Telescopes

The club has an array of telescopes in its inventory. Some small and portable, some regular sized, and some large and heavy. Without further ado, here is the list of the telescopes:

AstroMaster 130EQ (x2)

One of the most popular telescopes, both due to its price and ease of usage, AstroMaster 130EQ are one of the most reliable and durable telescopes. Made by Celestron, the 130 represents the apperture of the telescope, with it being 130 \(mm\) in diameter and EQ represents the mount it is on, which is an equatorial one. The telescope is a Newtonian reflector and has a focal length of 650 \(mm\), which gives it a focal ratio of \(f/5\). It comes with two eyepieces, a 10 \(mm\) and a 20 \(mm\), which gives it a magnification of 65x and 32.5x respectively. The telescope also comes with a 2x Barlow lens, which doubles the magnification of the eyepiece. Equipped with a red dot finder, which helps in pointing the telescope to the desired object, the AstroMaster 130EQ is a great telescope for beginners and intermediate users alike.

Orion SpaceProbe 130ST EQ

As versatile as the AstroMaster 130EQ but heavily underrated, the Orion SpaceProbe 130ST EQ is also one of the gems in the club’s inventory of telescopes. The ST here stands for “Short Tube”. A shorter tube length gives a wider field of view, which is better for deep space objects like galaxies and nebulaes.

Skywatcher 130PM

Skywatcher is another one of the popular brands. Just like its cousins above, the Skywatcher 130PM is also a newtonian telescope with an apperture of 130 \(mm\). The P here stands for the “Parabolic” mirror it has as its primary mirror. The M here stands for the “Motorized “ version. That is, it is completely automated and can track the rotation of the Earth, and hence is useful for long exposure tracked astrophotography.