i have recently been given a celestron powerseeker 127EQ telescope and have suddenly an interest in astronomy!! could people advise me if this is a good scope and what equipment would i need to take photos or our great galaxy.
there is a saying: the best telescope is the one use the most.
And a 5" Newton is not bad for a start.
As for astrophotography, I would recommend to a DSLR, a wide angle lens and a motor for the right ascension axis of your telescope (east-west) then get an adaptor to mount your camera on a dovetail, pol align your mount and take lots of 30sec exposures of the Milky Way. Stack them with the free deepsky stacker (google DSS) adjust contrast, brightness, saturation and see if you like that. Do it from way out of town on a moonless night or else it'll be too bright for that.
If you like what you get and you want more than you need to be prepared to fork out a few grand.
AP is a dark art and a very expemsive one too.
Hi Matt and welcome .
As just said use the KISS prtinciple , " keep it simple stupid " eg get out with your new scope and enjoy what can be seen in it , and 127mm will show you a lot of cool stuff out there , and when you are ready to spend up large , ( and you will , AP is addictive ! ) on astro photography there are loads of world class astro photographers here that will help you .
Get out and enjoy.
Brian.
Or jump straight in and grab a 2nd hand QHY8 or similar CCD Astro camera and bypass the DSLR.
You can pick one up for under a grand, they have almost no noise and work great with the Nebulosity software and have great Ha sensitivity that DSLRs lack. http://www.stark-labs.com/nebulosity.html
Hi Matt and welcome . 
on astro photography there are loads of world class astro photographers here that will help you . 
