Skywatcher Explorer-130M 130mm (5.1") f/900 Motorised Newtonian Reflector Telescope 10713

Product Information

You first need to find the general direction where it currently is. Use a sky map or star chart to find that location. You can also Google search ‘location of Saturn’ and Google will show you its current coordinates. And if you want to take pictures of what you’re seeing with your camera phone, there’s a built-in eyepiece shutter release cable so all you need to do is plug in any standard USB cable (not included) and press the button on top of it. Your phone will be able to capture images through the eyepiece without having to remove it from its holder! Gives fantastic clear imagery of the moon, Saturn’s rings and Jupiter’s moons, as well as nebulae and star clusters

The mount is just as important as the telescope and Sky-Watcher supplied the new, dual-mode AZ-EQ Avant mount with the Explorer-130PS so we were keen to see how it performed. Swing your telescope to the right spot in the sky and look for a yellowish-golden bright object that’s shining steadily. Once you find it, use your finderscope to focus on it then increase the magnification of your eyepiece until you can see the planet’s rings. Silicon dioxide produces a much more durable coat than silicon monoxide but requires specialized equipment to apply it and is therefore more expensive. Protection is needed, because in most reflectors, the mirror is open to the elements and deterioration of the reflective layer reduces the resolution of the telescope. ALL Sky-Watcher reflectors are Multi-Coated with Silicon Dioxide as standard for Optimum Durability and Long Term Performance. I’ve summarized the features and specifications of the Sky-Watcher Explorer 130 telescope in the table below. Aperture sizeSince we’re talking about setting up the scope, let’s talk about the weight and how it may affect setting up. The telescope, when coupled, weighs 27.8 lbs or 12.6kg. It also has a tube length of over 900mm. It’s not exactly a portable telescope for traveling. Excellent scope and excellent serviceAn excellent telescope which will do me for a while to come. Setup was mostly straightforward, and I have had several "wow" views of the night sky already, including the Orion nebula. Harrison offered an excellent service, with extremely fast delivery. Very pleased with both scope and service. (09/01/2022) Stuart - Essex Most importantly of all, remember to have fun. After all, what is the point of a hobby if you don’t enjoy it? You can have the best telescope in the world, but it’s usless if you don’t have a good time using it! Don't plan on taking the Explorer 130 anywhere. If you master the EQ mount and set it up you're basically done because when its mount (14.8 lbs/6.7 kg), tube (7.5 lbs/3.4 kg) and tripod (5.5 lbs/2.5 kg) are set up it's just too big and heavy to then take it down travel to dark skies. Although not impossible, we think the Explorer 130 is likely going to stay in one place and it's best stored in its ready-to-observe configuration. So make sure you have significant spare room before buying the Explorer 130. The telescope has a fixed mirror cell for the primary mirror, which is collimated at the factory so it’ll only require occasional adjustment to the secondary mirror, for which a suitable Allen key is supplied.

The Explorer-130PS also comes with a pier extension to keep the telescope from clipping the tripod legs while slewing and this got a lot of use throughout the review period. Using an eyepiece with a shorter focal length will increase the magnification of your telescope. This is handy for observing the moon and planets. Attaching a Barlow lens to your eyepiece is another way to make your telescope more powerful (increase magnification). 4. How to aim a telescope?So I dusted off the 130M and discovered that it was comparatively easy for me to set it up for viewing objects in the plane of the ecliptic. As the Mars Opposition was close I have been using mine to observe Mars, Saturn, Jupiter and the Moon recently.