Astronomy / Space Amateur looking for first telescope, Celestron Nexstar 130SLT

[Enride]

Ive never even looked through a telescope before and I cant for the love of it understand why as ive found a huge interest in astronomy and physics the last few years.
So me and two friends will buy a telescope together and its up to me what to buy and how to operate it. (Actually, this is their birthday gift to me as they will pay for the telescope and just want to see something nice with it!)

Ive looked through various sites and the Celestron Nexstar 130SLT seem to be getting pretty good reviews from all around. From what ive gathered its well enough powerful to not leave the user feeling underwelmed with the observations, is easy to setup and operate and with go-to will make sure we dont "lose interest" by having difficulties locating stars and planets.
And this at a good price!


But i know there are many of you on here that knows alot of the subject so Id like to throw out a call for aid here.
Is the 130SLT as good as reviews tend to indicate, is there anything else I should take into account and what would be the main flaws of this telescope (things good to know before buying)


Remember, im completely new to this and know almost nothing about telescopes and its usage! So be gentle

Thanks in advance

 

[Surfinjo]

The two things I was told to remember is,

Reflective, Reflective, Reflective.

and,

Remember that the more powerful kits will need the better mounts. A decent mount means solid, but simply to adjust. So excellent action of your machines.

Skimping on either is silly, so a trade off is needed.

These are tow points to start. As for brands or attachments, that will be for those with more recent experience than I have.

Good luck though.

 

[Ulysses_W]

...and don't buy a huge telescope (8"-10" is big!) because you'll find that dragging it out and setting up 'could' become tiresome.

My first telescope was a Meade 10" SN LXD75. Far too big for a beginner!

My two cents worth...

 

[edd]

Ive never even looked through a telescope before and I cant for the love of it understand why as ive found a huge interest in astronomy and physics the last few years.
So me and two friends will buy a telescope together and its up to me what to buy and how to operate it. (Actually, this is their birthday gift to me as they will pay for the telescope and just want to see something nice with it!)

Ive looked through various sites and the Celestron Nexstar 130SLT seem to be getting pretty good reviews from all around. From what ive gathered its well enough powerful to not leave the user feeling underwelmed with the observations, is easy to setup and operate and with go-to will make sure we dont "lose interest" by having difficulties locating stars and planets.
And this at a good price!


But i know there are many of you on here that knows alot of the subject so Id like to throw out a call for aid here.
Is the 130SLT as good as reviews tend to indicate, is there anything else I should take into account and what would be the main flaws of this telescope (things good to know before buying)


Remember, im completely new to this and know almost nothing about telescopes and its usage! So be gentle

Thanks in advance

I like Celestrons. I've had a CPC 9.25" and currently use an 11". I have a friend who happily uses a NexStar 130 (edit to add: checked in with him - he's also a pro astronomer for a day job, and he is happy with it. Only caveat being it's not equatorially mounted so less than ideal for photographic work), so I'd have no objection to it as a scope. There are distinct advantages if you're in relatively bright skies to have a computerised one to help you navigate and stay tracking, as you note. On the matter of mounts - only a few default Celestron setups have overly light mounts, and the NexStar is a good place to start without the hassle of equatorial mounts. They sell appropriately matched mounts and scopes together as a rule, so don't worry too much.

As a beginner people will often tell you to go with binoculars. Certainly don't dismiss that out of hand. I did things backward, since I started as a pro and turned to amateur equipment later (my first telescope was a 4 meter), but I've been out watching a comet with a good pair of binoculars and it was amazing and bright and clear, and better than anything I've seen by eye through my larger telescopes (thanks also in part to the very dark skies I had then). That was us using a pair of binoculars while literally standing on the balcony of a 4m telescope too, and not regretting taking the smaller option for an instant.

A lot of owners of multiple telescopes will tell you that the best scope is the one you use most - hence other posters warning about keeping things to a manageable size!

 

[NeilF]

Ive never even looked through a telescope before and I cant for the love of it understand why as ive found a huge interest in astronomy and physics the last few years.
So me and two friends will buy a telescope together and its up to me what to buy and how to operate it. (Actually, this is their birthday gift to me as they will pay for the telescope and just want to see something nice with it!)

Ive looked through various sites and the Celestron Nexstar 130SLT seem to be getting pretty good reviews from all around. From what ive gathered its well enough powerful to not leave the user feeling underwelmed with the observations, is easy to setup and operate and with go-to will make sure we dont "lose interest" by having difficulties locating stars and planets.
And this at a good price!


But i know there are many of you on here that knows alot of the subject so Id like to throw out a call for aid here.
Is the 130SLT as good as reviews tend to indicate, is there anything else I should take into account and what would be the main flaws of this telescope (things good to know before buying)


Remember, im completely new to this and know almost nothing about telescopes and its usage! So be gentle

Thanks in advance

Rough budget?

 

[Enride]

Thanks for advice guys!
Good to hear the 130slt seems valid, the ease of using it is maybe the most important aspect initially.

 

[Grizzled]

Alternaitve to Celestron

A good alternative to Celestron is the Skywatcher range, which I beleive are still less sxpensive(?).

My daughter has a 6" Netonian that gives great viewing.


Grizzled