I bought a Celestron 127eq this week from Amazon (thank you Amazon Prime) so that I look at Saturn which is on a slight tilt from our perspective and is currently it’s best viewing state for the next year. I’ve recently gotten back into astronomy having not done it since I was a kid. I had started with binoculars but the temptation to look at Saturn was too great and bought a telescope as well. It was a lot of fun and while it wasn’t a huge image Saturn and its rings were clearly visible.
Some notes about the Celestron 127eq
As the Amazon reviews said the 4mm lens is less than useful and the barlow isn’t great either.
The viewfinder scope is not easy to align with the scope, but is otherwise good quality.
However the telescope as a whole is great and a lot more sturdy that I was expecting. The tripod locks aren’t great but otherwise I haven’t had a problem with it.
I did buy the Celestron Powerseeker Accessory Kit and I would recommend buying it for the 9mm and 15mm lens and they are more useful than the 4mm and 20mm that come with the scope.
Some notes about using the scope
Align the viewfinder before you want to do astronomy so you’d don’t spend a half hour trying to line it up.
Put your focus all the way in with a large focal length lens so it’s easier to find your target.
Don’t let your cat jump on your shoulders after you just spent 15 minutes finding Saturn.
Other Thoughts
I love Astronomy and when I was a kid I never had a good telescope, mainly because I didn’t know what good is. Sky and Telescope has great articles about it. Don’t buy a scope from Walmart.
Seeing Saturn just adds fuel to my fire about doing Astronomy and will continue to upgrade my arsenal as I am able.
Things that would help in the future is a better sighting scope and a tracking motor.
Also I want to buy a larger range of lens.
If I had known I would get this much joy from Astronomy I would have taken it back up a long time ago.