which telescope?

[devon]

Our family recieved two telescopes for xmas. We want to know which one to keep. Celestron Astromaster 130EQ or Saxon Reflector telescope 1149EQ.

[Allan_L (Allan)]

Our family recieved two telescopes for xmas. We want to know which one to keep. Celestron Astromaster 130EQ or Saxon Reflector telescope 1149EQ.

Hi devon,
welcome to Ice in space

The scope i would recommend to keep (without knowing what you expect to use it for) is the Celestron Astromaster 130EQ.

They appear to be similar in style, but the Celestron is larger aperture, which all other things being equal, would be enough to select it as the better of the two (IMHO).

additionally, the specs for the Celestron Astromaster 130EQ state that it has correct orientation of image, which although not important for Astronomic viewing, is very important if you plan to use the scope for terrestrial viewing as well.

Finally, some would say that Çelestron has a slightly better name/reputation than Saxon, although these days you could find they both come out of the same manufacturer.

these are just my opinions, based on the little information provided.

Hope to see you around here more now.
feel free to ask many questions if you need help.

Clear skies
Al

[wayne anderson (Wayne)]

Hi devon, welcome to IIS. I agree with Alan the extra aperture of the Astromaster 130eq would be better giving just very slightly better views.

[barx1963 (Malcolm)]

Vote 3 for the Celestron. Saxon are the budget version of Skywatcher (both made by Synta in China) but scopes are generally not too bad.
But purely on the basis of aperture, the Celestron wins

Malcolm

[astronobob (Bob)]

Hi Devon, whilst aperture is key, I had a look at the specs of both scopes and there are some differences which might be worth considering, eg.
The Celestron has a 130mm aperture, and a Focal length of 650mm and subsequent F/Ratio of F/5. F/5 means this scope will give brighter views but lower magnifacation - hence, which is great for Faint objects like Nebula and bright galaxies, provided your in dark skies, eg , country away from city lights !

However, the Saxon has a smaller aperture by 1/3 inch but has a longer Focal length of 900mm, subsequently giving an F/Ratio of F/9, This means this particular scope wont be as good for nebula and faint galaxies, but it does however give more magnifacation and better focus on the bright planets and moon ect, and that can be done from in the suburbs as dark skies are not so important on bright targets ?

Hope this is of help , ,

[brian nordstrom (As avatar)]

Hi Devon , I agree with Astronobob , try them both first on the moon and jupiter as these are real easy to find and then make a descision , personally I would go for the Saxon , it has a longer focal lenght and will , in most cases be a better mirror ( its easier to mass produce a longer focal length at a better quality than a short one ) .
And 1/3 an inch is not really that much .
My 5c worth .
Brian.

[RobinClayton]

Hi Devon.

Both are suitable scopes for someone new to astronomy. They will show you brighter planets, nebula and clusters. You will need to be very lucky and in very dark area to catch galaxies with these - but it is possible, although they will show very faintly as fuzzy objects.

I started with the Celestron Astromaster 130 a couple of years ago. It was a great scope to get me started - the only problem was finding things - the scope only has a red dot finder - not a real finder scope. The Saxon has a small finder scope which is probably better to help find things.

This finder scope and the longer focal length may be more important than the extra aperture of the main mirror.

my vote goes to the Saxon.