Celestron NexStar 130 SLT Computerized Telescope

Celestron NexStar 130 SLT Computerized Telescope
by Celestron

Celestron NexStar 130 SLT Computerized Telescope
List Price: $439.00
Our Price: Calculated in a shopping cart
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Category: Digital Camera
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Digital product summary information

Manufacturer: Celestron
Model: 31145
Product features:
  • Computerized hand control with 4,000-object database
  • SkyAlign allows you to align on any 3 bright celestial objects
  • Motorized Altazimuth mount
  • Focal ratio: f5
  • Focal length: 650mm
Accessories:

Digital camera reviews of Celestron NexStar 130 SLT Computerized Telescope

Digital camera Review: Strongly suggest AGAINST this Scope
Summary: 1 Stars

This may be a wonderful telescope. It is difficult for me to know since I have never been able to use mine. It was purchased, along with the Celestron eyepiece set and NexImage Camera for around $700.00 in September of this year.
The first scope had to be returned to Celestron because the tracking motor would not function on the day that I unpacked it.
After 4 weeks, I received the new scope.
The motor works but it will not track. I am unable to get the scope to align.
That covers the telescope. But the real problem is in the customer service. My first mistake was to send the scope in for repair. Because of the time involved, a refund becomes virtually impossible.
So now I am stuck with a $700.00 white elephant that Celestron wants me to send back to them again for further repairs and a further 4 weeks of waiting.
If you have to have this telescope, then buy it from Amazon so that you have the protection that I DO NOT have. I screwed myself on this deal because I trusted Celestron to be an honest company with quality products.
If you buy Celestron, make sure that you protect yourself.

Summary of Celestron NexStar 130 SLT Computerized Telescope

Celestron Nexstar 130SLT Newtonian Reflector Telescope lets you travel through our solar system and explore nearby stars and galaxies without leaving earth. It acts as a window to worlds beyond knowledge and imagination. With SkyAlign and PC connectivity, you become familiar with other worlds.
If the many wonders of deep space fascinate you but you don't know how to find those fascinating sights, why not let this Celestron telescope do the finding for you? The new SkyAlign easy alignment technology and Star Pointer red dot LED finder of the Celesctron NexStar 130 SLT 5.1 go-to reflector make lining up on the sky a breeze. Once aligned, the scope's computer hand control will find more than 4,000 celestial objects for you and will track them unerringly while you observe at your leisure. With its pre-assembled adjustable height steel tripod and easy no-tool assembly, the NexStar 130 SLT can be up and ready to take you on a tour of the Universe in a matter of minutes. The 130mm aperture of the NexStar 130 SLT gathers well over two and a half times as much light as even an advanced 80mm refractor, for not much more money, giving you deep space images that are bright and well defined. With the appropriate high power eyepiece and a resolution 62% higher than an 80mm scope, it will give you lunar/planetary images that are crisp and detailed.

Whether an advanced entry-level scope for the beginning astronomer, or a second scope for the more-than-casual backyard astronomer, the NexStar 130SLT takes you beyond. Adjustable height tripod Celestron 2-Year Warranty
Celestron's computerized NexStar 130 SLT adds affordable "Go-To" technology to a compact Newtonian reflector telescope. By using mirrors instead of lenses, the Newtonian optics of the NexStar 130 SLT produce an image nearly five times brighter than the NexStar 60 SLT refractor telescope. The package includes everything except the batteries, and features easy no-tool setup, two good eyepieces, and even includes a student version of "The Sky" planetarium software.

The Newtonian design of the NexStar 130 SLT is optimized to produce bright images over a wide field of view. When I use an optional 32mm Plossl eyepiece, the famous Double Cluster in Perseus looks like a display of celestial fireworks with streamers of stars trailing across the 2 degree field of view. The standard equipment 25mm eyepiece magnifies the image about 26 times, with a wide field of view just right for viewing deep space objects like star clusters or the Orion Nebula.
Celestron NexStar 130
The included 9mm eyepiece (72x magnification) offers great views of the Lunar disk and globular star clusters like M13. And when I add a 2x Barlow lens to the 9mm eyepiece for a total magnification of 144x, I can easily see cloud bands on the planet Jupiter and pick up detail in Saturn's rings.

The NexStar 130 SLT also features Celestron's patented SkyAlign technology. With SkyAlign I don't need a star chart or a compass to align the telescope, I just enter the date and time then point the telescope at three bright stars. SkyAlign tells me the star names, and allows the telescope to find over 4,000 stars, planets, and galaxies by just pushing a button. The accurate tracking makes it easy to get high power views of the planets, and allowed me to take some great pictures using a Celestron NexImage webcam. I also like the "Two-Star align" and "Solar System align" modes because I can often get the NexStar system up and running while older scopes are still waiting for their alignment stars to appear in he twilight.

Reflector telescopes offer more light gathering power per dollar than any other design, but that value is balanced by the fact that the mirrors may need to be aligned or "collimated" occasionally. Using Celestron's Collimation Eyepiece
Celestron NexStar 130
I had no trouble fine tuning the optical alignment, and I was rewarded with sharp views of Lunar craters even when I pushed the magnification up to the theoretical limit of 300x. The other drawback of a computerized telescope, of course, is battery consumption. An optional PowerTank battery is a handy way to power the NexStar 130 SLT, and I like to keep the tripod legs short and observe while seated because this gives me a solid and comfortable view. --Jeff Phillips

Pros:

  • Wide field views
  • Computerized go-to tracking
  • Light and portable
Cons:
  • Short battery life
  • Sensitive to vibration

Suggested Options:

  • Celestron Accessory Kit
  • Celestron PowerTank battery
  • Celestron Collimation Eyepiece

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