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Technical Details
- Diameter of Primary Mirror: 130mm
- Telescope Focal Length: 900mm (f/6.92)
- x2 Barlow Lens
- EQ2 Equatorial Mount
- 30% more Light Gathering than 114mm
Product details
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Product Description
Our first test on the Sky-Watcher Explorer-130 was to check the collimation of the mirrors, which we found were well aligned. This scope has one of the largest mirrors in its price range, which is a great asset because it means it can gather more light...Optically, the quality of the field of view while studying the star Altair was very good using the supplied 25mm eyepiece. The star remained sharp across 80 per cent of the view, with only slight distortion close to the field edges....Taking everything into account, this telescope made observing the night sky enjoyable and relatively hassle free....great views coupled with ease of use.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
73 of 73 people found the following review helpful
Excellent Beginner telescope! Reasonable price: what more could you ask for?
The unit arrives in a chunky well packed box. Read the instructions before unpacking. The EQ-2 mount is solid and well designed and the assembly guide is easy to understand. Once the tripod is assembled; the telescope tube (aproximately 5.5" x 36") fits snuggly into the cradle and the 'scope can be balanced easily following the instructions provided!
The mirrors are of excellent quality and arrived fully collimated (ready to use) there is no noticeable internal reflection (unless you're looking at a Full Moon) there is a little colour fringing around stars at the outer edge of the field of view (this is normal for a Newtonian type of telescope). The red-dot finder is also a joy to set up and use: it works perfectly with the 25mm eyepiece (supplied) and is pretty close with the 10mm eyepiece.
Manual controls are a little stiff but you quickly get used to them.
Don't overtighten the eyepiece grips in the focuser.
The barlow lens allows you to see Jupiter and its' moons though you will need a planetary filter to see any detail and Jupiter is never much more than a small disk; like-wise Saturn and its rings.
The Moon is ridiculously bright unless you use a Moon filter screwed into the eyepiece; but you could spend hours looking at its' craters, seas and mountains. Nebulae and Galaxies are very faint but can be seen if you know where where to look.
Once you get the hang of levelling/setting the tripod, Polar aligning and balancing the 'scope; the set up time should take no more than 10 minutes which is about the same as the cool down time!
You can add an inexpensive clock drive to the EQ-2 mount to help track stars/planets (recommended!) O.V.L. import these instruments and can supply spares and accessories/direct you to a local stockist!
This is an excellent all-round beginners' telescope: just add a good guide book Astronomy Manual: The Practical Guide to the Night Sky, reference book Universe: The Definitive Visual Guide (Astronomy), Moon filter Celestron Moon Filter, a planisphere Philip's Planisphere: Northern 51.5 Degrees - British Isles, Northern Europe Northern USA and Canada (Philip's Astronomy) and a red light torch Advanced Outdoor Head Torch Red/White LED and get out and enjoy the night sky
The unit arrives in a chunky well packed box. Read the instructions before unpacking. The EQ-2 mount is solid and well designed and the assembly guide is easy to understand. Once the tripod is assembled; the telescope tube (aproximately 5.5" x 36") fits snuggly into the cradle and the 'scope can be balanced easily following the instructions provided!
The mirrors are of excellent quality and arrived fully collimated (ready to use) there is no noticeable internal reflection (unless you're looking at a Full Moon) there is a little colour fringing around stars at the outer edge of the field of view (this is normal for a Newtonian type of telescope). The red-dot finder is also a joy to set up and use: it works perfectly with the 25mm eyepiece (supplied) and is pretty close with the 10mm eyepiece.
Manual controls are a little stiff but you quickly get used to them.
Don't overtighten the eyepiece grips in the focuser.
The barlow lens allows you to see Jupiter and its' moons though you will need a planetary filter to see any detail and Jupiter is never much more than a small disk; like-wise Saturn and its rings.
The Moon is ridiculously bright unless you use a Moon filter screwed into the eyepiece; but you could spend hours looking at its' craters, seas and mountains. Nebulae and Galaxies are very faint but can be seen if you know where where to look.
Once you get the hang of levelling/setting the tripod, Polar aligning and balancing the 'scope; the set up time should take no more than 10 minutes which is about the same as the cool down time!
You can add an inexpensive clock drive to the EQ-2 mount to help track stars/planets (recommended!) O.V.L. import these instruments and can supply spares and accessories/direct you to a local stockist!
This is an excellent all-round beginners' telescope: just add a good guide book Astronomy Manual: The Practical Guide to the Night Sky, reference book Universe: The Definitive Visual Guide (Astronomy), Moon filter Celestron Moon Filter, a planisphere Philip's Planisphere: Northern 51.5 Degrees - British Isles, Northern Europe Northern USA and Canada (Philip's Astronomy) and a red light torch Advanced Outdoor Head Torch Red/White LED and get out and enjoy the night sky
39 of 39 people found the following review helpful
I have had this telescope for just over a year now, and I must say that I am very impressed. It is for beginners and for people with a bit more experience like me. The supplied lens (10mm, 25mm and Barlow lens) are ok, but for better quality viewing, I would recommned buying some Meade 5000 Series plossl eye-pieces, which are of very good quality, and should last you a life-time (even when you buy a newer, more expensive telescope one day!). As for a decent Barlow lens, I bought one of the best, the Televue 2X Barlow.
Now, I agree that you will only see a small disk for Jupiter with the supplied eyepieces, BUT, if you buy some decent eyepieces as I have mentioned above, you can see Jupiter and its cloud belts! You won't see very fine detail, but clear belts. I can see Saturn with its rings, but it appears smaller than Jupiter as it is further away. And as for the Moon, it is VERY bright, so a Moon-Filter is highly recommended, else your eyes will suffer!
All in all, it is a very good scope. If you want to go into it a bit more seriously, then I would recommend a scope with a larger diameter. This one is 130mm (5.1 inch). I would recommend a good 8 inch scope for more detail and serious astronomy. But you are looking at around £500.
Now, I agree that you will only see a small disk for Jupiter with the supplied eyepieces, BUT, if you buy some decent eyepieces as I have mentioned above, you can see Jupiter and its cloud belts! You won't see very fine detail, but clear belts. I can see Saturn with its rings, but it appears smaller than Jupiter as it is further away. And as for the Moon, it is VERY bright, so a Moon-Filter is highly recommended, else your eyes will suffer!
All in all, it is a very good scope. If you want to go into it a bit more seriously, then I would recommend a scope with a larger diameter. This one is 130mm (5.1 inch). I would recommend a good 8 inch scope for more detail and serious astronomy. But you are looking at around £500.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Delivery on this product was excellent, only 24 hours from placing the order to it being delivered to my door. Packaging was very good, cardboard boxes of which there were many some of which were only for taking up space to prevent items from moving. Identifying the various parts was easy but I did have one screw missing from an attachable adjustment handle. Fortunately I had one that fitted and didn't look out of place. The instructions for assembly are pitiful. In the end I just used the pictures and ignored the written section as it was easier. Having finally got it all assembled I came to using it. Again the instructions are pitiful. There are things on the telescope and mount that are never mentioned in the instructions. You finish up with a reflector telescope that has the eye piece at one and and the tracking controls at the other, so far away that you can't look through the eye peice at the same time as you move the tracking adjustments. This is a major downside to the design. I found by reversing the top section of the mount that one of the tracking adjustments could be brought within easy reach when you are looking through the eye piece but the other has to be operated by turning the small gear wheel by hand that is supplied for an elctric drive. There is nothing in the manual about reversing these adjustments. The telescope siting scope (red spot device) could not be sufficiently adjusted to bring it in line with the telescope. I had to remove the mounting screws and try to reposition the mount to bring it close enough to use the adjustment screws. Having achieved all this the actual telescope appears to work fine. Unfortunately, at the time of writing, we had not had a clear night so all objects viewed have been during daylight at a distance of about 3 miles.
Finally, as you can probably tell from this review, I am new to astronomical telescopes. The instructions use terms only those familiar with astronomy would recognise. So, if you can get it assembled and set up then I think it is a pretty good telescope.
Finally, as you can probably tell from this review, I am new to astronomical telescopes. The instructions use terms only those familiar with astronomy would recognise. So, if you can get it assembled and set up then I think it is a pretty good telescope.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Excellent Budget Telescope - get the Motor Drive Version
I bought this scope to replace an old Lumex refractor with a rickety Alt/Az mount that I bought second hand over 30 years ago and used infrequently, now wishing I'd done this a... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Andrew Johnson
Brilliant
This telescope is brilliant for new timers like myself. As soon as I had a clear night, I took it outside (rather cold british winter) and the first thing I looked at was Jupiter. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Budge
First telescope
Firstly this is the first telescope I have ever used.
I had no problems setting it up from the instructions, apart from the fact that the heads of some of the screws... Read more
I had no problems setting it up from the instructions, apart from the fact that the heads of some of the screws... Read more
Published 4 months ago by noaidessakka
A 'Real' Telescope: excellent value - with some challenges
For the price and features, I don't think this scope can be beaten. Having said that, it is built to a specific price point, the complexity of the scope means that with a little... Read more
Published 4 months ago by R. Say
Awesome!
Really impressed with this telescope. I know nothing about telescopes, but the instructions were clear, and it was ridiculously easy to put together and align. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Joanne Firth
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