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Celestron Astro Fi 130mm f/5 Reflector Telescope

Name: Celestron Astro Fi 130mm f/5 Reflector Telescope
Brand: Celestron
SKU: CEA130WIFIRF
Price: 529.95 USD
Availability: InStock
Rating: 3.5 (14 reviews)

BH #CEA130WIFIRF • MFR #22203

14 reviews

Authorized Dealer

Celestron Astro Fi 130mm f/5 Reflector Telescope

Key Features

130mm Newtonian Reflector OTA
650mm Focal Length, f/5 Focal Ratio
Multi-Coated Parabolic Primary Mirror
1.25" Focuser, 10mm and 25mm Eyepieces

Celestron's Astro Fi 130mm f/5 Reflector Telescope utilizes an integrated antenna to emit a local WiFi signal so you can control the mount via Android and iOS smartphones and tablets running their free SkyPortal app.

More Details

In Stock

$529.95

$89/mo. suggested payments for 6 Mos.

with the credit card.^§

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Celestron 130 Overview

1Description
2Optical Performance
3Computer Control
4Mount & Tripod
5Included Accessories

Optically, the scope sports a large 130mm aperture and a short 650mm focal length to produce a fast focal ratio that can resolve deep sky objects that smaller refractor-style scopes cannot, such as splitting binary stars or separating star clusters. With highly-reflective aluminum and SiO₂ (quartz) mirror coatings, light loss is limited so you can make detailed observations of the Moon, view planets and distant nebulae, and get great wide-field views of the sky for comet watching and asteroid hunting. This complete observation rig includes the optical tube assembly, a motorized mount, an aluminum tripod, two eyepieces, and a red-dot finder.

The OTA is mounted on a single-arm motorized alt-az mount. Guiding the mount is the SkyPortal app. Packed with over 120,000 objects it is designed to help users set up quickly and start observing faster. The app offers align aids, can automatically find objects in the night sky; and even offers guided tours of the most interesting objects overhead on any given night. The mount runs on eight user-supplied AA batteries, and the entire rig assembles and breaks down without the need for tools so set up is easy and you can start observing sooner.

Optical Performance

130mm aperture
f/5 focal ratio
650mm focal length
Newtonian reflector optical design
Highly reflective aluminum/SiO₂ (silicon dioxide) mirror coatings limits light loss for brighter images
Resolution: 1.07 arcsec, Rayleigh; 0.89 arcsec Dawes Limit
1.25" rack-and-pinion focuser

Computer Control

Integrated WiFi:

Directly connects to tablet or smartphone
Control mount via free SkyPortal app for Android and iOS
Android 4.0 and higher, iOS 6 or later

SkyPortal App:

120,000+ object database
Includes: Star clusters, Nebulae, Galaxies, Asteroids and comets, Satellites, including the International Space Station
Custom SkyTour of all the best celestial objects to view based on the time, date, and location
Simulate the night sky up to 100 years in the past, or plan a future observing session
Night Vision Mode preserves night-adjusted vision
Multiple assisted-alignment choices: SkyAlign, 3-Star, Solar System
Tracking rates: Sidreal, solar, and lunar; Automatic tracking for near and deep sky objects
Multiple slew speeds; 3°/sec maximum
View hundreds of astronomical photographs and NASA spacecraft images
Listen to more than four hours of audio narration to learn the history, mythology, and science of astronomy and the night sky

Mount & Tripod

Mount:

Motorized single-arm alt-az
Runs on eight user-supplied AA batteries
Quick-release base, OTA, accessory tray with rapid no-tool set up

Tripod:

Adjustable-height
Lightweight and durable 2-section aluminum legs
Spiked feet for steady footing in soft ground

Included Accessories

Smartphone Digiscoping Adapter:

Front cap converts into a smartphone holder to capture photos and video through the eyepieces with just about any phone
Bungee cords hold the phone safely and securely in place, no matter where the phone's camera is located
Inside of cap has a holder that fits over standard 1.25" eyepiece
A small door on cap can be closed when cap is installed on front to prevent dust from entering and opened for digiscoping

Eyepieces:

1.25" barrel diameter
25mm produces 26x magnification
10mm produces 65x magnification
Accepts most 1.25" astronomical eyepiece filters

StarPointer Finderscope:

1x magnification
Red dot reticle
Variable intensity
Un-magnified field of view makes set up and alignment faster

UPC: 050234222037

Celestron 130 Specs

Optical Tube Assembly

Optical Design	Newtonian Reflector
Aperture	130 mm / 5.1"
Focal Length	650 mm
Focal Ratio	f/5
Focuser	Single-Speed Rack-and-Pinion
Eyepiece Barrel Diameter	1.25"
Diagonal	None
Finderscope	Yes
Optical Tube Dimensions	Length: 26" / 66 cm

Mount

GoTo Capability

Yes

Tripod

Type	Adjustable
Material of Tripod	Aluminum

General

Batteries	8 x AA
GPS	No
Weight	17 lb / 7.7 kg (Fully Assembled)

Packaging Info

Package Weight	27 lb
Box Dimensions (LxWxH)	40.5 x 19.75 x 10.3"

Celestron 130 Reviews

Great for beginners

By Pawel

Rated 5 out of 5

Date: 2022-12-06

Sometimes looses wifi connection. Other than this it's great. Easy to setup. Suggest to add Barlow lenses to your purchase.

Okay beginner scope, but some frustrations

By David

Rated 3 out of 5

Date: 2021-12-21

Good points: Assembly and general setup is relatively easy. The scope is packaged well. The outer box was damaged in transit, but there was no harm to the scope or any accessories. Good optics (see moon image attached [moon filter used, not included in the kit]). I have also been able to resolve Jupiter with moons and some banding. I haven't had any trouble connecting with the app. When I locked onto an object after aligning the scope, the mount did a pretty decent job of staying with the object (though I had to make occassional small adjustments). I don't think I would be able to do any long exposure photography with this mount. It did allow me to lock onto Jupiter, get giddy over it myself, then call to my wife who took several minutes to get some shoes on, bundle up, find a step ladder because she couldn't reach the eyepiece, and Jupiter was still pretty centered. If you want to use this scope to share views with family, I think it would be good for that. Room for improvement: I wish the tripod/mount had a level incorporated. It seems like that would be easy to incorporate into the mount assembly for little cost. I store the mount attached to the tripod. To level the tripod, I have to unattach the mount, level it, then reattach the mount. Fiddly extra step. Once assembled, it's bulky and difficult to move. I paid $100 for the 40 Celestron case and I can't imagine trying to use this without one unless you have a spacious garage or shed large enough to allow you to keep it assembled. The dust cover pops off. I have stretched some rubber bands over it and hooked them on the thumb screws for the spider in order to keep it in place when I'm not using it. Seems odd that it wouldn't have some kind of locking mechanism. The elastic band for the phone mount snapped. The phone mount was also very difficult to align with my phone camera. Don't buy it for the phone adapter. It would be nice if the accessory tray could stay on the tripod when the fold up. You have to put it on and take it off every time you set up if you plan to use it. It's useful, so you want to use it. I went through the alignment process the other night for the first time. When I finished aligning the mount with the app, I realized that I had forgotten the accessory tray. When I finally attached the tray, I had bumped the legs and my alignment was off. Finder scope is difficult to use. I also had trouble aligning it. I went through the steps per the manual, but it seemed like I went all the way to the maximum adjustment and it was still off in one direction. I saw a review on YouTube where another user had a similar issue and she unscrewed the mount for the finder scope and propped it up with some cardboard underneath the mount to make up the difference. It's good that there is a remedy for the issue, but it seems like the finder scope shouldn't require alterations out of the box just to make it work properly. I don't understand why the power supply is not housed inside the mount itself. Having a cord hang off the tripod with a pouch is a nuisance. One reviewer shared that her battery pack fell off the tripod while she was slewing to an object and the wire in the pack disconnected as it fell. No power to your mount means a lot of frustration (see my bad section). That reviewer was able to repair the power pack, but having the external pack means you have to contend with the wire and issues like the pack falling. A better design would be to have the power supply housed inside the mount. Aligning the mount is not super easy for me. It might be because I'm a complete amature, might be because the finder scope isn't properly aligned, might be because I did it wrong, but my first couple of attempts to align the scope did not go great. I have attached a screen shot of where the scope thought Jupiter should be in the sky and the target shows where the scope was actually pointed when I got it centered in my field of view. The difference may not look like a lot, but even at my widest field of view with the least powerful lens, Jupiter was not in the viewfield and it took several minutes of slewing around to get to it. The bracket that holds the scope to the mount worries me. I don't have much to compare it with as this is my first scope of any size, but it's just a slot fixture that is held in place with a single thumb screw. If the screw isn't tight, the scope could slipe out in either direction. Put a backstop on it in at least one direction. This would also make it easier to assemble. Bad: My biggest frustration is that you cannot manually turn the mount on the horizontal. you can move it up or down, but in order to slew the scope from side to side, you either have to have battery power AND have the mount connected to the app on your phone, or you have to pick up the tripod and move it. This is nearly impossible to do for anything smaller than the moon, and unless you started on perfectly level ground, your tripod is going to be out of level as soon as you turn it. I will never purchase another setup that does not allow for manual movement. I'm lazy sometimes and don't necessarily want to go to the trouble of connecting and aligning the scope every time I want to look at the moon or a planet or whatever. I have had this scope for a couple of weeks and used it a handful of times and I already want to upgrade to a better system. Having said that, it's not so bad that I won't use it. I plan to use this a bunch and I'm going to get a good deal of enjoyment out of it despite my frustrations. I also think this would be a very good scope to use with kids.

A Lot of Fun and Easy

By Dr. Matthew D.

Rated 5 out of 5

Date: 2021-02-11

I received as a gift and use with my kids to interest them in science. It has bee a big hit and not too hard to use.

The Worst Dont buy

By Justin

Rated 1 out of 5

Date: 2021-02-10

Worked for about 5 min total before it just totally went dead...

Wow what a dissapointment

By Justin

Rated 1 out of 5

Date: 2021-01-31

After fighting the app to hold its connection with the unit after about 1+ min of movement it just stops, dead in the water it will not move........ Less that 1 min of use out of the box and its dead.... After a 60+ day backorder......These should be taken off the shelf.

Wifi not working

By Yasser

Rated 1 out of 5

Date: 2020-12-24

Everything is good first 2 weeks, then the wifi not working at all

VERY CHEAP MADE(((

By Sergiy

Rated 1 out of 5

Date: 2022-06-30

VERY CHEAP MADE(((

Great for the money

By shelly

Rated 5 out of 5

Date: 2021-12-23

These are wonderful.

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Is this good for deep sky long exposure?

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