Your channel has helped me out quite a bit getting to know this 130slt i bought recently. yesterday i updated the firmware and it was a wild game changer, i caught the ring nebula, my first good shot.
I considered buying one of these a couple months ago. They cost $639 as of this post. Instead, I recently bought a Sky Watcher Virtuoso GTI 150P Collapsible Tabletop GoTo Dobsonian for $470. Mount is more stable, it offers 20mm extra aperture and it does not require physical modification for photography. Just pull the Flextube out 1 cm less than maximum. I did replace the crummy focuser at the cost of $92 and made a shroud for $8. The rig weighs 19 pounds. I did this because I was inspired by Kyle's work.
@@hart316 One which I assembled with: "Gosky T Thread to 1.25“ Adapter (M42x0.75-1.25inch) - with Dual Clampscrews and Compression Ring" "M48 Male to M42 Male Telescope Adapter Lens Adapter Ring Aluminum Filter Adapter Ring for Connecting The Telescope with M48 Thread and Camera" "Adjustable Focusing Helicoid Adapter, VBESTLIFE M42 to M42 Focusing Helicoid Lens Mount Adapter Macro Tube Accessory (17mm-31mm)" "Astromania Adaptor T2 Thread to 2" Female for Telescope - Can be Screwed onto Any T2 Male Thread and Provides a clamp for 2" Accessories" "Alstar M48X0.75 (2" Filter) Female to M42X0.75 T / T2 Male Thread Telescope Adapter" All of which I bought from Amazon. The fellow on the Dobsonian Power channel shows how to put it together. Hope this helps.
Go for 150p heritage GTI virtuouso it's affordable and excellent with mods the telescope costs around $475 which is almost half the price of this 130 slt and the 150p heritage GTI has 20mm aperture more than 130slt so go for it and it's very budget also have goTo
Hey Kyle. I bought a pop up privacy shelter for camping. You can use it to use the restroom or change clothes. I use it when using this telescope bc of the wind factor that you had warned about and it works great
I just found your UA-cam Channel Kyle and now I have to go back and find the rest of your videos. So that I can start from the beginning and work myself through them all. Ive had my Celestron 130 SLT for about 8 years now but really haven't used it as much as I would like too. Just now getting back into it and need to but a few things for it like a Barlow lens adapter and some better eyepieces. Because to two that came with it, 25 and 9mm are just not in my opinion the best quality compared to some of the other eyepieces that are available. I've actually been talking with Justin who is a custom service representative at Celestron. And he has helped me with some of the upgrades I have been thinking about like the Barlow lens. Then Justin goes into great detail about Celestron 130 SLT and what it can or cannot do with my current stock setup. Which is pretty much the same information I have Celestron NexStar SLT Instruction Manual, just in a little more detail about what the advantages are with a Barlow lens. On a parting note, just want to say I enjoy your UA-cam Channel as I am about to subscribe and look forward to watching it from them all.
Barlows are an absolute must for planetary, and they're pretty cheap too. I haven't used the eyepieces much since I primarily do astrophotography as opposed to visual astronomy, but that sounds about right. They feel kind of medium grade. And Thanks! Hopefully you find the videos interesting and informative!
The images you've taken with that alt/az mount are very impressive. Could you do a tutorial on how to push the mirror of the scope forward with out losing collimation of the mirrors?
Thanks! There already is a video guide for the mod, though you absolutely will lose collimation during the repositioning regardless of how you do it. However, the mod just acts as an extension of the current collimation and locking screws, so you'd just reCollimate it in the same way your already used to.
Would this telescope also be a good tool for daytime viewing of surrounding city and mountains? We just moved into a new home with a great view. We'd also like to use the telescope in the daytime to explore what we can see of our surroundings. Would the Celestron 130SLT function for these puposes as well?
Potentially? It's kind of hard to say in that the telescope is a fixed focal length so it may not offer the range/field of view that you may want unless you get several barlows (for zooming further in). I'd assume that a good zoom lense may work better for the daytime surrounding stuff.
Great info. Just bought a130 SLT Newtonian and gonna sub. 1 issue I have with this, my first video, is the volume. I have it at max and It's still a bit hard to hear. All other vids sound normal.
I typically give 1 - 3 hours (180 - 540 20s subs) of aggregate exposure time. If I go lower than 1 hour then the image gets way too noisy. And on the opposite end, 3 hours is a good signal to noise without getting egregiously long.
Thank you for your video and confirmation on what it can do. Thinking about purchasing the Nexstar 130slt like yours. It's on sales now for around $450 US. Hope to buy it before X'mas. Thank you again. Merry X'mas to you. Take care.
Glad you liked it! It has worked quite well but has certainly taken alot of work to get to this point. Do check out the process video and the video that details the Prime Focus Mod: ua-cam.com/video/jDpSXPNCnS0/v-deo.html to make sure you understand what'll be needed. And do alot of research to make sure you're getting something that works well for you! Clear Skies & Merry X'mas
I have this telescope sitting in my Amazon cart just wondering with this scope stock can I see any detail on Mars Jupiter or Saturn ? I'm talking threw a eye piece with Barlow .
Can you see the bands on Jupiter and the gap in the rings on saturn? Sure. But really substantial details i think are out of reach for this scope. I think the frames that I have in the video are about representative of the planets on a perfect seeing night. You may catch flickers of that through the eyepiece, but this isn't a killer planetary scope, atleast in my opinion.
i just got a celestron 130 slt and was wondering how to turn on sidereal tracking? i have a dslr and when i take pics the stars always trail. love the vids
It is already enabled, takes a moment to kick in and requires really good alignment. For reference, with really good alignments, I am only able to get ~20s exposures without star trails. But it also depends on the focal length at which you are shooting. That 20s is at Prime Focus, which I was only able to achieve by moving the primary mirror forward in the tube to overcome the backfocus of my DSLR during direct mounting. If you are instead achieving focus via a Barlow Lens, your focal length will increase, thus making you more sensitive to tracking error, effectively halving (if using a 2x barlow) your maximum exposure time without star trails. Hopefully that clears things up a little bit? I do have a full process video if your curious about my process, though do remember that it does require that mod.
@@bostonbrooksby6236 in theory, prime focus is better, and that has aligned with my limited experience with eyepiece projection. First, you have less components in your optical train and thus less areas where things can go wrong. Second, prime focus is typically a studier setup in that you camera is likely mounted closer to your tube, and eyepiece projection can be really finicky depending on your mounting hardware.
For small targets, I wouldn't and would just let the frame rotate. The stacking would align the images all the same anyways. For big stuff, I would actually periodically rotate the camera on the mount myself 😅. Adjustments every 15 minutes would yield a mostly rectangular composite.
That's utterly insane😯 I just got a 6" newt and a avx eq mount and I haven't even properly Polar aligned it yet and you are doing this with a alt az mount 😂 clear skys!
Thanks! It took alot of time and effort to get to this point. Almost gave up early on, glad I didn't. The Software though is the real MVP, it makes alot of this possible. And you should do great with a 6" newt and that fantastic eq mount! Best of luck and clear skies!
@@dofin3000 I'd eventually move to it since its objectively the better option for DSOs, but I dont have any plans to do so in the short term. Going to be focusing a bit on planetary since the oppositions are on their way. May do some spectroscopy too?
Hi, excellent video. I love space and I want to Buy this telescope(Celestron NexStar 130 SLT), but i'm not from US, and i need to know the dimensions of the box, would you do me the favor of telling me? Please
I unfortunately don't have the box so I'm not sure how big that would be for shipping. I imagine that they would have the details on the celestron page or a distributor like Highpoint Scientific. Best of Luck!
Thorough information! Thanks for that. I would like to know that after modding the telescope, would it work the same way to just watch the celestial objects through the telescope with naked eyes, or it would need some some extra equipment too?
You can still use it in the same way visually post-mod, atlesst for the included lenses. Haven't tried any additional ones. The change you will see though is that instead of being comfortably in the middle of your focus range, you will be near the far/outside limit. For one of the lenses and barlow combinations, you actually have to seat the lens at like 90% of the way in instead of all the way.
Great explanation!, i´ve the same telescope and i can´t do prime focus with my canon eos. Do u know what barlow lens give me the prime focus? I hope that u understand me, i'm from Mexico and my english is basic. Thank you.
I've actually done a mirror mod on my scope that let's you get prime focus with just a DSLR. That is HIGHLY desirable since we actually don't want to be too far zoomed in. Since DSOs are a constant brightness, they send a constant amount of photons, so the more zoomed out you are, the more photons each individual pixel will recieve. You can get focus with a DSLR and Barlow, but that increase in zoom both dilutes the light per pixel and makes it hard for the mount. The tracking on the mount is only so good and you would have to cut your exposure time to keep your images star-trail free. That means shorter exposures which means more memory and a slight increase in noise. While increasing zoom does increase resolution, many DSOs are actually quite large and fit on an APS-C DSLR sensor quite well when paired with the normal 650mm focal length. There is a video if you'd like to learn more about the mod. Its actually the guide that I used for my scope.
@@kylemccaslin I've actually tried a x2 barlow lens, and I always stay close to getting prime focus. I had no knowledge about what happens when using barlow lenses, so I will have to get all the materials to modify it. I really appreciate your response and explanation.
Still useable with the included eyepieces. I was able to verify those, but didn't have others to test. Though there is a little caveat to this: since we've pushed the focal range out, the spot where you get focus with the eyepieces is at the extreme outer limit of the focuser. For one (or two? hard to remember), I actually had to have the eyepiece like 90% seated instead of all the way in like normal.
@@kylemccaslin ah makes sense. Thank you. I guess if I got an astrology dedicated camera at a later date then I could just use it unmodded. Great work dude
Actually, can you attach a camera onto the goto mount without the scope? You can do this with the Sky-Watcher 130 az gti one as I've seen the mount been used
@kylemccaslin There was a wedge available for the slt series...how ever they are out of stock or unavailable. I contacted celestron, and they said that it is not advisable to use a wedge with this mount because the weight will cause stress on the gears which will eventually degrade over time.
Thanks again for all your videos! Any recommendations on on who i should watch to to learn how to use photoshop after using deep sky stacker for a complete beginner
I have the same telescope and modified it recently. When you say that you account for field rotation every 15 mins, exactly what are you doing? Are you rotating the camera counter clockwise or clockwise? Also are you adjusting the DSO to be in the center of view by using goto?
I'm rotating the camera clockwise at the same rate that the earth spins, doing it every 15 minutes or so to make the framing mostly consistent. And yes, I take a look at the framing and center the DSO of necessary, atleast to make sure it doesn't get cut off by the FoV by adjusting with the arrow keys. I do initially use that GoTo function, but after that the minor periodic adjustments are with the arrows. You do have to account for backlash if you have to drive the other way though.
@@kylemccaslin so use goto just the first time and then use the up and right arrows for minor adjustments. Rotating the camera clockwise at the same rate the earth spins every 15 mins, so in general by how many degrees angle from last position does that end up being or does that accuracy even matter? especially when we cannot see the dso well in camera to make sure that the image is somewhat aligned with the previous state. Any particular benefits in the finder scope that you have over the default pointer finder scope that comes with slt 130? How do you account for backlash? 🙏 Thanks
Accuracy isn't especially important. Just being somewhere around 15 Degrees/Hour or 3.75 Degrees/15Mins. While you can't see the DSO most of the time, you will likely have some stars around the edge of the frame that you can use for keeping in the right ball park as well. And I think mine has a greater adjustment range, but I actually don't like it as much. Only reason I have it is because I bought my 130slt used. Accounting for backlash is tricky in that you kind of have to know how far the slosh in the gears will delay your tracking if you change directions. So if the scope is tracking up and right, and you adjust down and left, the FoV is going to lag behind as the telescope's tracking needs to overcome that slosh before it's gears re-engage. It's something that you sort of get a feel for. Avoiding having to mess with it in the first place is the best option. So avoid changing directions if you have the option.
@@kylemccaslin thanks! Does the 130 slt really have a tracking feature? Does it mean that as time goes on the telescope also will move automatically to track the object and keep in view? Really? I thought I had to do this manually with arrows. When I go to Menu #7 btn and select tracking, I see off, alt az, eq north, eq south options only. What would be the right option as alt az option does not seem to stick.
@@Katzenrads Yup, it does! It is the Alt Az tracking. the quality of the tracking during a session REALLY depends on how you do the alignment. And on top of that, you're also dealing with the backlash. The same stuff i mentioned before about changing directions also applies to the GoTo function. So you could, and often will have cases where you send it to a target, then it drifts out of frame before the tracking overcomes the backlash. The tracking when done right is OK and has allowed me to get 20s exposures at prime focus without trails. I go over the proper alignment notes in my full process video. That said though, the 130slt has open-loop tracking, not guiding. it only knows where it is based on the inputs and alignment, if it's bumped or if the target drifts out of frame then it doesn't know. If it had auto-guiding then it would self correct.
Hi! You have done an excellent job with this setup, that telescope is amazing, as you pointed, for the price is a really good option. By the way, the celestron wedge is not compatible with this mount, It is designed for the SE series of telescopes
Others have complained about this OTA ‘s focal length not achieving prime focus-so mods to bring the mirror closer to the focuser are necessary. How did you achieve it? Never mind- i waited til the end and heard.lol. However, how is the eyepiece observing,post mirror mod? I also realize this is 3 years ago-but i just picked up a used one and am messing around with it.
It changes where on the focusser you get focus with the eyepieces as well. It's on the outer limit of the range post-mod. You can get focus with both included eyepieces, but one had to be mostly inserted instead of completely inserted (maybe 80%?). I hadn't tested other mm eyepieces so I can't say whether those would work. I'm not aware of any quality decreases, but didn't look into it too deeply.
What kind of alignment procedure did you make with the hand controller for the long exposure astrophotography? Sky Align, Auto Two Star or Two Star Alignment? Or Did you use a computer with Celestron CPWI to control the mount?
Two Star, which when done well should get you to 15 - 20 second subs. And stacking gets you the rest if the way. I've got a full process video where I go over some of the intricacies.
There are motors internal to the mount. And I've had them support 20s with a good alignment. Though admittedly, the quality of the mount's tracking is heavily dependent on that alignment being done correctly. It's also worth mentioning that the mount's motors do have some backlash, but it's kind of what you would expect from a lower cost go-to mount.
@@kylemccaslin thanks, I have taken some decent planetary images the only problem I have right now is with the deep sky objects on how to track and take decent pictures. I just brought a Nikon 3500 and I have celestron 130slt. If you have any links for step by step process on how to do long exposures and tracking please share it will be very useful for a beginner like me.
No. Most DSOs look like a fuzzy patch in real time through the eyepiece. You can see a little bit of nebulosity in the brightest Nebula - the Great Orion Nebula, but other than that, no.
I really like my Slt130, awesome video, by the way, did you notice a UFO landing in front of the building behind you? Between 2:22-2:24. I’m not kidding 🖖🏼
Other people have the videos that I used: The Mirror Positon Mod: ua-cam.com/video/jDpSXPNCnS0/v-deo.html The Canon 450d/Rebel Xsi Astromod: garyhonislegacy.com/rebelmod450d1.html
Okay I got a question for you and everyone who has this telescope actually, soo I’m new to this like absolutely new , I’m planning on purchasing this exact telescope, but idk what’s the recommendation accessories and filters I need to purchase as well. I’m just trying to find a new hobby and this seems chill and money is decent so I can get some decent things but I’m not ballin in cash at all but I have a good living and can afford some good things so yea any tips on what to get and tips on using one
Hey! So I think the real question here should be driven by what specifically you want to do and how DIY-friendly you are. Do you want to look at Stars, Planets, and the Moon (Visual Astronomy)? Do you want to try imaging (Deep Space, Planets, or Moon)? Are you able to access darker skies or do you live in a light polluted area and are unable to drive to a nearby darker area? There are a ton of routes to get into astronomy and different routes are going to work best for different people. If you're really more of a visual guy and don't really want to bother with imaging deep space stuff, then Dobsonians are an excellent band-for-the-buck. If you're interested in Deep space but don't want to commit too much initially, Wide Field Milky Way shots with a cheap old DSLR can open that door. With Deep Space Astrophotography, the costs really start to mount as you increase in resolution & zoom. But, there are ways to pull some of that higher level functionality out of good gear if you are ready and able to mod it. Do understand though that all of the deep space stuff (except for widefield) has a bit of a learning curve. If you have the opportunity, I'd really suggest checking the used market too since there can be amazing deals there. If you're ultra ultra new, it may be a good idea to dip your feet before laying too much money down. I can try to help a little bit, provided we have some answers to those initial questions though.
@@kylemccaslin lol yea I was hesitant to even bring it up cause I can tell there’s a lot that goes into this but, I would like to see the moon and planets and explore deep space but mainly right now as a beginner my main thing will be stars and the moon nothing very deep , my location gets dark and I have a few locations where it’s really dark so that’s not a issue, when I get a chance I will explore the market more to see what’s cheap and everything as well since I’m ultra ultra new to all of this .
Hello, I'm a space enthusiast. I've never own a telescope before and I'm willing to buy this one (Nexstar 130SLT). I just want to know whether I'd be able to handle it as a beginner. I'd also like to know for how much you had purchased this telescope.
Hey! The 130SLT can be quite finicky and for the DSO stuff, it did require a primary mirror position mod. While there are videos on just about all of this stuff to help you along the way, it can be a bit daunting. I think much of this though revolves around what your aiming for. Planetary can be quite accessible, but for the DSOs, you want to be able to get away from the light pollution of city centers. Hence, why I mentioned driving out about an hour or so. DSOs also take a while to capture and aren't something that you can see well in real time, so I do want to damped expectations a bit if you were hoping to look up at these things with just your eye. The camera and critically, the image software does ALOT of the heavy lifting here. So while I do think it's OK to start here, there might be easier ways. Like a DSLR on a star tracker capturing some wide field shots. Based on pixel density, you can actually resolve quite a few DSOs very quickly with just a DSLR and Camera lense, though you won't have the resolution of a telescope. As far as purchasing equipment goes, I am a HUGE fan of the used market. You can get some fantastic deals on like-new telescopes or even full setups if you take your time and are is a reasonably populated area. That's kind of the thing though in that the reason why that exists is because many people will get them or recieve them as gifts then not use them much. We can talk more about your specific situation over email (khmccaslin@utexas.edu) if you'd like, but hopefully that answer helped?
Yes, though the views are just kind of alright. And you absolutely need some barlow(s), like 2 2x or 1 4x or something around that. The planets are tiiiiiiiny and this helps you get in closer. Like you can see the bands and big red spot on Jupiter just fine, and the Cassini division on Saturn too. Its alright, but not stellar. Real-Time visual astronomy is going to look better than the live feed from a camera but the stacked image from a camera is likely to be better than the Real-Time visual.
Thanks Kyle, really good stuff out of this scope! I own same, and used it just for visuals and was in general happy after upgrading from spherical newts. Upgraded to a C8 now and on the fence to keep this or put it up for sale. Do you have any thoughts?
Ummm. Your C8 is going to blow this out of the water in terms of optical capability, but the one thing that you may lose is that wider field viewing. If you're into imaging or tinkering, you could use the 130 slt for some wider targets like I have, but that's really up to you! The money, if you sell it though, could go towards a camera or accessories for the new scope too though if you go that way!
Sorry to bug you again, this is Steve and not my wife Melissa like it says in my comments. As I was watching this video you had mentioned something about how light weight the 130 SLT is. And because of that you have found it is kind of hard to take pictures if there happens to be a little bit of wind and or vibration. I'm wondering if you ever came up with a solution that would help minimize that issue? I know that Celestron sells these little VSP [Vibration Suppression Pads] but I don't think something like those will really work. Too help keep vibration down to a minimum especially when outside in the middle of nowhere and most likely on the dirt.
Hi Steve, The scope is definitely light enough and big enough to be vulnerable to the wind, but I haven't actually had many problems with ground vibrations. It's something that you would probably notice if you were shooting from on top of something like a busy parking garage, but it's pretty easy to avoid those kinds of scenarios if you know about it. I do own the vibration pads as they came with the scope when I bought it used, but I'm not convinced that they help that much. Jumping back to that wind note, it is absolutely vulnerable to that, but it's also generally true that the best times typically occur when the air is still (and obviously at night when it is even stiller than the day). I do want to highlight here though that due to the relative light construction, the vibrations that do occur tend to linger for a little bit. These are especially noticeable when you are trying to focus. So if you are a visual astronomer and are touching the scope alot, I could see this being particularly annoying. Best of luck to you! And feel free to drop in any other questions you might have. I'm happy to help! -Kyle
Your video could be misleading. You never let people know you stacked your photos and all other post production step you did. I have had this scope for years and there is no way single photo will result in anything close to your photos. 🤷🏻♂️
I think that's kind of a fair criticism? This was meant to be a follow up video to 4 other ones, all of which state this is with stacking and one being an hour long that goes over the process exhaustively. I do directly link to and reference the full process video, but looking back you are correct that I didn't explicitly state they are stacked here - only imply it. I'll make sure that's explicit in if I make another one of these, and add an update in the description so it's as clear as possible.
Your channel has helped me out quite a bit getting to know this 130slt i bought recently. yesterday i updated the firmware and it was a wild game changer, i caught the ring nebula, my first good shot.
and just realized i haven't been subscribed this whole time. haha
Same aswell this legend kickstarted my interest in astrophotography with his tips and help 2 years ago
I considered buying one of these a couple months ago. They cost $639 as of this post. Instead, I recently bought a Sky Watcher Virtuoso GTI 150P Collapsible Tabletop GoTo Dobsonian for $470. Mount is more stable, it offers 20mm extra aperture and it does not require physical modification for photography. Just pull the Flextube out 1 cm less than maximum.
I did replace the crummy focuser at the cost of $92 and made a shroud for $8. The rig weighs 19 pounds.
I did this because I was inspired by Kyle's work.
Which focuser did you install?
@@hart316 One which I assembled with:
"Gosky T Thread to 1.25“ Adapter (M42x0.75-1.25inch) - with Dual Clampscrews and Compression Ring"
"M48 Male to M42 Male Telescope Adapter Lens Adapter Ring Aluminum Filter Adapter Ring for Connecting The Telescope with M48 Thread and Camera"
"Adjustable Focusing Helicoid Adapter, VBESTLIFE M42 to M42 Focusing Helicoid Lens Mount Adapter Macro Tube Accessory (17mm-31mm)"
"Astromania Adaptor T2 Thread to 2" Female for Telescope - Can be Screwed onto Any T2 Male Thread and Provides a clamp for 2" Accessories"
"Alstar M48X0.75 (2" Filter) Female to M42X0.75 T / T2 Male Thread Telescope Adapter"
All of which I bought from Amazon.
The fellow on the Dobsonian Power channel shows how to put it together.
Hope this helps.
Great explanations! I really appreciate it. I'm getting in to astrophotography and this helped a lot.
Really nice video. First one I could find with a budget telescope showing such great detail.
Go for 150p heritage GTI virtuouso it's affordable and excellent with mods the telescope costs around $475 which is almost half the price of this 130 slt and the 150p heritage GTI has 20mm aperture more than 130slt so go for it and it's very budget also have goTo
Hey Kyle. I bought a pop up privacy shelter for camping. You can use it to use the restroom or change clothes. I use it when using this telescope bc of the wind factor that you had warned about and it works great
I just found your UA-cam Channel Kyle and now I have to go back and find the rest of your videos. So that I can start from the beginning and work myself through them all. Ive had my Celestron 130 SLT for about 8 years now but really haven't used it as much as I would like too. Just now getting back into it and need to but a few things for it like a Barlow lens adapter and some better eyepieces. Because to two that came with it, 25 and 9mm are just not in my opinion the best quality compared to some of the other eyepieces that are available.
I've actually been talking with Justin who is a custom service representative at Celestron. And he has helped me with some of the upgrades I have been thinking about like the Barlow lens. Then Justin goes into great detail about Celestron 130 SLT and what it can or cannot do with my current stock setup. Which is pretty much the same information I have Celestron NexStar SLT Instruction Manual, just in a little more detail about what the advantages are with a Barlow lens.
On a parting note, just want to say I enjoy your UA-cam Channel as I am about to subscribe and look forward to watching it from them all.
Barlows are an absolute must for planetary, and they're pretty cheap too. I haven't used the eyepieces much since I primarily do astrophotography as opposed to visual astronomy, but that sounds about right. They feel kind of medium grade.
And Thanks! Hopefully you find the videos interesting and informative!
I never thought about using the 130 for astrophotography. But seeing this, I'm giving it a try.
Good work. Those are a difficult telescopes to use.
The images you've taken with that alt/az mount are very impressive. Could you do a tutorial on how to push the mirror of the scope forward with out losing collimation of the mirrors?
Thanks! There already is a video guide for the mod, though you absolutely will lose collimation during the repositioning regardless of how you do it. However, the mod just acts as an extension of the current collimation and locking screws, so you'd just reCollimate it in the same way your already used to.
Would this telescope also be a good tool for daytime viewing of surrounding city and mountains? We just moved into a new home with a great view. We'd also like to use the telescope in the daytime to explore what we can see of our surroundings. Would the Celestron 130SLT function for these puposes as well?
Potentially? It's kind of hard to say in that the telescope is a fixed focal length so it may not offer the range/field of view that you may want unless you get several barlows (for zooming further in). I'd assume that a good zoom lense may work better for the daytime surrounding stuff.
Great info. Just bought a130 SLT Newtonian and gonna sub. 1 issue I have with this, my first video, is the volume. I have it at max and It's still a bit hard to hear. All other vids sound normal.
Very informative. I think I learned something.. Thank you
How many (generally) 20 sec images do you stack to get that quality? And what software do you use? Your images look excellent
I typically give 1 - 3 hours (180 - 540 20s subs) of aggregate exposure time. If I go lower than 1 hour then the image gets way too noisy. And on the opposite end, 3 hours is a good signal to noise without getting egregiously long.
@@kylemccaslin - I will try your advice - what stacking software do you use? Thanks 🙏
@@ssnoc oops, forgot to mention that. Its Deep Sky Stacker
@@kylemccaslin - Thank You
Thank you for your video and confirmation on what it can do. Thinking about purchasing the Nexstar 130slt like yours. It's on sales now for around $450 US. Hope to buy it before X'mas. Thank you again. Merry X'mas to you. Take care.
Glad you liked it! It has worked quite well but has certainly taken alot of work to get to this point. Do check out the process video and the video that details the Prime Focus Mod: ua-cam.com/video/jDpSXPNCnS0/v-deo.html
to make sure you understand what'll be needed.
And do alot of research to make sure you're getting something that works well for you!
Clear Skies & Merry X'mas
@@kylemccaslin Thank you Kyle. Will update you and pick you brain if I do end up getting the 130slt. Take care :)
@@friedrice5292 where is it selling for $450?
@@M42-y8l It was on Amazon. Price went back up again. Sorry!
Possible to do astrovideo with a ZWO camera? I want to do near real time viewing. Not interested in actually stacking images myself and all that.
I have this telescope sitting in my Amazon cart just wondering with this scope stock can I see any detail on Mars Jupiter or Saturn ? I'm talking threw a eye piece with Barlow .
Can you see the bands on Jupiter and the gap in the rings on saturn? Sure. But really substantial details i think are out of reach for this scope.
I think the frames that I have in the video are about representative of the planets on a perfect seeing night. You may catch flickers of that through the eyepiece, but this isn't a killer planetary scope, atleast in my opinion.
@@kylemccaslin gotcha for the price Amazon is charging I can go with a 6 inch dob for $50 dollars less and get better bang for my buck
i just got a celestron 130 slt and was wondering how to turn on sidereal tracking? i have a dslr and when i take pics the stars always trail. love the vids
It is already enabled, takes a moment to kick in and requires really good alignment. For reference, with really good alignments, I am only able to get ~20s exposures without star trails. But it also depends on the focal length at which you are shooting. That 20s is at Prime Focus, which I was only able to achieve by moving the primary mirror forward in the tube to overcome the backfocus of my DSLR during direct mounting. If you are instead achieving focus via a Barlow Lens, your focal length will increase, thus making you more sensitive to tracking error, effectively halving (if using a 2x barlow) your maximum exposure time without star trails.
Hopefully that clears things up a little bit? I do have a full process video if your curious about my process, though do remember that it does require that mod.
@@kylemccaslin thanks. also one more question. is prime focus better than eyepiece projection?
@@bostonbrooksby6236 in theory, prime focus is better, and that has aligned with my limited experience with eyepiece projection.
First, you have less components in your optical train and thus less areas where things can go wrong.
Second, prime focus is typically a studier setup in that you camera is likely mounted closer to your tube, and eyepiece projection can be really finicky depending on your mounting hardware.
@@kylemccaslin you should make a video about sidereal tracking on the 130 slt. it would really help me. of course you dont have too im sure your busy.
Fantastic photos but I have a question.
How do you counter balance the rotation of the earth using an az mount?
For small targets, I wouldn't and would just let the frame rotate. The stacking would align the images all the same anyways.
For big stuff, I would actually periodically rotate the camera on the mount myself 😅. Adjustments every 15 minutes would yield a mostly rectangular composite.
@@kylemccaslin Thank you!
I just bought an slt 130 not using it for photography what are some of the mods and best eye pieces your suggest and where can I find them
Information excelent !
Do you have a video on how to mod the scope??
Here's the video I used:
ua-cam.com/video/jDpSXPNCnS0/v-deo.html
muy buenas explicaciones y fotos, increible tu video, me ayudó mucho
That's utterly insane😯 I just got a 6" newt and a avx eq mount and I haven't even properly Polar aligned it yet and you are doing this with a alt az mount 😂 clear skys!
Thanks! It took alot of time and effort to get to this point. Almost gave up early on, glad I didn't. The Software though is the real MVP, it makes alot of this possible. And you should do great with a 6" newt and that fantastic eq mount! Best of luck and clear skies!
@@kylemccaslin I hope I cam make some good images!!! And good luck and xlesr skys to you too!! Oh and one thing do you plan on ever switching to eq?
@@dofin3000 I'd eventually move to it since its objectively the better option for DSOs, but I dont have any plans to do so in the short term. Going to be focusing a bit on planetary since the oppositions are on their way. May do some spectroscopy too?
@@kylemccaslin awsome!!! I love that you are maximizing your rig. Getting the absolute most out of it!!!
Hi, excellent video. I love space and I want to Buy this telescope(Celestron NexStar 130 SLT), but i'm not from US, and i need to know the dimensions of the box, would you do me the favor of telling me? Please
I unfortunately don't have the box so I'm not sure how big that would be for shipping. I imagine that they would have the details on the celestron page or a distributor like Highpoint Scientific. Best of Luck!
Thorough information! Thanks for that. I would like to know that after modding the telescope, would it work the same way to just watch the celestial objects through the telescope with naked eyes, or it would need some some extra equipment too?
You can still use it in the same way visually post-mod, atlesst for the included lenses. Haven't tried any additional ones. The change you will see though is that instead of being comfortably in the middle of your focus range, you will be near the far/outside limit. For one of the lenses and barlow combinations, you actually have to seat the lens at like 90% of the way in instead of all the way.
@@kylemccaslin Got it. Thanks that helps!
Great explanation!, i´ve the same telescope and i can´t do prime focus with my canon eos. Do u know what barlow lens give me the prime focus? I hope that u understand me, i'm from Mexico and my english is basic. Thank you.
I've actually done a mirror mod on my scope that let's you get prime focus with just a DSLR. That is HIGHLY desirable since we actually don't want to be too far zoomed in.
Since DSOs are a constant brightness, they send a constant amount of photons, so the more zoomed out you are, the more photons each individual pixel will recieve. You can get focus with a DSLR and Barlow, but that increase in zoom both dilutes the light per pixel and makes it hard for the mount. The tracking on the mount is only so good and you would have to cut your exposure time to keep your images star-trail free. That means shorter exposures which means more memory and a slight increase in noise.
While increasing zoom does increase resolution, many DSOs are actually quite large and fit on an APS-C DSLR sensor quite well when paired with the normal 650mm focal length.
There is a video if you'd like to learn more about the mod. Its actually the guide that I used for my scope.
@@kylemccaslin I've actually tried a x2 barlow lens, and I always stay close to getting prime focus.
I had no knowledge about what happens when using barlow lenses, so I will have to get all the materials to modify it.
I really appreciate your response and explanation.
Awesome work. How does the mod effect the telescope for regular viewing with an eyepiece after? Still usable?
Still useable with the included eyepieces. I was able to verify those, but didn't have others to test.
Though there is a little caveat to this: since we've pushed the focal range out, the spot where you get focus with the eyepieces is at the extreme outer limit of the focuser. For one (or two? hard to remember), I actually had to have the eyepiece like 90% seated instead of all the way in like normal.
@@kylemccaslin ah makes sense. Thank you. I guess if I got an astrology dedicated camera at a later date then I could just use it unmodded. Great work dude
Actually, can you attach a camera onto the goto mount without the scope? You can do this with the Sky-Watcher 130 az gti one as I've seen the mount been used
@@jamesneville441 The mount has a standard Dovetail socket, so if you have an adapter that goes into that that holds a camera then sure.
Have you looked into equatorial wedge yet? I noticed non of them mention the 130slt, but thought maybe they'd work ? ?
I looked, but only briefly. I doubt they would be compatible based on the way the base screws into the tripod, but can't confirm.
@@kylemccaslin That's what I thought too. Tempting to try and make one with the potential benefits.
@kylemccaslin There was a wedge available for the slt series...how ever they are out of stock or unavailable. I contacted celestron, and they said that it is not advisable to use a wedge with this mount because the weight will cause stress on the gears which will eventually degrade over time.
Great video. Can i get primefocus with a mirrorless camera and a not modded telescope?
I'm not sure, though I kind of doubt it. I unfortunately haven't got a mirrorless to try that with.
Great work sir! may i ask you use the az mode for these pics with 20 secs expose time ?
Yes, that's correct
Do you use auto tracking on slt for Nebulae?
Thanks again for all your videos! Any recommendations on on who i should watch to to learn how to use photoshop after using deep sky stacker for a complete beginner
I do not have any recommendations for that, but I'm sure there are plenty of excellent videos here on youtube to help you out.
I have the same telescope and modified it recently. When you say that you account for field rotation every 15 mins, exactly what are you doing? Are you rotating the camera counter clockwise or clockwise? Also are you adjusting the DSO to be in the center of view by using goto?
I'm rotating the camera clockwise at the same rate that the earth spins, doing it every 15 minutes or so to make the framing mostly consistent.
And yes, I take a look at the framing and center the DSO of necessary, atleast to make sure it doesn't get cut off by the FoV by adjusting with the arrow keys. I do initially use that GoTo function, but after that the minor periodic adjustments are with the arrows. You do have to account for backlash if you have to drive the other way though.
@@kylemccaslin so use goto just the first time and then use the up and right arrows for minor adjustments.
Rotating the camera clockwise at the same rate the earth spins every 15 mins, so in general by how many degrees angle from last position does that end up being or does that accuracy even matter? especially when we cannot see the dso well in camera to make sure that the image is somewhat aligned with the previous state.
Any particular benefits in the finder scope that you have over the default pointer finder scope that comes with slt 130?
How do you account for backlash? 🙏 Thanks
Accuracy isn't especially important. Just being somewhere around 15 Degrees/Hour or 3.75 Degrees/15Mins. While you can't see the DSO most of the time, you will likely have some stars around the edge of the frame that you can use for keeping in the right ball park as well.
And I think mine has a greater adjustment range, but I actually don't like it as much. Only reason I have it is because I bought my 130slt used.
Accounting for backlash is tricky in that you kind of have to know how far the slosh in the gears will delay your tracking if you change directions. So if the scope is tracking up and right, and you adjust down and left, the FoV is going to lag behind as the telescope's tracking needs to overcome that slosh before it's gears re-engage. It's something that you sort of get a feel for. Avoiding having to mess with it in the first place is the best option. So avoid changing directions if you have the option.
@@kylemccaslin thanks! Does the 130 slt really have a tracking feature? Does it mean that as time goes on the telescope also will move automatically to track the object and keep in view? Really? I thought I had to do this manually with arrows.
When I go to Menu #7 btn and select tracking, I see off, alt az, eq north, eq south options only. What would be the right option as alt az option does not seem to stick.
@@Katzenrads Yup, it does! It is the Alt Az tracking. the quality of the tracking during a session REALLY depends on how you do the alignment. And on top of that, you're also dealing with the backlash. The same stuff i mentioned before about changing directions also applies to the GoTo function. So you could, and often will have cases where you send it to a target, then it drifts out of frame before the tracking overcomes the backlash. The tracking when done right is OK and has allowed me to get 20s exposures at prime focus without trails. I go over the proper alignment notes in my full process video.
That said though, the 130slt has open-loop tracking, not guiding. it only knows where it is based on the inputs and alignment, if it's bumped or if the target drifts out of frame then it doesn't know. If it had auto-guiding then it would self correct.
Hi!
You have done an excellent job with this setup, that telescope is amazing, as you pointed, for the price is a really good option.
By the way, the celestron wedge is not compatible with this mount, It is designed for the SE series of telescopes
Thanks! And thanks for the confirmation on that wedge question!
Others have complained about this OTA ‘s focal length not achieving prime focus-so mods to bring the mirror closer to the focuser are necessary. How did you achieve it? Never mind- i waited til the end and heard.lol. However, how is the eyepiece observing,post mirror mod? I also realize this is 3 years ago-but i just picked up a used one and am messing around with it.
It changes where on the focusser you get focus with the eyepieces as well. It's on the outer limit of the range post-mod. You can get focus with both included eyepieces, but one had to be mostly inserted instead of completely inserted (maybe 80%?). I hadn't tested other mm eyepieces so I can't say whether those would work.
I'm not aware of any quality decreases, but didn't look into it too deeply.
What kind of alignment procedure did you make with the hand controller for the long exposure astrophotography? Sky Align, Auto Two Star or Two Star Alignment? Or Did you use a computer with Celestron CPWI to control the mount?
Two Star, which when done well should get you to 15 - 20 second subs. And stacking gets you the rest if the way.
I've got a full process video where I go over some of the intricacies.
Nice video. I'm new to the hobby (putting in some work so that maybe I'll refer to it as a sport). Thank you!
Thanks! There are tons of ways to start, widefield being the easiest. If you ever have any questions, I'm happy to help!
For long exposures what do you do? Do u have any motors ?
There are motors internal to the mount. And I've had them support 20s with a good alignment. Though admittedly, the quality of the mount's tracking is heavily dependent on that alignment being done correctly.
It's also worth mentioning that the mount's motors do have some backlash, but it's kind of what you would expect from a lower cost go-to mount.
@@kylemccaslin thanks, I have taken some decent planetary images the only problem I have right now is with the deep sky objects on how to track and take decent pictures. I just brought a Nikon 3500 and I have celestron 130slt.
If you have any links for step by step process on how to do long exposures and tracking please share it will be very useful for a beginner like me.
@@SivaKumar-le9hr ua-cam.com/video/-s3Vc7k5E1o/v-deo.html
@@kylemccaslin thanks a lot will check out. Much appreciated
Can you still see through the eyepieces as clearly as the photos make it out to be?
No. Most DSOs look like a fuzzy patch in real time through the eyepiece. You can see a little bit of nebulosity in the brightest Nebula - the Great Orion Nebula, but other than that, no.
I really like my Slt130, awesome video, by the way, did you notice a UFO landing in front of the building behind you? Between 2:22-2:24. I’m not kidding 🖖🏼
Yes
Do you have videos on how to do what mods you did?
Other people have the videos that I used:
The Mirror Positon Mod:
ua-cam.com/video/jDpSXPNCnS0/v-deo.html
The Canon 450d/Rebel Xsi Astromod:
garyhonislegacy.com/rebelmod450d1.html
Thank you
Okay I got a question for you and everyone who has this telescope actually, soo I’m new to this like absolutely new , I’m planning on purchasing this exact telescope, but idk what’s the recommendation accessories and filters I need to purchase as well. I’m just trying to find a new hobby and this seems chill and money is decent so I can get some decent things but I’m not ballin in cash at all but I have a good living and can afford some good things so yea any tips on what to get and tips on using one
Hey! So I think the real question here should be driven by what specifically you want to do and how DIY-friendly you are. Do you want to look at Stars, Planets, and the Moon (Visual Astronomy)? Do you want to try imaging (Deep Space, Planets, or Moon)? Are you able to access darker skies or do you live in a light polluted area and are unable to drive to a nearby darker area?
There are a ton of routes to get into astronomy and different routes are going to work best for different people. If you're really more of a visual guy and don't really want to bother with imaging deep space stuff, then Dobsonians are an excellent band-for-the-buck. If you're interested in Deep space but don't want to commit too much initially, Wide Field Milky Way shots with a cheap old DSLR can open that door. With Deep Space Astrophotography, the costs really start to mount as you increase in resolution & zoom. But, there are ways to pull some of that higher level functionality out of good gear if you are ready and able to mod it. Do understand though that all of the deep space stuff (except for widefield) has a bit of a learning curve.
If you have the opportunity, I'd really suggest checking the used market too since there can be amazing deals there. If you're ultra ultra new, it may be a good idea to dip your feet before laying too much money down. I can try to help a little bit, provided we have some answers to those initial questions though.
@@kylemccaslin lol yea I was hesitant to even bring it up cause I can tell there’s a lot that goes into this but, I would like to see the moon and planets and explore deep space but mainly right now as a beginner my main thing will be stars and the moon nothing very deep , my location gets dark and I have a few locations where it’s really dark so that’s not a issue, when I get a chance I will explore the market more to see what’s cheap and everything as well since I’m ultra ultra new to all of this .
Hello, I'm a space enthusiast. I've never own a telescope before and I'm willing to buy this one (Nexstar 130SLT). I just want to know whether I'd be able to handle it as a beginner. I'd also like to know for how much you had purchased this telescope.
Nice video btw :)
Hey! The 130SLT can be quite finicky and for the DSO stuff, it did require a primary mirror position mod. While there are videos on just about all of this stuff to help you along the way, it can be a bit daunting.
I think much of this though revolves around what your aiming for. Planetary can be quite accessible, but for the DSOs, you want to be able to get away from the light pollution of city centers. Hence, why I mentioned driving out about an hour or so. DSOs also take a while to capture and aren't something that you can see well in real time, so I do want to damped expectations a bit if you were hoping to look up at these things with just your eye. The camera and critically, the image software does ALOT of the heavy lifting here. So while I do think it's OK to start here, there might be easier ways. Like a DSLR on a star tracker capturing some wide field shots. Based on pixel density, you can actually resolve quite a few DSOs very quickly with just a DSLR and Camera lense, though you won't have the resolution of a telescope.
As far as purchasing equipment goes, I am a HUGE fan of the used market. You can get some fantastic deals on like-new telescopes or even full setups if you take your time and are is a reasonably populated area. That's kind of the thing though in that the reason why that exists is because many people will get them or recieve them as gifts then not use them much. We can talk more about your specific situation over email (khmccaslin@utexas.edu) if you'd like, but hopefully that answer helped?
@@kylemccaslin Thanks a lot for all the info! I'll reach out to you over email for more information in the near future.
Can i view planets without a camera on this scope?
Yes, though the views are just kind of alright. And you absolutely need some barlow(s), like 2 2x or 1 4x or something around that. The planets are tiiiiiiiny and this helps you get in closer. Like you can see the bands and big red spot on Jupiter just fine, and the Cassini division on Saturn too. Its alright, but not stellar.
Real-Time visual astronomy is going to look better than the live feed from a camera but the stacked image from a camera is likely to be better than the Real-Time visual.
Thanks Kyle, really good stuff out of this scope!
I own same, and used it just for visuals and was in general happy after upgrading from spherical newts. Upgraded to a C8 now and on the fence to keep this or put it up for sale. Do you have any thoughts?
Ummm. Your C8 is going to blow this out of the water in terms of optical capability, but the one thing that you may lose is that wider field viewing. If you're into imaging or tinkering, you could use the 130 slt for some wider targets like I have, but that's really up to you! The money, if you sell it though, could go towards a camera or accessories for the new scope too though if you go that way!
Sorry to bug you again, this is Steve and not my wife Melissa like it says in my comments. As I was watching this video you had mentioned something about how light weight the 130 SLT is. And because of that you have found it is kind of hard to take pictures if there happens to be a little bit of wind and or vibration. I'm wondering if you ever came up with a solution that would help minimize that issue? I know that Celestron sells these little VSP [Vibration Suppression Pads] but I don't think something like those will really work. Too help keep vibration down to a minimum especially when outside in the middle of nowhere and most likely on the dirt.
Hi Steve,
The scope is definitely light enough and big enough to be vulnerable to the wind, but I haven't actually had many problems with ground vibrations. It's something that you would probably notice if you were shooting from on top of something like a busy parking garage, but it's pretty easy to avoid those kinds of scenarios if you know about it. I do own the vibration pads as they came with the scope when I bought it used, but I'm not convinced that they help that much.
Jumping back to that wind note, it is absolutely vulnerable to that, but it's also generally true that the best times typically occur when the air is still (and obviously at night when it is even stiller than the day). I do want to highlight here though that due to the relative light construction, the vibrations that do occur tend to linger for a little bit. These are especially noticeable when you are trying to focus. So if you are a visual astronomer and are touching the scope alot, I could see this being particularly annoying.
Best of luck to you! And feel free to drop in any other questions you might have. I'm happy to help!
-Kyle
What camera use
Astromoddified Canon EOS 450d/rebel xsi
You really need to get a mic.
Your video could be misleading. You never let people know you stacked your photos and all other post production step you did.
I have had this scope for years and there is no way single photo will result in anything close to your photos. 🤷🏻♂️
I think that's kind of a fair criticism? This was meant to be a follow up video to 4 other ones, all of which state this is with stacking and one being an hour long that goes over the process exhaustively. I do directly link to and reference the full process video, but looking back you are correct that I didn't explicitly state they are stacked here - only imply it.
I'll make sure that's explicit in if I make another one of these, and add an update in the description so it's as clear as possible.