Need help! - Getting Most out of Celestron NexStar® 130 SLT Telescope!

[ChevyFan]

I just recently purchased a Celestron NexStar® 130 SLT Telescope for my wife, and I want to get the most out of it for her...I was thinking I should buy a 3X Barlow Eye Piece for it (mind you I am TOTALLY new to this) My wife and I have never even owned a Telescope before.

I was reading online that for a particular Telescope.. the "AstroMaster 130EQ" to get the best magnification possible a person should get  a Omni 4mm eyepiece  and a 2X Barlow Lens....

 

https://www.celestron.com/blogs/knowledgebase/how-to-determine-which-eyepieces-to-use-with-your-telescope

 

I was thinking about getting a 3X Barlow Lens, and pairing it with a really good eye piece, but as I don't know much about Telescopes, I don't even know if it would be compatible with a Omni 4mm eyepiece, or I would just get this., and call it a day...

Could someone please tell me what would be THE best combination possible for the Celestron NexStar 130 SLT Telescope?

 

I would appreciate ANY feedback you guys can give me!

 

Thank you!

 

 

 

Edited October 23, 2021 by ChevyFan

[newbie alert]

I'd guess that's under perfect seeing..

I've only ever used my 6mm with my sct twice.. the 12mm comes out to play far more frequently 

A 4mm with a x2 Barlow is a 2mm ep

So the best ep is the one you use the most, depending on your seeing

[ChevyFan]

What about Celestron X-Cel LX Series Eyepiece-1.25 2.3mm 93420 + 3X Barlow Lens?

 

Would this be a good combo?

[Tiny Clanger]

The usual rule of thumb is to consider the maximum magnification a telescope can cope with is double the aperture. The 'scope you mention has an
aperture of 130 mm , so your limit is 260x. I've no idea where you live, but in the UK it isn't very often that the atmosphere is steady enough to go above 200x.

I think the focal Length of your telescope is 650 mm , to find the magnification an eyepiece will give you in it, divide 650 by the mm of the eyepiece. So a 3.2mm eyepiece would, in theory, give you 200x. Adding a 3x barlow would give you 600x, which would be way beyond what your telescope could deal with.

This article may help https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/advice/understanding-limits-telescope/

[ChevyFan]

So if I had 600x magnification with my wife's telescope, it would be too much for it? like what would that mean? blurry images? I don't see how it could be too much, not sure I quite get it.

 

 

[Peter_D]

3 hours ago, ChevyFan said:

So if I had 600x magnification with my wife's telescope, it would be too much for it? like what would that mean? blurry images? I don't see how it could be too much, not sure I quite get it.

 

 

At these extreme magnifications, you will just get a larger, duller blurry image. Explanation: I think I'm correct in saying the same amount of light is entering your telescope at higher mags as lower mags (because the aperture of the scope is not changing)  but you are looking at a smaller area of the image. Therefore the image will appear duller and with less detail. 

Edited October 24, 2021 by Peter_D

[newbie alert]

3 hours ago, ChevyFan said:

So if I had 600x magnification with my wife's telescope, it would be too much for it? like what would that mean? blurry images? I don't see how it could be too much, not sure I quite get it.

 

 

This is because of the seeing.. if you lived on top of a mountain in a area without a jetstream then your seeing conditions would be extremely stable..so therefore in theory use the full potential of the scope.. 

The lower the eyepiece number the dimmer the object will be

The higher the brighter it will be..

[Nik271]

There are multiple reasons why x600 is not gong to give a pleasant view in 130SLT. The atmosphere limitation mentioned above is one very important reason.

Another is that with 130mm aperture the resolving power of the telescope is about 0.9 arcsecond, so magnifying the image beyond x300  is just going to make it blurier no matter what. 

At such extereme magnifications the mount is also a weak link, any slight move even someone walking nearby is going to create vibrations which magnified 300 times will make the viewing experience difficult.

I would stay  at x200 and below so a 3 or 4 mm eyepeice should be the maximum. Or a 10mm EP used with 3x barlow.

 

[beka]

13 hours ago, ChevyFan said:

I just recently purchased a Celestron NexStar® 130 SLT Telescope for my wife, and I want to get the most out of it for her...I was thinking I should buy a 3X Barlow Eye Piece for it (mind you I am TOTALLY new to this) My wife and I have never even owned a Telescope before.

I was reading online that for a particular Telescope.. the "AstroMaster 130EQ" to get the best magnification possible a person should get  a Omni 4mm eyepiece  and a 2X Barlow Lens....

 

https://www.celestron.com/blogs/knowledgebase/how-to-determine-which-eyepieces-to-use-with-your-telescope

 

I was thinking about getting a 3X Barlow Lens, and pairing it with a really good eye piece, but as I don't know much about Telescopes, I don't even know if it would be compatible with a Omni 4mm eyepiece, or I would just get this., and call it a day...

Could someone please tell me what would be THE best combination possible for the Celestron NexStar 130 SLT Telescope?

 

I would appreciate ANY feedback you guys can give me!

 

Thank you!

 

 

 

Hi ChevyFan,

I have been using this scope over the last few months. If I recall the scope comes with 9mm and 25mm eyepieces. If you are completely new to astronomy I would not buy any more eyepieces just yet. You should get an inexpensive 2X Barlow for a maximum of 144X magnification. In times of good seeing this will show quite a bit of detail on the big planets. Jupiter's red spot and the Cassini division on Saturn are possible. The 25mm will give you excellent wide field views and many star clusters will be nice. Like has been stated by others, magnifications much higher than above will be hard to use because the mount's instability will make focusing and tracking difficult. You will also need to learn how to collimate the scope. I have found this important  to get decent views. 

Have Fun!

 

Edited October 24, 2021 by beka
grammar...

[tripleped]

I think it’s best to disregard the standard 2x  aperture rule of thumb for predicting max magnification because as has already been stated that assumes ideal conditions with perfect seeing, little to no atmospheric disturbance which for most of us is impossible. For example my 10” Dob (254mm) should “theoretically” allow for about 500x    In real life not a chance- not even close.  The best I’ve been able to achieve without sacrificing resolution and clarity is 200x (and I have some high quality ep’s.  and a very capable scope) 

[ChevyFan]

I am trying to figure out what would be the best eye piece and lens to get for my wife's telescope, (Celestron 130 SLT) and I have was thinking about getting the following....

"SVBONY Telescope Eyepieces 4mm 10mm 23mm 62 Degree Wide Angle Aspheric Eyepiece for 1.25 inches Astronomic Telescopes "

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B01LZ6DDC2/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=A1QUQZI6UT4117&th=1

 

and pairing it with a 2X Barlow Lens...

 

 

Would these two together exceed this telescopes capabilities?

Thank you!

Edited October 25, 2021 by ChevyFan
changed the things I want to get..

[bosun21]

Hi 

You would be better just buying a couple of plossil eyepieces. The particular eyepieces you state actually have a plastic lens inside hence the cheap price. The actual plossil range by SVbony are better and getting say a 25mm, and a 10mm with a Barlow thrown in would be enough to get her up and running. Good luck and clear skies 

[beka]

On 25/10/2021 at 23:50, ChevyFan said:

I am trying to figure out what would be the best eye piece and lens to get for my wife's telescope, (Celestron 130 SLT) and I have was thinking about getting the following....

"SVBONY Telescope Eyepieces 4mm 10mm 23mm 62 Degree Wide Angle Aspheric Eyepiece for 1.25 inches Astronomic Telescopes "

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B01LZ6DDC2/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=A1QUQZI6UT4117&th=1

 

and pairing it with a 2X Barlow Lens...

 

 

Would these two together exceed this telescopes capabilities?

Thank you!

Hi ChevyFan,

Checking the link, the eyepiece specifications are a little strange. Specified as Kelner aspheric with 62 degrees field of view - conventional Kelner eyepieces or even Plossls which are considered better, don't have such a wide field. Aspheric elements are found in more expensive eyepieces so three different eyepieces as this price needs further looking into (strangely could not find these items on the Svbony site). If you and your wife are just beginning astronomy it would really be better if you just use the eyepieces that came with the scope for a while. The difference in the views between these and more expensive eyepieces is quite subtle near the center of the field of view. An inexpensive 2X Barlow will allow you to expand the range of magnification. Once you know what types of objects your wife is interested in you can plan the next items you purchase accordingly.

 

Cheers!

Edited October 30, 2021 by beka
spelling, additional info

[ONIKKINEN]

On 25/10/2021 at 02:53, tripleped said:

I think it’s best to disregard the standard 2x  aperture rule of thumb for predicting max magnification because as has already been stated that assumes ideal conditions with perfect seeing, little to no atmospheric disturbance which for most of us is impossible. For example my 10” Dob (254mm) should “theoretically” allow for about 500x    In real life not a chance- not even close.  The best I’ve been able to achieve without sacrificing resolution and clarity is 200x (and I have some high quality ep’s.  and a very capable scope) 

Found this to be very true aswell. With my 200mm aperture scope with top notch optics 300x should be clear every time, but i find that beyond 200x things are entirely seeing limited with views unlikely to improve much beyond this level in average conditions. Probably less than 5% of my time at the eyepiece is much beyond 200x, and my visual time is almost entirely dominated by planetary and lunar. Maybe this rule works better with smaller apertures to a point, but i don't think ill ever see seeing steady enough to have pleasant views at 400x.