More about the series Astromaster...
This instrument is a very nice, extremely well made beginner's telescope. The high quality of the optical elements employed offers an unusually sharp, high-contrast image for this class of telescope. The permanently mounted red dot finder allows you to quickly and easily find object you wish to observe. The 1.25" rack and pinion focuser lets you smoothly adjust the focus. The telescope is ideal for the natural watching and terrestrial observing as well as for astronomical applications such as lunar and planetary observing. The OTA fixes onto the mount using the usual dovetail rail. The instrument can be completely assembled within a few minutes, without any specialist knowledge and without needing any tools.
Included in delivery with the telescope:
- Celestron N 130/650 OTA with 130mm aperture and 650mm focal length
- 1.25", 20mm and 10mm eyepieces
- red dot finder
- dovetail mounting rail
- 'The Sky level 1' software CD
The Celestron CG-3 mount:
This parallactic mount is sufficient for telescopes of up to approx. 5 kg total weight. Setting-circles on both axes allow the manual fine adjustment via sensitive flexible slow motion controls. In contrast to the slightly smaller CG-2 mount, both axes here equally robust and equipped with the same high-quality fine adjustment. The height-adjustable and completely preassembled tripod has tubular steel legs of 1.25" diameter and supports the mount and telescope stably and vibration-free. You can keep all your important accessories on the tray provided and so always have them close at hand. A motor for automatic tracking can be retrofitted to the right ascension axis, and is already included with the Astromaster MD models.
Included with the mount:
- CG-3 parallactic mount
- height-adjustable tubular steel tripod
- accessory tray
It not only matters which telescope you buy but also where you buy it. Our additional services:
- We are a leading telescope dealer and know the devices we sell. Our customer service team will gladly help you after your purchase if you have problems with assembly or operation.
- We provide a copy of the 80-page Telescope ABC beginners handbook with every telescope.
Our expert comment:
The instrument has decent optics. But, for an instrument of this size, the mount is only suitable for limited astrophotography. Short webcam exposures using motorized tracking on the hour axis are possible however. It is really worth investing a little more money if you want more performance. If you want something you will also be able to use for astrohotography in the future, we recommend the Skywatcher N 150/750 BlackDiamond NEQ-3
(Bernd Gährken/Achim Mros)
Tip: Expand the possibilities of your telescope with the Celestron AstroMaster II 1.25" accessory set.
(Stefan Taube)
