StarSense Explorer DX 130AZ

As a long time (very) amateur astronomer I had been using a large Dobsonian. As my age and disability got the better of me I decided I needed something easier to handle. This Celestron DX130 AZ is perfect for me. It was easy to set up and get everything aligned. I can easily carry it to my car for some night-time viewing. Unfortunately I have only had a brief period of clear skies to try it out but a saw enough to know that it will be a great acquisition. The Star Sense phone app worked quickly and accurately and I was able to view Mars and a beautiful view of Jupiter and its moons before the cloud cover returned. This may not be the greatest telescope for a seasoned watcher but for a beginner or someone in my position it is an excellent choice. I am looking forward to some clear skies in the weeks to come and I may update this review once I have had a few sessions with it. First impressions though, are great.

Bought for our Daughter as a Birthday present. She absolutely loves it.

This is my first telescope and it’s really good It came nicely packaged and was fairly easy to assemble with the instructions. Finding things is made a lot easier with the viewfinder and calibrating didn’t take to long. So far we have seen the moon, Jupiter, and Saturn which looked really cool and quite clear through the lenses it comes with. We haven't quite got the phone aspect down yet but the app is really nice and easy to use, and guides you through working it.

Looks great but total nightmare to set up and instructions are so unclear unless you have an engineering degree. Still can’t get it working and am not stupid!

It's very disappointing when ordering something expensive and things are missing in the box. It doesn't seem the contact with seller is easy, I had to fill a form on their website and so far I've received zero response. So while the product might be great, if you have missing parts you can't fully enjoy it.

I was so excited to start using this Celestron Telescope but the battery provided in the red dot pointer was dead and despite buying new batteries and trying them all, the red dot finder still wouldn’t work. Celestron customer service weren’t prompt in responding to my emails requesting support so it’s been returned for a refund. Disappointing and I expect better for the hefty price tag.

Was too big but we were not able to install it even.

Lens came broken! Waiting for a refund and will purchase again once refund received.

Hicimos la compra del StarSense Explorer DX 130. Es nuestro primer telescopio y es muy fácil su uso. La app de StarSense es un poco complicada, no es tan sencillo que se conecte y ubique su posición, entonces vas a batallar un poco, pero una vez que logras conectarlo, es muy intuitivo. De cualquier manera el telescopio es buenísimo aún sin la aplicación. Las fotos adjuntas son: las de la luna son con los dos lentes que vienen incluidos, sin filtros y sin edición, tal cual se ve directamente. Las fotos son tomadas con un iPhone 12. La otra es del eclipse en Mazatlán, es la foto del sol en su fase total, para este compramos un filtro solar. Como pueden ver, se ve súper súper bien, si estás iniciando, es maravilloso lo que se alcanza a ver. Recomiendo ver muchos videos en YouTube para poder armarlo y calibrarlo/conectarlo. Hay canales muy buenos en donde dan tips excelentes. Recomiendo mucho la compra.

I’ve been observing the night sky with telescopes for 35 years, have owned almost 20 different telescopes and have been asked many times for suggestions by people looking to buy a “starter” telescope. When I heard about the new Celestron StarSense Explorer line of telescopes, I was super intrigued and decided I’d purchase one to try out. Spending $399 on anything is a lot to spend. Spending $399 on a telescope, is relatively inexpensive compared to most telescopes on the market and certainly is within the price range of other beginner telescopes. So, what did I think of the Celestron StarSense Explorer DX 130AZ? The short answer is, as an entry level telescope, I loved it! If you want to know why, read further. I’ll start by saying the telescope was well packed. It came in an attractive box with the components packed in smaller boxes inside. All of it was packed within a standard shipping box. The instructions made assembly very smooth although I’m sure it doesn’t hurt that I have assembled a lot of telescopes. I went into it though trying to have the perspective of someone who is new to telescopes. Having said that, I did jump to one conclusion that I was happy to be wrong about. The StarSense Explorer DX 102AZ and 130AZ telescopes have slow motion controls for moving the telescope left and right as well as up and down. Every slow-motion control I’ve ever seen attaches to the mount using visible small thumb screws. The slow-motion controls for the DX telescopes use sunken Allen head screws that are not readily visible. This is in no way a negative. I’m simply mentioning it for anyone else like me that would expect to see the typical thumb screws. Unboxing everything and assembling the telescope took less than 30 minutes. The Celestron StarSense Explorer DX 130AZ is a 5.1” diameter reflecting telescope on an alt-azimuth mount with an adjustable height tripod. It comes with two entry level eyepieces; a 25mm that provides 26x and a 10mm that provides 65x. It also comes with a Celestron StarPointer red dot finder. The StarPointer is very similar to the finders I use on my more expensive and more sophisticated telescopes. It makes pointing the telescope at the targets you know the location of without using the StarSense app, very easy. It does need to be aligned with the telescope which can be done quite easily when you follow the included instructions. In my opinion, the real strength of the Celestron StarSense Explorer line of telescopes is the StarSense app. Using this app on your smartphone, coupled with this quality beginner telescope, makes finding objects in the night sky an almost effortless pleasure. The StarSense app walks you through aligning the night sky in the app with where the telescope is pointed. Once the two are aligned, click on the StarSense icon at the bottom of the screen on your smartphone, pick an object you want to look at and the app will guide you to move the scope manually to the chosen object. It does this with great accuracy which I’ll touch on later. It also provides a description, observing tips, and data for each object while standing at the telescope. StarSense is a very intuitive and informative app. I chose the Celestron Explorer DX 130AZ because it has the largest aperture in this new line of telescopes. The aperture of a telescope is the real power of the telescope. The larger the aperture, the more light it will collect, and the brighter objects will be. A 130mm (5.1”) telescope is enough aperture to keep an avid observer busy for years. Don’t get hung up on the advertised magnification of a telescope. After many years of using large 18” and 25” reflecting telescopes that required step ladders and stools to look through, I do all my observing with 4”, 5” and 6” refracting telescopes nowadays. During my first night out with the Celestron StarSense Explorer DX I observed 20 different objects including the planet Venus, the Orion Nebula, the Pleiades Star Cluster, four galaxies (M65, M66, M81, M82), and quite a few various other open star clusters. I used the StarSense app to guide me to each object. When using the supplied 25mm eyepiece, every object was placed in the center of the field of view. I was super impressed by just how accurate it was! I currently have a couple different expensive computerized GoTo telescope mounts that automatically slew whatever telescope I have on them to the selected object. The StarSense app pointed the DX 130AZ telescope with more consistent accuracy than I have experienced with my GoTo telescope mounts. Optically, stars were sharp, and objects appeared as I would expect when observing from my front yard with more than one streetlight keeping my eyes from being adapted to the dark. To truly experience the potential of any telescope, observe from the darkest location you can and let your eyes adapt to the dark. Use a red flashlight if possible. Also, take advantage of the night vision mode in the StarSense app. Doing so will tint your smartphone screen red, which will help your eyes stay adapted to the dark. In summary, the Celestron StarSense Explorer DX 130AZ is surprisingly enjoyable and easy to use. This is the most fun I’ve had with any telescope in its price range and in my opinion, it has the potential to change astronomy for beginners in a very positive way. What a fun way to be introduced to the universe! I can only imagine how different my early years under the stars would have been if I had this telescope coupled with a smartphone and the StarSense app. I highly recommend this for anyone wanting to start their journey into amateur astronomy!

No warranty from Amazon after product became defective after just two months. If you are considering buying this telescope, go to a reputable (and preferably local) supplier where you can get replacements for faulty parts or full replacement/ refund. The laser alignment on this item broke after just a handful of uses. While I accept that even supposedly high quality items from Celestron can develop a fault - my biggest issue is with Amazon who provide no support or warranty after just two months from delivery and I now have no option to finding and purchasing a replacement part myself. Needless to say, I won't be using Amazon for this.

The product is amazing and it is sooo good but the only thing that the laser pointer was broken so I don’t really think that it helps so much but yeah I recommend to get this product and i saw Jupiter and Saturn and venus by the help of the app

OTTIMO PRODOTTO, IMBALLATO PERFETTAMENTE, FACILE DA MONTARE E DA UTILIZZARE.