The Celestron Astro Fi 130 belongs to a line up of devices which can be comparatively new available on the market. Appropriate for newcomers eager on touring the evening sky however are not sure of the place to begin, the Astro Fi sequence makes use of the most recent Wi-Fi expertise that allows customers to manage the in-built laptop with their smartphone or pill utilizing the free Celestron SkyPortal.
The Astro Fi 130 employs a very “hands-free” expertise with out the necessity for a hand management — one thing that’s positive to thrill customers and make navigation all of the extra enjoyable. Some could miss the touchpad that’s equipped with most computerized telescopes, however we’ve got to say that the Astro Fi doesn’t endure with out it.
Associated: Best telescopes for the money – 2020 reviews and guide
Celestron Astro Fi 130 key specs
Optical design: Newtonian reflector
Aperture: 5.19″ (130 mm)
Focal size: 25.59″ (650 mm)
Focal ratio: f/5
Eyepiece 1 focal size: 25 mm (26x)
Eyepiece 2 focal size: 10 mm (65x)
Complete package weight: 18 lbs. (eight.16 kg)
Mount kind: Computerized altitude-azimuth single fork
Celestron Astro Fi 130: Design
- Very sturdy construct with nicely constructed tube and tripod
- Transportable and light-weight for on-the-go observations
- Makes use of an excellent parabolic fundamental mirror
The Astro Fi 130 is made with youngsters of 13 years of age or older in thoughts and we’re happy to find that — as soon as absolutely assembled — it supplies a good quantity of portability. The general construct is truthful for the worth and for a telescope of its kind: the tube is of fine building, whereas the aluminum tripod is sturdy and does the job, supporting the whole setup effortlessly as a complete. This Newtonian reflector — just like the opposite fashions within the sequence — is equipped with Kellner 10mm and 25mm eyepieces, providing magnifications of 65x and 26x respectively — and a purple dot finder.
The eyepieces are sufficient to get a newbie began in astronomy, however with the Astro Fi 130 being a “quick” telescope, we advocate buying some mid-range Plössl eyepieces to make sure that the instrument is absolutely outfitted for a wide range of targets — whether or not you like observing photo voltaic system objects or deep-sky gems equivalent to nebulas and galaxies. Quick telescopes like this one have brief focal lengths that present wider views of the evening sky, offering you with a decrease magnification for any given eyepiece over “slower” devices. The optical system employs a fundamental mirror with a parabolic form.
Celestron Astro Fi 130: First gentle and performance
- Makes use of SkyAlign expertise for simple alignment
- Nice for lunar and planetary observing, however some views are fuzzy
- Battery drains shortly in chilly circumstances
The very clear, darkish skies of November supplied a superb choice of night-sky targets to check the Astro Fi 130’s mettle. The second planet from the solar, Venus, shone at an excellent magnitude of -5.1 and had reached biggest elongation east, making it a shocking goal alongside Mars, which was straightforward to identify with the reflector’s 5.19-inch aperture at a subtler +zero.5 magnitude.
The Astro Fi makes use of SkyAlign expertise for easy alignment. Aligning your instrument earlier than you start observations is crucial, because it reveals your orientation relative to the evening sky to the telescope’s software program. With this data, the Astro Fi is then in a position to slew to your required evening sky goal.
Marrying up our smartphone with the telescope’s Wi-Fi was, as anticipated, fairly intuitive. The Celestron SkyAlign expertise made aligning the telescope painless as we selected three vivid stars to help with the process. The fantastic thing about the setup is that you just need not know something concerning the evening sky to get pleasure from it, but it surely does additionally function a software in studying your method across the heavens — we advocate that you just absorb as a lot details about the objects you are viewing as doable, particularly when you or your loved ones are eager on a critical stargazing interest. If you happen to’re not sure of what to watch in your first evening, then the Celestron SkyPortal app recommends objects for you — a characteristic that can be notably helpful to novice astronomers. Nonetheless, it’s value noting that, whereas SkyPortal boasts a catalog of tons of of 1000’s of targets, the Astro Fi 130 would not have the optical capabilities to select all of them.
On evenings which can be particularly chilly, battery energy may be drained shortly and “motorized” telescopes can wrestle — that is one thing we found with the Astro Fi 130 beneath notably frosty circumstances. We advocate buying a 12V rechargeable battery, particularly since there’s not likely every other possibility: the Astro Fi is unable to operate with out the app; manually slewing the telescope just isn’t doable and it should have a supply of energy so as to function absolutely. Sadly this renders the telescope ineffective ought to the Wi-Fi facility stop to function at any given time. Nonetheless, regardless of the flaw, we’re happy to find that the tube itself may be added to a different mount, supplied it makes use of a Vixen dovetail attachment, for individuals who like to modify between guide and computerized slewing of the instrument.
Views of the moon are good by means of the Astro Fi however weren’t vastly crisp. For a newbie telescope although, this is not an excessive amount of of a problem because the optics supplied adequate magnification of the cratered terrain. We noticed our pure satellite tv for pc in its waning gibbous phase, the place the terminator gave splendid sights of a choice of craters and rilles, performed up by the daylight hitting the rugged lunar floor.
Regardless of gentle air pollution from the moon, the Astro Fi was nonetheless ready to select close by Venus and Mars with ease. Views of the planets had been as anticipated given the optical vary — small however barely blurry within the discipline of view. Slowly turning the focuser, we had been in a position to convey a contact of readability to our view; Mars’ salmon pink disk specifically confirmed up nicely, with a Martian pole cap discernible in our discipline of view.
The focuser is not manufactured for fine-tuning, and we had been left with views that jumped between observing extremes — one thing to bear in mind when getting the perfect sights of your chosen goal. As soon as instructed, the Astro Fi took us to the constellation of Andromeda the place we noticed its galaxy Messier 31, recognized way more merely because the Andromeda Galaxy — a pleasing sight that simply obtained higher and higher and visual as a faint smudge with a glowing bulge on the heart.
Celestron Astro Fi 130: Verdict
At an exceptionally low worth, the Astro Fi is an effective telescope that boasts cutting-edge expertise and an honest quantity of assist for these simply beginning out within the interest of astronomy. The telescope is moveable, which makes it appropriate as a “seize and go” scope, however we advocate taking a dependable 12V energy provide with you given the battery’s tendency to lose cost in chilly circumstances.
Geared up with eyepieces, a purple dot finder and a sturdy tripod, every little thing you want to your observing periods are included within the bundle, nevertheless, we advocate upgrading a number of of the equipment to get optimum outcomes from the telescope’s optical system. Photo voltaic system views may be barely blurred when you push past the telescope’s capabilities, however — total — we’re impressed with the observing prowess of the Astro Fi 130.
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