

Good for portability maybe bad for durability. I’m a monkey-see/monkey-do type: I loved that there’s a cute, helpful online video. But, to be fair, an external "power tank" will hold much more charge for much longer observing and can power other devices (say, your laptop … or heated gloves!). That means no cable to wrap and tangle as the telescope moves. Our reviewers were happy the Celestron NexStar’s battery pack in located within the mount. But as a practical matter, if you find time to observe even half of those 4k, you long since ceased being a beginner! Easy to use There aren’t as many in the database as some other beginner scope system. You will be too, as you slew around to your choice of 4000 objects planets, galaxies, nebulae, stars and clusters. Then just introduce the telescope to any three bright lights (well, not an airplane or satellite) and the computer will be happy as a clam.

#CELESTRON KIDS TELESCOPE PROGRAM PLUS#
You just need to level the tripod then tell the system your rough location, plus the date and time. In fact, you can even use a planet (it’s hard for beginners to tell the difference). In most other systems, you must know what star you’re looking at. Yes, I’m championing ignorance in saying this but that’s a huge improvement. It lets you use objects in the night sky to set up the scope’s tracking without know which they actually are. Finding & tracking targetsĬelestron’s SkyAlign system is a masterpiece. If you notice stars starting to "bloom" in your eyepiece, it’s probably time to collimate. Stars (except for our Sun) are effectively point sources on the sky. Its optical axis was nicely aligned to make sharp images. Our NexStar showed up from the factory not needing adjustment. Reflectors in particular must be "collimated" from time to time. Like cars and musical instruments, telescopes do need occasional tune-ups. And eyepieces can last for generations you’ll pass them to your grandchildren. It also lends an element of future proofing your next telescope (after this NexStar) is likely to crave 2” glass. That opens up some great possibilities for wide field "space-walking" – a real feeling of being out there among them. This NexStar is compatible with 2" eyepieces. But you will probably want a higher power eyepiece (or a magnification doubling Barlow) to see phenomena like the moons of Jupiter casting shadows on the Big World’s face. The "tighter," a 9mm, will show you larger details on planets. The "wider" of the two, the 25mm, is about right to stare at galaxies or – with an added lunar filter – at the moon. Newton would be pleased.Ĭelestron supplies two nice eyepieces with the NexStar 130. A thin, but strong "spider" holds a well-milled secondary mirror securely in position to reflect photons through your eyepiece.

We found it’s aluminized glass mirror to be surprisingly well ground and polished for a scope in this price-range. You’ll have many chances to be thus enlightened by the 130SLT. And the more starlight you grab, the more illuminated your understanding of the cosmos. Aperture is nearly everything in telescopes more photons reach your eye, camera or spectroscope.

#CELESTRON KIDS TELESCOPE PROGRAM UPGRADE#
This model is a recent upgrade from a smaller 114mm Celestron. That "130" refers to the aperture ("opening") expressed in millimeters.
