AstroMaster 130 EQ Telescope

Amazing is just not enough to describe what you see and feel looking through the eyepiece. Venus was my first stop, "wow" was the word that came out when the image got focussed for the first time. I could see the phases of venus with just the 20mm eyepiece. 10mm made the image a bigger one and astonishing. Moon was playing hide and seek with the clouds but when it was well above the horizon and shining brightly, I was spell bound with its beauty. Honestly you could spend hours just looking at the moon. 10mm eyepiece gave an even closer look at the Carter's, the shadows casted by the craters and the mountain ranges on the moon. Jupiter looks like a 2mm ball with very faint bands of methane distinguishable if observed for longer durations. The four moons of Jupiter are just a very minute dots if observed very minutely. But I felty it requires more magnification power to observe Jupiter with it's methane bands and the giant red spot. (May be collimation issue is there) Couldnot see the most beautiful planet Saturn as clouds came in hope to see it when conditions are perfect. These were my first experience of amature astronomy with my first telescope. I don't write reviews at all but this Celestron Astromaster 130eq is such amazing piece that it made me to write such a review. Though there are some points which I would like to list to get the most out of the telescope. 1. Lots of patience is required to be able to see what you actually want to see, trust me patience will give you all that you want from this telescope. 2. Try to see the videos and go through the instructions manual before beginning assembly of the telescope as it's quite critical for one who has no idea of any such kind before. 3. Lot of things has to go right to get the perfect views, if not getting the perfect view wait for the perfect condition to occur. 4. The equatorial mount is very heavy and of solid built quality but the pointers are just not right and you can't be sure which degree u are setting on it. 5. The tripod is also of heavy construction but if expanded fully it feels more shakey so I don't expand it. 6. The secondary mirror was dangling loose when I first unpacked the telescope which totally dishearted me but I did manual collimation as per the instructions manual provided and it was fairly accurate but will eventually require a lazer collimation which again costs around Rs 6000/- to get more sharper images. 7. The telescope is very heavy (around 16kgs) and very difficult to move it around in assembled condition. It gave me body pains the next morning after my first setup and observations. 8. There are no cromatic abbrations as it is relfector telescope and the optics are of very good quality Those who are still reading this review and disheartened because I didn't post any pictures of moon or Jupiter for them I just want to tell that pictures just don't do justice to what you can actually see with your naked eye because human eye has 1000 times better dynamic range than any camera. Even I have gone through all the pictures posted in the other reviews. Trust me you are going to see 1000 times better with your naked eye that any of those pictures. If you want to go for this telescope go for it without any hesitation as it will finally give you and out of the world experience.

I ordered the telescope on 16 Feb and got it on 19th. I faced some initial troubles while assembling the telescope for the first time. Especially the counterweights were not getting fit into the telescope's balancing slot. Finally, I found a way to make open the screws inside the counterweights by slanting the counterweight horizontally and then unscrewing its threads. After assembling, it takes little practice to point the telescope to a desired object using the help of finderscope/red dot finder. Lunar craters were awesome. So much clear and crisp and so much detail with the 10 mm eyepiece that it would seem like they are distant landscape on our own earth! Night sky was full of wonders. You can see much much more stars than you can with the naked eye. Suppose a region of sky where you can hardly resolve 2-3 stars with the naked eye. With the telescope you can see hundreds in the same region clearly. 10mm eyepiece gives more magnification (65X) but it also gives inverted look of the sky. So, when you need to see higher in the sky and you move the telescope tube up, your field of view will seem like moving down! So, you need to keep that in mind while using the 10mm eyepiece supplied. I could see the orion nebula, plieades nebula, uranus planet look like a moderately bright star. The view of Jupiter and its 4 moons were amazing. Could see the colored cloud bands of Jupiter and the moons Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto was changing their relative position so rapidly that in the early evening I saw all 4 moons in the same side of jupiter. But in the late evening about 3 hours later, one moon was on one side of jupiter and rest was on the opposite side. Sometimes, 2 moons on one side and rest 2 on the other side. This happens as all 4 revolve round the giant planet. As during this time of the year, Saturn rises very late in the sky, after 1:30 am so I didn't attempt to observe saturn. Actually I stay in a flat on the 3rd floor of an apartment in Kolkata and the building is 6 storied. So I have to carry the telescope 3 floors up and reassemble it there in the roof. As I could not take all the parts of the telescope in one go, so I have go up and then come down, take the remaining parts and again go up. One difficulty, I'm still facing is that the setting circles are not actually helping even after polar alignment. So, I find the objects only by using the red dot finder. And it takes an average of more than 15 mins to bring Jupiter at the centre of the telescope's field of view. Even for Moon it takes 4-5 mins to focus. So , you have to be patient and keep on trying until you get your desired object at the centre of the view. You need to align the 2 red dots of the finderscope and the target object in the same straight line. I have ordered Celestron Accessory kit worth 5700 rupees to get better view of Jupiter and orion nebula. Normally Orion nebula looks like a white cloudy patch in the sky, but with filters in the accessory kit I hope I will find the colorful view.

Totally worth it purchasing celestron astromaster 130eq telescope. It’s easy to operate the telescope after knowing quick guide. For the first time i watched the moon so clearly and closely with just 10mm eye piece. I haven’t used barlow lens till now, it’s beyond my imagination of the views if i use barlow lens. Perfectly recommended to the amateur astronomers. Watched the moon soo clearly with moon spots but i havent got the perfect video to record it but i just got a glimpse. Everything’s perfect with the product and packaging.

Writing review after an year, one of the wobbliest mount. Extremely poor design in terms of mount. Optics is not that great for this price point, forget about this if you are planning to buy for astro photography other than moon and Sun. One can wisely choose other professional model with just 3k extra. Go for GSO Dobsonian scope instead of this....Again this is a hobby killer scope if you are serious about Astronomy. For beginners this is a big NOOO !

Ideal telescope for beginners. I bought it for my daughter who is interested in astronomy. First of all, big thanks to Appario Retail for the wonderful packaging and great service. Believe me, it is one of the best telescopes in this price range, only thing is that you have to buy a few more optics for utilising maximum of it's abilities. The telescope is extremely easy to assemble and there is a pictorial guide too. Eventhough it can be assembled without tools, a small screwdriver will be handy especially to tighten the slow motion clutches and finder scope. The presentation of the telescope is good and the tube looks beautiful with a wonderful colour combination and emblem. Don't be confused with other reviews which states that the finder scope is useless. If u know how to allign it, then it is of great help. In fact alligning is so simple too. I simply pointed the telescope to a distant building then switched on the finder scope. Then I used the screws to slightly move it sideways, up and down so that the building was in the center of the finder scope and the laser pointed was also pointing at it. Then I looked through the scope to ensure that the building is still in focus. Done. It's that simple. I have tried to view some celestial bodies but since sky was cloudy, I couldn't have a good view. Then I tried terrestrial viewing. The 20 mm gave decent magnification and a straight view, where as the 10 mm gave more magnification but an inverted view. Altogether the product is worth the money and built quality is excellent. The tripod is sturdy and the eq mount is very strong. I'll update my review after a few days of use. I recommend the scope for all amateur astronomers. Thanks for reading. Thanks Amazon.

Sfor More visavlity ,you need to have more lences

I purchased the AM130EQ with full knowledge of its' capabilities and limitations. This is a budget telescope for those like me who have probably never seen Saturn's rings or Jupiter moons etc. For the price paid, I am very satisfied with the amazing views I have been dished for the last 3-4 days. To list I could see Jupiters bands, its' orange color and its four primary moons. Moon craters are very clear and watching them on a crescent moon made for an breathtaking sight. Today, I saw Saturn, its' rings and two of its' moons Titan and lapetus. Saturn did not exhibit any specific coloration though. Besides this, I have also been observing (sweeps) the sky around Sirius, Orion, Leo and I am astounded by what the telescope can see, especially in the light and air polluted skies of Mumbai. I am still on my first week and haven't purchased any AX yet, but the two EPs provided by Celestron along with the AM130EQ have been more than adequate to satiate my desire for great views. I do plan to buy the Celestron Kit / Barlows / EPs / Collimator / Finderscope soon. Now a few tips for those in India, especially Mumbai. Polar Alignment is a must. This scope is NOT a binocular, and hence should never be used without proper alignment, not unless you love to explore the virtues of frustration. I made that mistake, and spent a good 5-10 mins finding the moon, it was just hopeless given the EQ mount, nothing is predictable unless aligned. Second, you don't need to actually see the polaris, just know where North is and assume a 18-20 degree inclination. Third, the star-pointer should be renamed as star-vicinity-pointer. Do not make the mistake of assuming it'll take you to a star or an object in the sky, instead it'll take you in its vicinity and you should be able to view the target object within a few sweeps. I am easily able to find bright objects this way, I have not tried this technique on DSOs which are not apparent to the naked eye. Lastly, the tripod shakes, yes. Its' best to keep its' legs unextended. That way, the eyepiece align to your eye-height in the sitting position (practical isn't it?). Also unrelated to this product, but to save yourself some frustration do download & install Stellarium a must-have if you wish to have a targetted sky-exploration. Hope this was helpful. Edit: Please buy a 25 or upwards plossl eyepiece, doing so will eliminate a lot of your frustration with the star dot finder. Think of it as the best finderscope for your telescope.

Very Good Telescope for beginners! Yes, that's what I will comment about this telescope after using it for 5-6 nights as of now. I ordered it on Amazon.in from Photo Vatika seller for Rs. 12800 and very next day it was made available for Rs. 12000 by Whiterabbit. Hard luck.... Received the package, mind you, a heavy one weighing 16kg within 5-6 days after ordering, although there was no tracking info available and still the order status shows as "dispatched" after 6 days of delivery! Packaging was good but not very good considering the fragile items. It took me around 30 mins to assemble the telescope at the first time. Afterwards it wasn't more than 5-8 mins. However it took me 2 nights i.e. almost 6-7 hrs each night to locate any thing in this scope, thanks to the screwed secondary mirror alignment. Then I read about the collimating the scope and adjusted both the mirrors as stated in the guide. However, the secondary mirror has a habit of going mis-aligned every now & then after each big movement of the main tube. We have to ensure its in place by removing the eye piece and pointing the tube towards a bright light source. Finally on the 3rd night, we were able to view the Jupiter and its moons as tiny circles using the 10mm eye piece. The star finder is very difficult to use and still I am not confident about its focusing in the right direction. Since right now we are approaching towards the New Moon, the Moon is not in the sky till 4am.... I managed to wake up on the cold morning at 5am and pointed it towards the 1/4th Moon....and whoa.... At that point I felt like I am watching the Moon from a very near distance with amazing clarity of the surface. On the same morning, we manage to locate Saturn and Mars and several other stars locating them using my Samsung Note and Google Night Sky application and then pointing the Telescope! I found this method very fast... However, to see our other planets excluding Moon in little more bigger size or like Moon, I think we need a different, more powerful eye piece.

un gran bel telescopio .ottimo prezzo qualita '

Çok iyi bir teleskop. Başlangıç için 50AZ modelini almıştım ama arasında çok fark var. Andromeda, jüpiter, saturn ve niceleri telefonumda var ama "AMAZON TÜRKİYEDE RESİMLERİ AÇSA GÖSTERECEM!" Eğer çok üst segment alıp para basmayacam diyorsanız ideal. Çok ekmeğini de yedim ürünün ;) 2 eksisi var el ile taşınmaz çok ağır. Ekstra lens alıp geliştirmek lazım. Jüpiterin 2 büyük çizgisi ve büyük kırmızı gözü lens yardımı ile gözüküyor. Ayrıca fotozeynep ile 1 günde kapınızda.

É bem preciso na busca de planetas quando se regula bem a buscadora. As lentes que vem nele é de altíssima qualidade e só fica "devendo" uma barlow para aumentar o zoom. - Antes de comprar, é importante saber a latitude e longitude da sua localidade. - Se vai comprar, compre uma barlow também. Respeitando a capacidade do telescópio - Zoom real máximo é de 260x (sem aberrações nas imagens) - Para ver a lua, fica muito bom com o filtro lunar e as lentes de 10mm e 20mm dão e sobram - A regulagem precisa é muito boa - Se for fazer imagens/vídeos, recomendo um suporte para celular ou câmera DSL

After much searching and investigating I picked this telescope as it had the largest aperture for my price range. It is very well built and was easy to setup and build. The guide is useful, but ended up searching YouTube for a video guide - this also included how to balance the telescope [...]). The telescope itself was supplied with 2 lenses, a 20mm and a 10mm. The 20mm is plastic and I only use it as a starting lens to position the telescope first to what I want to see. The 10mm is a good little lens and give nice view of the stars and moon. I also purchased the 'Celestron AstroMaster Accessory Kit' at the same time - this included lens filters and additional 5mm, 15mm and 2x lenses. This gives more range of magnifications to use with the telescope. Viewing with the telescope is very good. The moon is amazing, but you will NEED a moon filter - it is very bright. You can clearly see the moons of Jupiter and with my additional 5mm lens I can just about make out the markings of Jupiter. As for the other planets they have not been visible in the evenings yet - but can't wait until Saturn appears! The only fault is the StarPointer. It's not that good, but you can work around/with it. I have even had my 4 year old daughter looking at the moon - which she found fascinating as she could see the craters very clearly. Since buying this, I have also contacted Celestron support (issue with the additional lens). They were quick and put me in touch with their local distributor (Hama) in the UK. Hama were also very helpful. All-in-all this is very good for the price it costs. I wanted a good telescope that would allow me to get started in Astronomy, without using it for a short while and having to replace it when I want more. This is a good start and with the right lenses will do for what I want it for. Good quality lenses are not cheap (it's the price of the telescope itself for a set), but I can now slowly upgrade this over time now that I have a decent telescope.

Arrivé très vite, très bien fait, très content.