We’ve named the Celestron StarSense Explorer DX 130AZ in our top three best beginner telescopes of all time, and we spotted a huge discount on it during Black Friday at Amazon.
Save over $180 on a Celestron beginner’s telescope And get a deal on Black Friday and Cyber Monday at retail giant Amazon. Originally $150 off, now they’ve taken an additional $30 off the price of this excellent entry-level telescope.
We reviewed the StarSense Explorer DX 130AZ last year and gave it 4/5 stars making it one of our highest-rated entry-level scopes ever. Perfect for new astronomers, it pairs with the Celestron StarSense app to guide beginners around the night sky with ease. Aside from some heavy lifting from the app, it is scalable for those who are learning more about the universe and who want to improve their eye navigation as well.
It comes with a red dot scope for manual stargazing, and is fully equipped with everything stargazers need to start observing under the stars. In addition to the findscope, in the box are 25mm and 10mm eyepieces, a StarSense smartphone mount, and a full-height fixed tripod.
For those who love taking astrophotographs, some basic amateur astrophotographs are achievable, but those seeking to take long-exposure images of celestial objects may need to look at a motorized telescope, such as the Celestron NexStar 8SE currently on sale for Black Friday.
The great thing about the Celestron is that because there is an alternate azimuth mount, setup is very simple for beginners over the slightly more complicated equatorial mount that comes with some of the more advanced telescopes.
The optical quality on the StarSense DX 130AZ is great and we really appreciated how lightweight the whole system was, allowing us to move it around easily when we reviewed it back last year. As with many reflecting telescopes, the mirrors need to be collimated to get the most out of this entry-level scope. This is very easy to achieve by following the included instructions. We can’t stress how important this is if you want to get the most out of the DX 130AZ – it will greatly impact your enjoyment of the telescope.
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Main specifications: This Newtonian reflector has a focal length of 650mm and an aperture of 130mm, this scope has a focal ratio of f/5. The highest useful magnification is 307x which gets you very close to celestial objects with fair views depending on atmospheric clarity. The lowest useful magnification is 19x and it weighs a total of 18 lbs (8.16 kg) which is very light for a full setup like this.
consensus: Overall, the Celestron StarSense Explorer DX 130AZ is a great telescope for beginner sky watchers. It’s affordable: You get a very capable system for your money. It’s also very easy to use, we found that even a child as young as eight was able to get started with it.
Buy if: You are a novice astronomer who wants to get into stargazing and need a quality instrument but you also need a little guidance which can be achieved via a smartphone app.
Do not buy if: The goal is to take things to the next level and start customizing the setup with high-quality eyepieces and a desire to take advantage of the more sophisticated equatorial mounts associated with intermediate telescopes.
Alternative models: As mentioned, we believe so Black Friday telescope deal on Celestron NexStar 8SE It’s the right choice if you’re a more advanced sky watcher and need the best optics in a compact package.
Alternatively, you can opt for a fully automated smart telescope that links to your phone or tablet. In this case, we recommend grabbing The Unistellar eVscope 2 smart telescope is $1,000 off (now $3,899) From the Unistellar website. This deal expires November 27th.
Verify Black Friday 2023 deals page To get a roundup of the best discounts and deals on Telescopes, Endoscopes, Cameras, Star projectors, Drones, Puzzle Games And much more.
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