored of them. I've seen some great shooting stars through the eyepieces which is beautiful. 

 

I feel I'm being impatient so I think ill keep taking a look every night. Skyalign is being very figity to setup so I am manually using the hand piece to move the telescope. I think I'll try most the night to set it up correctly.