Bought my first scope - help :)

[rusty8687 (Ryan)]

Hey all,

I have just purchased my first scope - Celestron Nexstar 130. I was wondering what would be some great first eyepieces to buy?

Want to look at the moon and Saturn and Jupiter as well as star clusters

still learning my way around the different types of eyepieces and what not.

Cheers!

[dannat (Daniel)]

for the close up view given you have a 650mm focal length, id recommend either a 4 or 5mm ep, this will give approx. 170x or 130x magnification [to be honest the 5mm would be my pick, it will be usable on more nights either with wind or adverse conditions]

what is your budget for an eyepiece?

id usually recommend a BST explorer, can be had for around $85, decent field of view & comfortable to look thru, can be had from telescopesastronomy.com.au in SA or online [also called astrotech paradigm]

[Allan_L (Allan)]

Hi Ryan,
Welcome to IceInSpace

Congratulations on your new scope.
That should give you plenty of things to look at.

For moon Saturn and Venus, start off with your 25mm eyepiece to centre it, then switch to you 9mm for more detail.
The included Plossl eyepieces should be quite reasonable quality for starters.

For star clusters and other Deep Sky Objects, you will mostly want to use the low magnification of the 25mm plossl.

For more detail on planetary objects, you could go to a 5mm eyepiece that will give you about 130xmagnification. But these can be difficult to use, and not much use other than planetary, unless you have a lot of cash to splash.

Maybe a 2x barlow may be better value, this combined with your included eyepieces will give you effectively another 12.5mm and 4.5mm eyepieces(s).

Best advice I always give to new starters is to get yourself along to a local observing session, try some other peoples eyepieces, talk to their owners and see what suits you and your scope.

Keep looking Up!

[rusty8687 (Ryan)]

thanks for all the advice

I have already purchased a 6mm Plossl Eyepiece and a 15mm Kellner Eyepiece and a 2x Power Doubling Barlow Lens

I also purchased a

80A Blue Planetary Filter
25 Red Planetary Filter
Moon Filter

The scope came with a 25mm and 9mm Plossl eyepieces

Is that enough to get started for some decent exploring??

[dannat (Daniel)]

yep throw the 9mm into the barlow -will give you a good mag range for planets, try the 6mm if its a bit windy