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Celestron NexStar 130 SLT Computerized Telescope | 
 enlarge | Brand: Celestron
Category: Photography
List Price: $439.00
Buy New: $389.00
You Save: $50.00 (11%)
New (9) Refurbished (1) from $369.00
Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 1542
Media: Electronics
Autographed: No
Memorabilia: No
Aperature Mode: 100mm-150mm
Shipping Weight (lbs): 33.1
Dimensions (in): 28 x 12 x 8
Warranty: 2 years warranty
MPN: 31145
Model: 31145
UPC: 050234311458
EAN: 0050234311458
ASIN: B0007UQNNQ
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| 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 |
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| Accessories:
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
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
Amazon.com
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.  | |
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 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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| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 Strongly suggest AGAINST this Scope November 25, 2008
P. Brickey (East Coast)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
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.
Good but improvements required August 14, 2008
Bryan MacKinnon (Tokyo, Japan)
It works well enough as soon as you get used to it. The family has been enjoying it.
But there are moderate and avoidable issues that Celestron should address:
o The clock necessary for tracking does not keep the time after powering off forcing one to set it each time. This is an annoyance. These days, that would be a simple function to provide but for some reason Celestron does not.
o The battery compartment is cheaply made and the cover tends to pop off.
o The software TheSky is old and certain functions cause the program to crash. The only way to fix that is to go the the publisher's web site and pay for a new version. Celestron should provide a version that does not crash.
o As others have stated, the included lens selection is insufficient but that is an easy problem to remedy buy purchasing additional ones. Though I've not tried one yet on the scope, I recommend a CCD imager as a nice addition.
 Great scope in general with a few caveats. July 3, 2008
R. V. Wendel (NYC, NY United States)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
I have now owned this telescope for 4 months, using it (so far) exclusively on upper Manhattan... yes, NYC! So my experience so far is with the moon and planets. For this, it's a great telescope, bringing out many details quite nicely. Set up was quick and easy to understand. Once set up, I did notice a little tweaking on the alignment [mirror collumation] was needed, and after some indoor alignment, followed by "bright-star" fine tuning, this telescope's fine optics came into full display.
The 2 eyepieces that come with the scope are quite good, but it was with my 7mm Nagler eyepiece that Saturn's rings shone fine, and Jupiter's cloud bands popped right out!
Now, the few caviats: This scope is not good on a windy day as it is prone to vibrations! Vibrations induced from touching the scope to focus quickly disappear so, for normal use, it's quite tolerable. As to the "goto" system: If you're going out just to spot the moon or planets, use the "solar system" alignment. It's quick and only takes one planet or the moon to align. 3-star alignment for multiple object gazing is a bit trickier, but here's the two secrets: The tripod comes with a built-in bubble level. USE IT! If your scope is not level, alignment will fail. Also, make sure your watch is accurate! If you enter the time and it's more than 30-45 seconds off, again, alignment will fail!
Take the time to set up the telescope carefully first [yes, there's a bit of a learning curve, but once you've memorized it, it goes quickly. Yes, you'll have to "fiddle" with their battery compartment cover, but it will pop into place when you've got the 2 battery holders in the right position. Finally, get yourself a really GOOD eyepiece somewhere in the range of 5-8mm for truly spectacular lunar and planetary views. Be prepared to spend $150-$300 for that eyepiece, but then you'll experience this scope's full optical potential!
Very disappointed April 6, 2008
shields (Iowa)
I was really excited to get this telescope, having spent years using my old, manual one. The first night I took it out, the motor didn't work correctly. The telescope would move left and right and down, but wouldn't move up. I thought maybe it was just rather stiff because it was new, but after several more attempts, it still doesn't move up. Without the motor working, the telescope is impossible to align correctly, which makes the computerized viewing list of stars and what not worthless. I am returning it and thinking that I will purchase another brand of telescope next time.
Fairly good scope for the money January 19, 2008
M. Dean (Provo, Utah)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I may have been spoiled by the Zhumell 10" Dob, but I feel that this telescope will show me what I want to see and more as long as conditions are ideal. I have tried to get alignment by using the Skyalign feature but after 5 attempts I have never been able to get that to work. Auto two star alignment seems to work well. That is what I have been using in place of Skyalign but I feel that aligning on three objects rather than two would give me more accuracy so I am a little miffed about Skyalign not working. I may check for an software update for the handheld controller to see if this helps but I have to have the proprietary cable to hook it up to the computer to flash it so that will be another 15 to 20 smackers and they don't tell you that you will need a usb to RS232 adapter if you want to hook it up to a USB port another 40 smackers or so. These should be included in the package. I am a little po'd at Celestron for that. So far, I have not been able to collimate this scope to my liking. Spider in the front of the scope does not have fine adjustment screws and manual does not say anything about collimating the secondary mirror, only the primary mirror and I believe that is where my problem is. Items look sharp up to about 120x and after that trying to get a sharp image is next to impossible. Anyway I suspect improper collimation is the cause. So far I've only tried collimation through a laser collimater so it is probably suspect. For what it is worth, I've seen nebula and star clusters and planetary objects quite good but not as good as my Zhumell 10". I know, I know that is comparing apples to oranges. All in all a decent starter scope. I would like to get it out of town and into a dark desert to see what I can really see with it. And I would like to get it properly collimated. I think this would make all the difference. Still waiting on the power adapter. That is backordered for months.
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