how good is the Skywatcher AZ GOTO 130p

[rockferryred]

hi dont know if anyone will read ,its my first time in here.i get my first on monday 17th the Skywatcher AZ GOTO 130p never had one before and have not a clue how to uses it,any help would be apreciated no doubt i will need it.can anyone tell me how good the images are with this scopes like plants ect i live on the wirral thanks

[Mikea]

Don't worry rockferryred, it will not take you long to figure it out, I'm sure. Any problems, just ask. I have the same scope as you - along with many others on this forum!

[brantuk]

The 130P is a great little scope to start astronomy. You'll see the coloured bands of Jupiter, the rings on Saturn - and lesser but still some detail on other smaller or more distant planets.

You'll also see many though not all deep sky objects, like: nebulas, and open and closed clusters - but these will be in various shades of black, white, grey - no colour.

You may see a bit of colour in some double stars (gold, and blue).

The AZ goto mount for this scope is fine weight wise, and once aligned will be reasonably accurate for observing. Download the planetarium software "Stellarium". It's free and will show you what's in the sky at your location any night.

Hope that helps and welcome to SGL

[rockferryred]

hi mikea thanks what are the images like i cant wait to get it i paid £230+del was that ok price

[Mikea]

Well, don't expect to see nebulae in glorious colour like you see in books, but you will be able to see detail in the brighter ones - eg M42 is a good start. Jupiter and it's moons is an easy target with lots of "wow" and if you get up early enough, you will be able to see the rings of Saturn, although they are edge-on at the moment.

Be aware that the mount EATS batteries like there was no tomorrow!

£230 sounds about right.

Have fun!

[Flyingmattress]

I have the same scope and mount. Buy a transformer from Maplin Electronics that will plug into the power jack then you can run the mount from a mains socket. That will save on batteries and is cheaper than buying a power tank.

Have had great views of mars, jupiter and Uranus, Orion nebular and various star clusters and of course the moon. Don't forget that when entering the date when setting up it is in American format MM/DD/YYYY. I wasted a load of time the other day because I had entered it day first!

[rockferryred]

thanks everyone can anyone give me a part number for a transformer from maplins for my scope Skywatcher AZ GOTO 130p i would hate to blow my new toy, the wife would kill me.

[rowan46]

welcome to sgl enjoy your new hobby. I haven't used the scope on that mount but I have looked through a friend's on an eq 2 it gives very nice views as to power. I would get a power tank from maplins then you can take it to dark sites

[bcfcciderhead]

I have the same scope and you will be very happy at what you can see, like said above it eats batterys so if you can i would really get a power tank, the power lead you will need to run it of a power tank is herehttp://firstlightoptics.com/proddetail.php?prod=Skytron_power_cable

[rockferryred]

Thanks to everyone who got back to me,loads of good info.

[rockferryred]

Thanks everyone who got back,this sites Great loads of good info.

[Mikea]

I run mine from a 7Ah gel lead/acid from Radiospares.