Hi Pete and Lin,
I started with a much older Celestron 130 Newtonian on just an equatorial mount. Ignoring the learning curve of operating the mount, learning about how the telescope works was the best thing I could have done.
If Celestron hasn't changed their 130 design over the years, your collimation is undoubtedly off. You can make a quick check one night on a semi-bright star, Aldebaran, Canopus, etc. De-focus the scope a bit in either direction and look at the Airy pattern. Refer to the following resource for what it should look like...
http://www.astrophoto.fr/collim.html
Another good resource is...
http://garyseronik.com/no-tools-tele...tion/#more-238
Unfortunately Astrobaby's website looks to be down so her collimation routine isn't available
, but check the IIS "Projects and Articles" section for lots of information, particularly this collimation routine...
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/63-390-0-0-1-0.html
Another bit of hard earned wisdom is let your telescope cool down as much as possible. If the mirror is warm from the daytime, it will cause air currents inside for quite a long time after you set it up. The cooler you can keep it the better, these air currents, along with the atmospheric affects will make looking at an Airy disk very difficult as it will bounce around and distort constantly.
And finally, any adjustments you might want to make... keep them VERY small. It doesn't take much to move the mirrors, and you can easily go past optimum position.
Most of all, don't let any of this technical stuff get you down or frustrated. It will become second nature in no time at all. Have fun learning where things are and finding them in the sky. Venus and Mars will always be a little disappointing until you can see them through a longer focal length scope (and bigger aperture!!) Jupiter and Saturn will be up at a decent hour for viewing in a couple of months, your scope will show them off nicely with the 9mm EP. As mentioned, Orion (M42) and Carina Nebula (NGC 3372 or C92) are great to look at with what you have. The 25mm EP will give the best field of view, but switch the 9mm if you want to look into the structures of the nebulae. This will be a great stepping stone for your journey into the universe.
