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Celestron

Celestron - NexStar 130SLT Computerized Telescope - Compact and Portable - Newtonian Reflector Optical Design - SkyAlign Technology - Computerized Hand Control - 130mm Aperture

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Availability: In Stock.
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Arrives Tuesday, Dec 24
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Style: Nexstar 130SLT


Set: Telescope Only


Features

  • COMPUTERIZED STAR LOCATING TELESCOPE: The Celestron NexStar 130SLT is a computerized telescope that offers a database of more than 4,000 stars, galaxies, nebulae, and more. The telescope locates your object with pinpoint accuracy and tracks it. Compatible with 2 inch eyepieces
  • COMPACT AND PORTABLE: This telescope for adults and kids to be used together is ideal for weekend camping trips or excursions to dark sky sites. Its compact form factor makes it easy to transport and assemble just about anywhere.
  • NEWTONIAN REFLECTOR OPTICAL DESIGN: The NexStar 130SLT is the largest in the SLT family. The 130mm aperture gathers enough light to see our Solar System and beyond. View Saturns rings, Jupiters cloud bands, and the Moon in brilliant detail.
  • BONUS FREE STARRY NIGHT SOFTWARE: The NexStar 130SLT Computerized Telescope includes a FREE download of one of the top consumer rated astronomy software programs for an interactive sky simulation.
  • UNBEATABLE WARRANTY AND CUSTOMER SUPPORT: Buy with confidence from the worlds #1 telescope brand, based in California since 1960. Youll also receive a two-year warranty and unlimited access to technical support from our team of US-based experts.

Description

Building on the popularity of our NexStar 114SLT telescope, the 130SLT by Celestron inspires us to go bigger, with 30% more light-gathering power than our 114mm telescope. The Celestron NexStar 130SLT is a computerized telescope that offers a database of more than 4,000 stars, galaxies, nebulae, and more. The telescope locates your object with pinpoint accuracy and tracks it. At the heart of the telescope’s Newtonian reflector optical design, a large 130mm primary mirror gives fully color-corrected views ideal for astronomical use. The 130SLT comes with a fully computerized NexStar+ hand control. The computerized hand control gives you the ability to automatically slew to any of its 4,000+ objects, including over 600 galaxies, 300 clusters, and dozens of beautiful binary stars. This telescope for adults and kids to be used together is ideal for weekend camping trips or excursions to dark sky sites. Its compact form factor makes it easy to transport and assemble just about anywhere. With its pre-assembled, adjustable steel tripod, the NexStar 130SLT can be up and ready to use in a matter of minutes. Our SkyAlign alignment technology and the included StarPointer Finderscope with a red LED make aligning a breeze. Simply center any three bright objects in the eyepiece and the NexStar SLT aligns to the night sky, ready to locate thousands of objects. The NexStar 130SLT Computerized GoTo Telescope also includes a free download of our Starry Night Basic Edition astronomy software for an interactive sky simulation. The power of this computerized telescope allows you to view the details of the lunar surface, the rings of Saturn, the polar ice caps on Mars, the cloud belts on Jupiter, and a number of the Messier objects, such as the globular cluster in Hercules (M13) or the Great Nebula in Orion (M42). Explore some of the fainter Messier objects using the additional light-gathering capabilities of the 130SLT’s five-inch primary mirror. Buy with confidence from the world’s 1 telescope brand, based in California since 1960. You’ll also receive a two-year warranty and unlimited access to technical support from our team of US-based experts.

Brand: Celestron


Model Name: Celestron NexStar SLT Series


Optical Tube Length: 635 Millimeters


Eye Piece Lens Description: 20mm and 9mm eyepiece


Objective Lens Diameter: 1.3E+2 Millimeters


Telescope Mount Description: Altazimuth Mount


Product Dimensions: 38"D x 56"W x 38"H


Focus Type: Manual Focus


Power Source: Battery Powered


Finderscope: StarPointer™ red-dot finderscope


Product Dimensions: 7.99 x 12.01 x 27.99 inches


Item Weight: 11.4 pounds


Item model number: 31145


Batteries: Lithium Metal batteries required. (included)


Is Discontinued By Manufacturer: No


Date First Available: February 18, 2005


Department: Mounts


Manufacturer: Celestron


Language: English


Country of Origin: China


Frequently asked questions

If you place your order now, the estimated arrival date for this product is: Tuesday, Dec 24

Yes, absolutely! You may return this product for a full refund within 30 days of receiving it.

To initiate a return, please visit our Returns Center.

View our full returns policy here.

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Similar Products

Top Amazon Reviews

    • Fantastic Scope and Tracking for the Price!
Style: NexStar 127 SLT Set: Telescope Only
Review Image by Nathan Nathan
Review Image by Nathan Nathan
Review Image by Nathan Nathan
Review Image by Nathan Nathan
Review Image by Nathan Nathan
Review Image by Nathan Nathan
To begin, the photos are shaky and blurry because I shot them by trying to stick my phone close to the eyepiece, they do not do this scope justice, it is fantastic! I had very limited experience with telescopes, but the 127 SLT has blown away my expectations. I have seen the Orion's Nebula, rings of Saturn, bands of Jupiter and the 4 Galilean moons clearly. Various star clusters and a couple galaxies. Once you understand the setup and the must have upgrades you'll be ready to go. Pros: The scope is easy to assemble. The red dot is perfectly fine for what it is and gets you close enough. The 5" lens is more than enough to see the usual objects (moon, Saturn, Jupiter, and other Solar System Bodies). The first time i found the Andromeda Galaxy i was a bit disappointed as it just looked like a yellowish smudge in the sky, cool nonetheless. Then I observed Orion's Nebula and couldn't believe how good this little scope does, granted the tripod leaves much to be desired (but there are cheap work arounds, I'll explain in the cons. It's portable if you buy the right case which is great to get out of the city light pollution or to take camping. The tracking and auto alignments are great. Always perform the 2 star alignment as the 3 star align fails 9 out of 10 times, but 2 star is very good. Once 2 star is aligned you can activate tracking and the scope keeps the object you're viewing within frame or very close over a period of time, and you can let the computer drive you to your next object. It's super useful on cold nights and to not have to constantly correct where you're looking. Cons: the mount/tripod is not great, but I've mitigated vibrations and instability by buying cheap anti vibration pads on Amazon $20 and by loading a sandbag with 10lb weight and placing it on the plate of the tripod and this makes it 100 times better. This will be something I upgrade eventually for my own purpose, but I have no problems now and have no need to upgrade after the pads and sandbag trick. The standard pieces you'll want to replace and buy better one's, these pieces are always cheap that come with the scope, but I still use the 32mm for initially locating the object I'm looking for. You'll want something around a 25-32mm, 15mm, and a 9mm , and a 2x Barlow, this is all you need and you will be able to push your scope to its limits and on good nights with low atmospheric interference push a little past them. Further, i cannot say much on battery longevity in the scope as I immediately bought a cheap $8 adapter and used an extension cord for power until I bought the celestron mobile power supply for when I take it on the go. Overall, i wouldn't have changed my mind, this purchase was perfect, the tube didn't need alignment, the motors haven't messed up on me and i have nothing negative to say about this purchase. Recommended: buy the power supply, it's a game changer. Also, get the anti vibration pads and some way to weigh the tripod down, this makes a world of difference. Upgrade your eye pieces, you don't need anything crazy expensive, and buy a case to store your tube, tripod, and accessories, it makes storage and moving it a breeze. There are other well written reviews, so take your time and review what you need before buying. As my first telescope as an adult I'd rate this 9/10 for price and the ease of use and accessories built into the computer of the mount. Next scope will be a 10" lens with a solid equatorial mount base as i have no place for a Dobsonian in my current living situation. Good luck and clear skies! ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on December 5, 2024 by Nathan Nathan
    • Great optics. Here's what to do if you get the "BOOT LOADER Invalid Pkg: 0080" error.
Style: Nexstar 130SLT Set: Telescope Only
OK, here is the Bible according to Celestron SLT scopes. When the scope is working, it's fantastic (see below if you have a non-working scope with a boot loader failure). The Newtonian design is comfortable to look through - the eyepiece is at the front of the scope, and it is positioned around eye-level when standing. Newtonian optics are also simple, which keeps the cost down (and minimizes light lost to lens absorption). The optic properties of this scope are outstanding. The 650mm focal length and 150mm (about 5-1/8") aperture are great specs, especially when paired with the highly-recommended Celestron accessory kit (Celestron Model 94303, available on Amazon). The scope comes with a 9mm and 25mm eyepiece, for magnifications of 72 and 26 power (magnification is focal length divided by eyepiece length, so magnification increases as focal length increases, and decreases as eyepiece length increases). The big 130mm aperture of this scope gives the scope a maximum useful magnification of about 307 power, using the rule of thumb that you can magnify 60 times for each inch of aperture. At a focal ratio of f5, this is a fairly "fast" scope, meaning it lets in a lot of light for it's focal length. The f-number is the focal length divided by the aperture size, and the lower the f-number, the faster the scope. Faster is (generally) better. F-numbers will be familiar to photographers, and telescopic "lenses" operate on the exact same concept as fast photographic lenses. In photography, a lens is "fast" because it allows a shorter shutter speed (because it lets in more light), meaning you can capture faster motion that would be blurry with a longer exposure (as would be required by a "slower" lens). The auto-orientation works like magic, but it's better to give it very precise time and location. Use a GPS for location; don't just tell it what city you are in (you can choose your location input method). For some reason, the controller can remember your last location and the time zone of your previous observation, but the controller does not keep time when it is switched off, so you must enter the (exact) time again whenever you switch the power off and back on (C'mon, Celestron - seriously?) You can orient the scope by pointing the scope at ANY three bright objects (you do not need to know what they are) or two objects if you know what they are (but this is said to be less precise). The scope must be level (it has a built-in level bubble). Although this scope is not really classified as a "beginner's scope," it is great for beginners - you don't need to know anything to begin viewing amazing things, and a beginner will not "outgrow" this scope anytime soon. The only comparable computerized Newtonian scope that I could find in this price range is the Orion StarBlast 6i IntelliScope, but it is available only with a table-top mount (???). If that Orion scope (750mm focal length, 6-inch aperture) was available with a sturdy tripod mount in this price range then I would be writing this review for that scope, because I would have bought that scope instead, without a doubt. Orion lost my business because they expected me to have a study TABLE available at each observation site. The optional Celestron accessory kit includes (among other things) 6mm, 8mm, 13mm, 17mm, and 32mm eyepieces and a Barlow 2X adapter. With a 6mm eyepiece and a Barlow 2X adapter (which effectively doubles the magnification of the eyepiece, making it a 3mm focal length), the scope can achieve a magnification of 216 power (pretty respectable). You could purchase shorter eyepieces or a 3X Barlow to push the magnification near the 307 power limit, but I don't think you will find yourself wanting to do so - you will be amazed at what you can clearly see (the bands of Jupiter and its Galilean moons, the rings of Saturn, etc). Note that the 307-power limit cannot be exceeded with eyepieces or Barlow lenses - the image will be pretty much worthless if you try to exceed this limit, which is a function of how much light the scope can gather (which is determined by the aperture size). As you approach this limit, the image quality decreases, so you will probably find images much more satisfying at low-to-mid-200 power than you would at theoretical maximum 300+ power. The gray moon filter in the accessory kit is especially useful for bright objects (such as the moon, of course, but also Venus and Jupiter). The longer eyepieces are needed for viewing large objects such as various asterisms, galaxies, and nebula. Some of these objects span 2 or 3 degrees of sky (or more) - which is really big (the sun and moon are 0.5 degrees.) Some objects can only be fully viewed at very low magnification (such as afforded by binoculars), so don't make the mistake of assuming that high magnification is always better. If you attend a star party, expect to find binoculars (usually mounted on a tripod) in use. The Pleiades star cluster, for example, is best observed at lower magnification. The eyepieces that come with the scope (and the accessory kit) are 1.25" diameter, but the scope can also accept large, very nice (and expensive) 2" eyepieces - just remove the 1.25" adapter which comes with the scope. The tripod mount is good, but will wiggle a bit in the breeze, especially at higher magnifications. It helps to add some weight - the tripod has a small shelf which lends itself to this purpose. A couple bags of rice or beans will do, but I bought a 20-lb theatrical-grade sandbag (double zippers keep sand out of my optics, and sand doesn't attract bugs or rodents). Put that weight on your tripod and don't touch the scope while viewing (take your hand OFF of the focus knob) and you should have a steady view, even in breezy conditions. Stiff winds may require additional measures, such as springs attached to the legs and anchored to stakes in the ground. I was told by someone at a Star Party that this mount is not well suited for long-exposure deep-field photography. As it tracks objects across the sky, the mount makes slow adjustments, but it does not adjust azimuth (side-to-side) and altitude (up-and-down) at the same time, but in succession, in a stair-step pattern. The eye won't notice, but a long-exposure photo will see blurring. Alas. But I have not verified this info. In any event, it should work fine for short-exposure shots, like the moon (you will need a camera adapter, of course). The motorized mount goes through batteries pretty fast, especially if it is tracking something all the time. The default power source of eight (standard alkaline) AA batteries will probably last a night, but I would not push it to two nights if I had been tracking the whole night before. You can hook it up to a car battery and it will run forever. I use a wheelchair gel battery - they are smaller and lighter than car batteries, and will take the deep-cycle use (charge and deplete, charge and deplete). Buy a trickle charger and use it when the battery is not being used, to keep the battery fresh and extend its life. Or you can get the Celestron Power Tank. You can use an AC adapter if you have access to AC - any adapter that puts out 12 volts DC at 2.5 amps or more with a 2.5mm barrel plug (negative on outside, which is standard) will work just fine (you can have all the extra amps you want - it won't hurt anything). There are scads of suitable adapters on Amazon that are a whole lot cheaper than the one Celestron sells. This is a Newtonian scope, and Netownians are subject to collimation errors, meaning that the two mirrors are not precisely aligned. I recommend the Celestron Collimation Eyepiece (Celestron Model 94182, available on Amazon). This will allow you to quickly and easily (and accurately) calibrate your scope for an absolutely perfect image. Some people do this each time they transport their scope, because any sort of vibration can cause the mirrors to drift (though it seems to be a rather minor problem for this scope, in my experience). The instructions that come with the eyepiece are excellent. Get a red flashlight. Celestron makes one that has a dimmer. Red won't mess up your night vision nearly as badly as other wavelengths. I rate this scope at five stars, despite the BOOT LOADER problem (solution below). ========= BOOT LOADER PROBLEM ==================================================== Within two days of getting this scope, it failed to "boot" (the mount is computerized, and it needs to successfully "boot up," just like any computer. If it cannot boot, it is useless). When the hand controller was turned on, it said, "reading packages" and then stopped with an error message, "BOOT LOADER Invalid Pkg: 0080." This renders the scope dead - it cannot be moved, even with manual arrow buttons. Fixing the problem is a bit tricky. You need to flash the firmware in your hand controller (which has somehow become corrupted), but it's not as simple (or as well-documented) as it should be. First, you need to buy a serial cable to connect your computer to the controller. It's 9-pin RS-232 (female) on one end and a modular connector on the other end (it looks like a telephone plug). The Celestron model number for this cable is 93920, and you can buy it on Amazon. If you have a reasonably modern computer then you probably don't have a serial port. If you have a 9-pin MALE D-connector then you have a serial port (though it may be disabled in your system BIOS settings). Otherwise you need to buy serial capability - I recommend a USB to Serial converter (also available on Amazon from many suppliers). Connect the computer to the controller. Make sure you are plugging the serial cable into the base of the handheld controller, and not into the body of the motorized mount. Both the controller and the mount have modular serial connections (and both can be flashed), but you are flashing the handheld controller, not the mount. You need to download and install the Celestron Firmware Manager (CFM) from Celestron's website (it's in Support/Downloads/Software, near the bottom of the list). It's a Java application, so it should work on any computer platform. But it will be downloaded as a zipfile - you must extract the contents and then run CFM.jar (on Windows, just double-click it). You can't run it within the zipfile - it must be extracted. Make sure your scope is connected first. THIS IS IMPORTANT: There are two types of Celestron motorized controllers. There's the Alt/Az (which is used by this SLT mount, as well as LCM, SE 4/5/6/8, and CPC) and the Equatorial mount (used by CGE, Advanced, and CGE*). In the CFM menu (along the top of the CFM window), select "Hand Control" and make sure the proper type of control is selected for your model of scope (this CST scope is Alt/Az). THIS IS THE REALLY REALLY IMPORTANT PART - Under the mount type selection you will see three radio buttons. The first one is selected by default, and it tells CFM to automatically detect the mount type. This is NOT GOOD. CFM thought I had an Equatorial mount. Even if I select Alt/Az, my selection will be overridden by the "Auto Detect" option. Select the Second option, which says "Always do what I selected this time" and CFM will then respect your selection. Now flash the controller in the CFM, and you should be good to go. And if you go to a remote site or star party, it's a good idea to bring a laptop with CFM (and your cables), just in case you need to do this again. I was 160 miles from home (beneath a rare Class-1 darksky!!!) when I had this problem. Fortunately it was only an hour before sunrise, so I didn't miss too much. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on September 21, 2012 by David Filmer

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