Features:

  • This 5.1 inch aperture reflector telescope gathers an ample amount of light for great views of the planets and Moon, as well as brighter galaxies, nebulas, and star clusters
  • Short 24 inch long optical tube design for easy portability and fast f/5 focal ratio for pleasing wide-field performance makes the SpaceProbe 130ST EQ a very versatile telescope the whole family can enjoy
  • Sturdy EQ-2 equatorial telescope mount and adjustable tripod allows manual slow-motion tracking of celestial objects as they appear to migrate across the night sky , Counterweight bar length - 8 inches
  • Complete assembled telescope weighs just 27 lbs. for convenient transport
  • Includes two 1.25 inch Sirius Plossl eyepieces (25mm and 10mm), 6x30 finder scope, 1.25inch rack and pinion focuser, tripod accessory tray, collimation cap, Starry Night astronomy software, and more!
Wonderful scope with options to grow into for beginner

After much debate on purchasing this scope ( a Newtonian Reflector on a Equatorial Mount with 130mm aperture ) or a Orion SkyQuest XT8 Classic Dobsonian Telescope, I went with this scope for a couple of reasons. 1. This scope is supposedly ( more on this later ) more portable then the 8" tube and base that I would have received. I have small two door car and would not have been able to fit the tub in the trunk and only in the passenger seat. 2. This scope is on a Equatorial Mount which would be needed if you wished to take long exposure AstroPhotography or wanted to have a the telescope track objects in the sky without having to continually adjust. 3. It provided a very bright telescope ( f/5 ) with a wide field of view which was recommend to me to be better for a beginner. 4. The mount could later be upgraded to attach a motor to automatically track objects. Again a plus for taking photos or if you have people over and would like it to stay centered on the object. I was amazed at how quickly objects will move out of view, even a few minutes and your object will disappear. 5. This scope does a little bit of everything well enough and can let me grow or dabble into different areas without having to purchase another scope or added features. At most, you would need two accessories. A Orion Shorty 1.25" 2x Barlow Lens to help with magnification ( The long tube version of this scope Orion SpaceProbe 130 EQ Reflector has a longer focal point as well as the Dobsonian reflectors which gets your more magnification for the same eyepeice) and a camera mount/accessories for taking photos. This is my very first telescope and I will give you my opinion in each area of the product as well as issues I ran into as a beginner. PACKAGING: The scope arrived very well packed with many empty boxes inside the package to serve as cushion for the telescope and parts. It is a single box that is about four feet long and about 50 lbs. Unpacking may take a bit to carefully set up the parts for assembly. INCLUDED ITEMS: It comes with a manual, Orion's starry night software which I found helpful as beginner ( also notifies you of any upcoming events that you may want to watch) , tools for assembly of the telescope ( no hex wrench for collimation i.e. adjusting the mirrors ), collmination cap, and two eye pieces. A 10mm for 65x and a 25mm for 26x magnification. ASSEMBLY: The instructions list that this should take 30 minutes. I agree if I had to do this a second time and I could probably do it in 15 by the second or third time. However, as a beginner with no prior experience, expect an hour to 1 1/2 hour to assemble. The instructions are good but a bit hazy and unclear during certain steps for a beginner. This is due to the large area of controls, gears, and levers on the mount itself that can seem a bit over bearing at first before you are familiarized with the controls. It would be helpful to have smaller diagrams between steps showing exact controls or parts to move. You may have to re-read the steps a few time and continue to consult the single diagram for reference. Order of Assembly: 1. Mount tripods to Mount ( Mount is heavy! ) 2. Add and assembly accessory tray 3. Thread and add counterweight to mount ( Be very careful ) 4. Add ring mounts ( will hold the telescope tube or OTA ) to mount. Remember to add the correct one to the correct side 5. Carefully set tube in ring mounts and tighten. 6. Adjust balance of telescope in both axis 7. Add slow control knobs to worm gears Notes about assembly: I ran into issues at first after installing the counter weight. I was under the impression that the locking bolts to secure the mount at a particular angle would hold the mount in place with the counterweight. No matter how tight you press the weight will force the mount down. I assumed something was broken but luckily I figured out that the latitude adjustment bolt needed to be set first. This bolt limits how low the mount will go. In my case, with the bolt not set the counterweight would flop down and hit the tripod legs. Setting this bolt to 30-40 degrees stops it from BENDING lower and the counterweight stays still now. Second issue I had was mounting the tube rings on the wrong side. There is one right with a small metal wheel on top to be used for taking photos with a camera. That ring should be toward the FRONT of the telescope WHICH IS where the SLOW MOTION CONTROL for Declination is! This means the control knob ALSO points towards the front of the telescope. COLLIMATION: I used the included cap ( place over the focuser or eyepiece tube on the telescope ) to check if the mirrors were aligned. I looked through and it looked pretty close to me at first and I wanted to get out and test it. You should check it after receiving it as some of it may be off. Mine was as I realized later however it was close enough to still see brilliant images the first night. I corrected it today and after over an hour of the learning process I have mine aligned well and it did seem that the moon was sharper then the day before. This is a maintenance process that you have to do on these types of scopes. The first time, it's tough. If I had to do it again now I could do it in about 5-10 minutes or less. Here are some of the mistakes a beginner like me made that caused confusion: When you use the collimation cap, you are supposed to see all these "rings" and reflections of the mirrors. There are only two things you are going to adjust, the secondary mirror and the primary mirror ( the big one at the back of the tube). The secondary mirror is the tricky one. Basically, you look down the focuser and with the telescope parallel to the horizon ( in case you drop a screw or tool and don't' want it falling onto the mirror and breaking it! ) you look through and see if the dark black ring around the center is , well centered. If not you start by using a Philips screw to adjust on the front of the scope. There is a cross at the front and only one Phillips head screw in the center to modify. This Moves the mirror toward the back of the tube or toward the front. This just aligns it so that when you look through you are seeing the whole image of the secondary mirror through the focuser. You may rotate it if it's at an angle but only touch the stub, not the mirror itself. Then, you can use a 2mm Allen wrench to adjust the three screws to adjust the tilt to make that dark black ring in the center. There will be a ring shaped mark that you will see. don't worry about getting that centered yet, only the dark ring around it. Once that is done, you unscrew three screws at the back to take off a cover and then find 6 screws to adjust the back mirror. This is trial and error as well but you just have to move either of the screws a little bit and it will cause the ring mark to move and center with the dark dot directly in the center. This "dot" is the hole that you are looking through that you will see in the mirror reflection. USING THE TELESCOPE Finally, actually using the telescope is not so bad but you will have to get used to moving it around a equatorial mount. It does not move left to right and up and down. It moves in "arcs" that match the movement of the Earth. For the first night, I just moved the telescope around and moved it into position of the moon without polar aligning the mount. Since this was a quick test, I didn't care about that just yet. All the controls moved well and smoothly. I did have to tighten the RA and Dec knobs well to make sure no movement happened, though if you give it a hard nudge or rested your hand on the tube you could accidentally move it slightly. The scope is a bit sensitive to movement. The tripod base was sturdy but once you got to the tube you could tap it and it would bounce slightly and then stabilize. I feel this is normal for any mount in this price range of this type as I tested from tripod off tapping everywhere to see where I could make adjustments to make it more sturdy. All the pieces are heavy and solid, and I think once it gets to the tube itself there is some play in movement just because the telescope is a rolled metal tube. Adding and taking off eyepieces is fairly easy. Simply loosen two screws pop into place. The focuser worked well. Some people complain that it is plastic, but it does not make it work poorly because of it. It was very smooth focusing and also held my DSLR camera with the Orion 1.25" Universal Camera Adapter in place fine. IMAGE QUALITY Fantastic. I had my neighbors over and we were all very impressed with shots of the moon. Pictures would not do it justice to how sharp and clear the images were. I also later that night pointed the telescope at Jupiter and with the 2x barlow lens and 10mm eyepiece could see Jupiter and all four moons. I was very impressed. The image was tiny in the eyepiece but you could see them clearly. I have purchased a 5mm eyepiece for higher magnification ( 130x base and 260x with a 2x barlow ). OVERALL QUALITY Everything is packaged well, seems of decent heft and weight, and is relatively good quality. I only found maybe a few parts that felt "cheap" but really, everything worked well and didn't degrade it from performing properly. I think for the price that this sells for I got good product. SUMMARY This telescope is wonderful and is versatile. It is a bright scope with a wide field of view. It is on a equatorial mount which if you plan on growing into the hobby will want to learn how to use. If you want to try AstroPhotography you have everything basically ready to start other than a mount for your camera. You can adjust the magnification to get very high power with a simple eyepiece upgrade to match other longer focal length scopes. It IS portable, if you take the tube and tripod/mount/counterweight apart before traveling. For me I will be able to fit each piece into my tight spaces and still have someone in the passenger seat. For those with larger vehicles, the Dobsonian telescopes might be more portable. Overall this is a well made scope with options to grow into and can give you some flexibility. My number one reason for buying this over a Orion xt8 is that I could learn and work with a little bit of everything in this new hobby.

Ring of Saturn

During the last new moon I saw the rings of saturn for the first time in my life, my picture doesnt do it justice, it was much clearer. This telescope is wonderful and was well worth the money

I can use it. And I'm an idiot.

I bought this as my first telescope. I had no idea how to use it. I barely knew how it worked. Only that there were mirrors and a lens and a weaker telescope to find stars/spy on neighbors. But after spending an hour assembling something that should have taken 30 minutes for someone who is competent, I had my telescope. The image is incredibly clear. You can easily make out the red surface of Mars, the rings of Saturn, and craters on the moon. Balancing the telescope with the counter weight is a bit difficult but you get the hang of it. Oh and it is a HUGE chick magnet. Not really though. But in all seriousness, it was an amazing investment that I would highly recommend it to any beginner.

Definitely more than I was expecting

I’m probably going to sound like an idiot for saying this, but the only reason I got a telescope was to look at the moon. My three-year-old daughter was really into finding the moon – she has this weird ability to spot it in the sky immediately whenever it’s visible. I thought: wouldn’t it be cool to get a telescope and show her what it looks like up close? I basically shopped for a telescope on Amazon the way I shop for everything: by average customer review. This telescope came up first, the price sounded reasonable, so I was sold. I’m not known for my foul mouth, but the first time I took it out and saw the detail of the moon, the profanities just spilled out. I couldn’t believe how beautiful it was. I had looked through telescopes as a kid, but I had never seen through one that offered such crisp and detailed views. But other than looking at stars (and you can really see a TON more than with the naked eye – it’s amazing), I initially didn’t know what else to do with it or how to find objects in the sky or even how to use the mount (tip: visit Orion’s website; Ken will show you). Seven months later, I was reading something an astronomy professor wrote in which he mentioned seeing the rings of Saturn through a telescope when he was a kid– I don’t know why, but I had assumed my reasonably priced device was not capable of seeing detail that far away. After reading that, I took the telescope out again, found Saturn and the profanities just flowed like a waterfall once again. Not only could I clearly see the rings of Saturn, but I could see upwards of six moons depending on how clear and haze-less the night was. Well, that got me hooked. For a while, I had trouble finding other objects, but after some trial and error, downloading a better sky map on my cell phone and figuring out how to use the equatorial mount properly, I was able to find the Andromeda galaxy. It’s just mind boggling to be looking at a galaxy some 2.5 million light years away – you’re literally looking at the past. I can’t wait until Jupiter and Mars are visible in the night sky. What I thought would offer some cool views of the moon for me and my daughter has become my new obsession. See, Orion knows what it’s doing here: I just bought an eyepiece that costs half of what this telescope does and it’s just the beginning. I plan to get at least four more eyepieces in the coming months, a Barlow lens, a polarizing moon filter, a sun filter, a hydrogen alpha filter, an accessory case and I even opened a “vacation” savings account with my bank for a larger telescope. I’m now wondering whether it’s too early to think about an astrophotography camera. Who am I going to go to for all these accessories and my next telescope? That’s right: the company that can give me this caliber of a telescope for such a reasonable price. And note: that larger telescope I have in mind will by no means make this one obsolete. The SpaceProbe 130ST is comparatively portable and lightweight (around 25 lbs. assembled). If I ever manage to save up enough for a four foot-long “light bucket”, I’ll get clearer and brighter views of dim deep space objects like faint nebulae and galaxies, but for brighter objects like planets, this will likely stay my telescope of choice due to its size and portability. I keep it in my basement and take it out almost every clear night. I can’t see that happening with an 80-115 lb. scope.

Super high quality scope for serious beginner or intermediate astronomer

This is only my second telescope, but I agonized over the purchase for a few weeks. I wanted primarily a large aperture and an EQ (equatorial) mount. I started looking at Orion telescopes because of their tutorial videos and excellent information on their website. I also looked nearly exclusively on Amazon for telescopes and Orion has a lot of high quality telescopes that are reasonably affordable and highly rated. So, I started to think that Orion was the way to go. I chose the SpaceProbe 130ST because it has a 5.1 inch (130mm) aperture, a very sturdy EQ mount for tracking objects across the sky, and a whole lot of other specs that are ideal for deep space viewing. This telescope is capable of viewing the moon and planets in very high detail, especially if you utilize extra lenses. It's also capable of viewing more "deep sky" objects like bright galaxies, nebulae, and star clusters. The last bit is why I bought a large aperture: I want to be able to view as many deep sky objects as I can without breaking the bank. This telescope is where it's at. It's not too large, not too terribly expensive, and it has all the features of an awesome telescope. Not to mention you can expand your options by buying more lenses and even a motor to turn the R.A. axis for you to track objects in the sky. I give it 5 stars and I can't recommend this scope highly enough.

8/8 m8

This telescope is incredible! absolutely love it. the mount is sturdy and reliable and very easy to use. the optics are easy to adjust. i've been able to see the orion nebula, andromeda galaxy, saturns rings, jupiters moons and cloud belts and of course craters on the moon. this telescope is the best that ive seen out there in this price range.

Great entry level

Great entry level. I bought a simple telescope at a yard sale for $15. My wife had so much fun with that I bought this. Great help from mfg and youtube on the procedure of assembly and most important the balance of the device. Walk though made for great chance to see Saturn rings, moon craters and just plain fun. To say a negative, I would have paid a bit more it this came in a carry box, it comes in the Amazon cardboard box, and the advertised software is online that is not really worth my time. A download or better yet a disk that I could run on my PC to see what my local might be in position to see would be a lot more helpful than what was provide. Which was a dot com address and your code to enter then you get crap to subscribe to things you don't want. Have already deleted three sites from this product that want me to link in or subscribe to groups. How about just some PC star gaze maps, to much to ask?

Beautiful if you give it the care required, if you want instant gratification you'll need to spend about 1k more

I love everything about this telescope. It works quite well for my semi-urban environment that is fairly light polluted. It's not a pushbutton so you do have to orient everything yourself, sometimes that's actually the fun of spending the night looking around the sky - and the dials and controls of the equatorial mount are quite smooth vs shaking around the sky on an azimuth mount. The eyepieces are respectable for the price but as a starter it's a nice piece that can give you hours and months of enjoyment. But as with all neutonians you're gonna have to collimate it regularly. The reflector mirror shakes whenever you take it from one side of the house to another. It is a decent starter piece, but you will have to invest in some bells and whistles (lenses, eyepieces, filters, etc) to get the best out of it. However if you are willing to put in the work and application to what it's built for you'll get excellent results.

Easy to use and Saturns rings are visible.

This is my first telescope and it is amazing. Reading through the questions there is one poor soul who goes on and on about how bad this telescope is. It almost sounds like he has a stake in another company. Don’t let that dissuade you as it almost did me. I took it out for the first time tonight and saw Jupiter and four of its moons. There is an annoying street light to the south which is in the direction Jupiter is for me and I could easily see four moons and two rust colored bands that encircle the planet. I’m new to this and I don’t know what they’re called but they are visible. I downloaded an app called night sky and it helped me to find where Saturn should be. There is a tree across the street and I was getting tired so I lowered the tripod to make it easier to carry inside. I’m 6’4” and the tripod fully extended is perfect for me but it won’t fit through the door. Looking through the window using the app I thought I’d give it another try and look for Saturn. I easily found it through the viewfinder first and there it was. Yes you can see Saturns rings with the more powerful of the two eyepieces. The music the app plays is amazing and I let it play while it’s in my pocket. I didn’t even align this telescope with Polaris the North Star. I went online and found out the latitude of my city and used that instead. It is easy to use and not intimidating at all. I’m glad I bought this. There are many videos online to help with assembly and use of this great telescope.

Watch the moon, watch the sky, watch the universe

As someone who doesn't know much about telescopes, purchasing this was more than I could handle. If you are not already someone familiar with assembling or knowing how a telescope, this could would be a nightmare for some. BUT The end product of this assembling is breathtaking. I'm not even lying. After you and a friend assemble this, take the pieces separable and back pack out somewhere. If not, leave the product in the room and become a catalyst of conversation starters. Believe me, this thing looks pretty. Picture provided is the telescope itself. The other photos are of Jupiter and its planets being captured from a mobile phone. The end product is incredible with your own eyes.

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