Celestron StarSense Explorer DX 130AZ Smartphone App-Enabled Newtonian Reflector Telescope

SKU: CNSSEDX130

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Shopper : Is the Celestron Star Sense Explorer DX 130AZ Telescope a good one to see planets and nebula with a good aperture?
Shopper : Is the celestron star sense explorer DX 130 Az a good telescope to see planets and nebula regarding its aperture?
Shopper : Is this telescope a good one to see planets and nebula?

Reviews about this item

Review Summary

2024-04-03T18:01:24

Rated 4 out of 5

good for entry level

Mostly does what is advertised. I live in a suburban area with moderate light pollution, after a lot of fiddling around I was finally able to get the smartphone app to locate its position in the sky. The calibration was still slightly off. But otherwise the telescope works fairly well, for a beginner. However, the mount is not super stable and under very high magnification, there is a lot of shaking in the image. I suppose a more expensive mount would eliminate the shaking but that is price you pay for a more portable entry level telescope. Now I understand why people pay so much for a very stable mount. Still can't see any nebula yet but I think it's because there's just too much light pollution.

Sunny C.

2023-08-02T08:31:48

Rated 4 out of 5

Great Beginner Telescope

Great beginner telescope and nice features right out of the box. I read several detail reviews and watched product instructions on YouTube and that really helped get me using the telescope properly from the start. Plenty of resources out there for anyone that is interested. You can't go wrong for the investment. Saving up for my next more advanced Celestron telescope! Thanks

Patrick W.

2023-07-14T10:42:26

Rated 5 out of 5

Excellent choice for an adult first time gazer.

Bought it as a gift for my wife who loves it. She wanted to see not only stars, but planets too. We're loving it and trying to get much better with the app.

DAVID D.

2023-05-27T18:08:09

Rated 3 out of 5

Confused with set up

We've been unable to set it up so far. We are instructed to enter a six digit download code for instructions, yet we've been sent an eight digit code, which celestron won't accept. Probably just a temporary glitch, but not impressed at all with the initial impression

PETER E.

2023-03-20T23:25:41

Rated 4 out of 5

First scope

User friendly first scope. A entry level that can be customized for the individual user. I bought a new dielectric star diagonal. Baader zoom mark iv. Celestron eyepieces and a dew shield. Adorama is fast and punctual with delivery. Will use them for my future needs

DAVID K.

2023-02-26T07:38:07

Rated 5 out of 5

Excellent product

Easy to set up with modular parts and great instructions. Works very well viewing planets and stars. iPhone star finder is great!

RANDOLPH M.

2022-12-05T09:07:52

Rated 4 out of 5

Celestron got it right!!

The telescope actually gets all FIVE stars! Great optics, light weight and very portable. I have a Meade 10?SCT and an Dobsonian. I bought this one as a quick grab and go for my driveway observations for nights when intermittent overcast is interfering with celestial events I really want to observe. But the biggest joy this telescope has given me is watching inexperiences children be introduced to astronomy with it. Aperture works well with the focal length and the view is great. The cell phone / app combination is wonderful and my grandchildren and other young ones were able to view, planets, clusters and binaries without me showing them how to do anything. They would choose objects from the list and push the scope to the location shown and were able to locate the object instantly. My grandchildren were able to view fourteen objects night one with no assistance from me and with no previous experience! Now for the area improvement could be made. This telescope uses two rods for fine adjustments to right ascension and declination. They attach ti the telescope with set screws tightened by an Allen wrench. Only one of my arms had one so the other arm is not attached. I contacted Adorama and they escalated the ticket to Celestron, but I am still waiting three weeks later. It should not take several weeks to get a warranty part. Summary, I have purchased three Celestron telescopes with StarSense and love them from Adorama in the past few months. Optical Tube Assembly, eyepieces and the push to App are phenomenal and work great together. Perfect telescopes for kids, beginners or for old timers as a quick look grab and go for backup use.

JOHN R.

2022-07-06T09:57:21

Rated 5 out of 5

Awwe-some!

Alignment was tricky, but the instructions were clear and detailed with videos. This is my first telescope and I highly recommend it!

KIM C.

2022-06-22T08:50:50

Rated 4 out of 5

Great Beginner Scope!

Very good beginner scope - don?t be put off by all the plastic on the telescope mount and the plastic diagonal. The 2 supplied eyepieces are a Kellner design with a narrow field of view - kind of like looking through a straw. I replaced mine with Celestron X-Cel LX eyepieces - they have a much wider field of view and great eye relief. This scope has a short focal length which is good and bad: good is you can get nice wide fields of view and the bad is that there is quite a bit of chromatic aberration around very bright objects - the moon will have a purple edge to it, for example. This scope is great for terrestrial views, but I?d eventually replace the diagonal with a good star diagonal for sky viewing. The StarSense system is fabulous! This scope is worth the money just for that. You don?t have to know the sky for it to work. My skies are very light polluted so I can?t even see the constellations with the naked eye, but my iphone can, so the telescope can!

LORELIE M.

2022-06-12T19:38:17

Rated 3 out of 5

Mixed Bag

Bought this as a first telescope and I was stoked to get it 3 days after the order. I don't have knowledge of how these things are normally shipped but this one seemed to be solidly packed. Setup was super simple for a first timer, probably 10-15 minutes. Downloaded the app then headed outside to align it. Everything was going along smoothly until I tried to use the app. For an unknown reason, the StarSense app would not activate the camera feature on my phone, which is critical. I tried numerous times by stopping and restarting but the best it would do was a black screen. I contacted Celestron customer service after normal business hours by email and received a response within a few minutes. They said although my phone showed to be compatible (Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra), there had been several reports of issues with the app communicating with the phone. Some phones would run it, some wouldn't. Unfortunately, mine was one that wouldn't. I bought this particular scope because of the ease of use but since the app wouldn't work, I am returning it and getting a NexStar 8SE so I don't have to worry about any compatibility issues and I get the ease of use, albeit, at a substantial cost increase. I should say that even though the app wouldn't work, I was able to manually shift around the sky and see different objects. I saw the moon for the first time through a telescope and it was awesome. Slow motion controls really help with fine tuning. All in all, I would say this would be a keeper, as long as the app works.

James C.

2022-06-05T19:04:25

Rated 5 out of 5

Celestron Telescope

As expected. Timely shipping.

PAUL S.

2022-05-23T13:10:05

Rated 1 out of 5

software not accurate

software for map not accurate.

KIET N.

2022-04-01T08:12:03

Rated 1 out of 5

Piece of Junk

Showed up with a broken Leg in the tripod, dented cylinder in the scope and was basically told to go pound sand by the support team. Don't waste your money on anything this company sells.

TIMOTHY R.

2022-03-15T10:08:53

Rated 5 out of 5

Would recommend this to anyone that wants a great telescope

Love this telescope!

Stephanie H.

2022-03-07T05:34:25

Rated 5 out of 5

Great for beginners

Great beginner telescope. I bought it for myself for Christmas. Great test telescope to see if I would use it enough to put more money into reviving my old hobby. I will be upgrading soon and passing this one along to the grandchildren.

SHANNON B.

2022-02-18T07:41:14

Rated 5 out of 5

Cool stars bro

Works great! We love it. Haven?t used the app yet though.

YASMIN R.

2022-01-26T15:23:09

Rated 5 out of 5

Great telescope and awesome delivery

I didn't know anything about this company but after reading reviews I ordered the Celestron 130 telescope. It arrived sooner than expected and the packaging was impressive. I have since ordered some accessories and they have arrived right on time.

TAMMY H.

2022-01-11T08:01:41

Rated 5 out of 5

Cosmic Love

This was a Christmas gift for my husband. And when he unwrapped it he lit up with so much joy. It was very easy to assemble, and the attachments are a plus! For his very first telescope it?s very easy to use and maneuver. He loves everything about it! It?s a 10 out of 10!!!

TUAREAAN S.

2022-01-10T11:28:40

Rated 5 out of 5

Great quality product!

So far, we are very pleased with our Celestron Telescope. The pictures for the directions could be a bit better to make it easier to get the right perspectives but we figured it out. It?s obviously a quality product which we greatly appreciate in this era of ?let?s see how cheap we can make it?. The app looks fantastic and we can?t wait to use it! Unfortunately, due to inclement weather, we haven?t been able to get outside to see what we can see but we?re very excited to try it out and explore the heavens!

ADRIANA C.

2022-01-10T10:12:19

Rated 5 out of 5

Stargazers

Love this!

LIZ M.

2022-01-06T08:03:44

Rated 3 out of 5

Celestron StarSense Explorer DX 130AZ Smartphone App-Enabled Newtonian Reflector Telescope

Looks good and service was good but so far we have found the telescope difficult to navigate.

JONATHAN H.

2022-01-03T07:40:13

Rated 5 out of 5

Excellent!

Excellent intermediate telescope

HAL D.

2022-01-02T10:28:39

Rated 5 out of 5

EXCELLENT!!!!!!!!!!!

GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mary C.

2021-12-30T08:18:04

Rated 5 out of 5

Perfect Gift!

Fantastic gift to experience the cosmos!

NEVINSTHON A.

2021-12-28T13:56:41

Rated 4 out of 5

Amazing viewing

Very good but finder didn?t work, but with call they are sending a replacement. So, overall, very good

Gary G.

2021-12-28T07:11:50

Rated 5 out of 5

Celestron Star Sense Telescope

Really like this telescope.

Bonita D.

2021-12-26T15:40:16

Rated 5 out of 5

The Best Christmas Present

It was a gift and the recipient is extremely happy ad surprised when he opened the box. Overall it was great, I rated it a 5. We have not used it so far because of the weather, but we assembled it and can't wait for the right weather to come.

MARIA D.

2021-12-15T14:50:05

Rated 5 out of 5

Wow!

I bought this for my grandson and me? First night after set up, we found a planet, double star and a galaxy. Using a cell phone to find named objects was simple. We thoroughly enjoyed our time.

ARTHUR B.

2021-12-12T09:42:16

Rated 3 out of 5

Hardware and Software Great - Hardware User Documentation for Astrophotography and Maintenance Very Poor

Five stars for the hardware and Software, and for the software docs. But the hardware documentation and supporting info are very poor and/or poorly made available. Like me if you're new to telescopes, and want to use it for astrophotography with a DSLR, there are no instructions in the box, or available in the OEM support or downloads for this scope. I started out with a lot of frustration, trying to figure out what to do, and what I needed. I had to depend on 3rd party Youtube posts. To complicate things the T-Mount Celestron lists on their site for this scope was wrong. I contacted them about this and they acknowledged the problem quickly. but still haven't changed the site. Also there is no mention in the box or with the scope specific online support on what needs to be done to maintain this: cleaning and adjustments. (Both will be eventually needed.) Once again the best info I could find was generic but useful third party posts. I need to mention that the info I needed is actually on the Celestron site, but well hidden. I was not able to find what I was looking for. If you know all the telescope related jargon you have a better chance that I did of finding it.

JAMIE S.

2021-11-26T07:41:41

Rated 5 out of 5

Great telescope!!!

This telescope is perfect for beginners! It has an easy a quickly setup, and the starsense app is great! I'm loving it!

JOSE P.

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Celestron StarSense Explorer Specifications

  • Optical Design

    Newtonian Reflector

  • Aperture (mm)

    5.11" (130mm)

  • Focal Length

    25.59" (650mm)

  • Focal Ratio

    F/5

  • Focal Length of Eyepiece 1 (mm)

    0.98" (25mm)

  • Magnification of Eyepiece 1

    26 x

  • Focal Length of Eyepiece 2 (mm)

    0.39" (10mm)

  • Magnification of Eyepiece 2

    65x

  • Finderscope

    StarPointer red dot finderscope

  • Optical Tube

    Steel

  • Highest Useful Magnification

    307 x

  • Lowest Useful Magnification

    19 x

  • Limiting Stellar Magnitude

    13.1

  • Resolution

    Rayleigh: 1.07 arc seconds
    Dawes: 0.89 arc seconds

  • Light Gathering Power

    345 x

  • Secondary Mirror Obstruction

    1.73" (45mm)

  • Secondary Mirror Obstruction by Diameter

    34%

  • Secondary Mirror Obstruction by Area

    11%

  • Optical Coatings

    Glass mirrors coated with aluminum and SiO2

  • Dovetail

    CG-5 Dovetail Bar

  • Mount Type

    Manual Alt-Azimuth

  • Height adjustment range

    49" (124.46cm) max height

  • Accessory Tray

    Yes

  • Slew Speeds

    Manual

  • GPS

    Uses phone's GPS

  • Dovetail Compatibility

    CG-5 Dovetail bar

  • Power Requirements

    None (Recommend PowerTank Glow to keep phone charged while using app)

  • Alignment Procedures

    Use StarSense Explorer app

  • Dimensions (L x Diameter)

    Optical Tube: 25 x 6.5" (63.5 x 16.5cm)

  • Weight

    Kit: 18 lbs (8.16kg)
    Optical Tube: 8.8 lbs (3.99kg)
    Tripod: 9.2 lbs (1.72kg)

  • UPC Code

    050234224611

48 Accessories for Celestron StarSense Explorer DX 130AZ Smartphone App-Enabled Newtonian Reflector Telescope

  • All Accessories (48)
  • Eyepieces & Accessories (23)
  • Filters (3)
  • Batteries & Power Supply (3)
  • Telescope Accessories (3)
  • Navigational Accessories (3)
  • Bumpers (1)
  • Cleaning Accessories (1)
  • Photography Adapters (1)
  • T-Mounts (5)
  • Flashlights & Area Lights (1)
  • Tripods (1)
  • Brackets & Mounts (2)
  • Smartphone Digiscoping (1)

About Celestron StarSense Explorer

FEATURED REVIEWS

Wow!

By ARTHUR B.

I bought this for my grandson and me? First night after set up, we found a planet, double star and a galaxy. Using a cell phone to find named objects was simple. We thoroughly enjoyed our time.

Love the app

By RICHARD H.

This is a very good beginner telescope that gave me success on the first night right out of the box. The app makes it very easy to find interesting things to look at in the sky. Saturns rings, Jupiter’s moons, dim star clusters and galaxies, this telescope changed the way I look at the heavens.

Why settle for ordinary stargazing when you can explore the cosmos with the StarSense Explorer DX 130AZ Smartphone App-Enabled Newtonian Reflector Telescope This innovative product from Celestron revolutionizes the world of manual telescopes by integrating your smartphone to analyze the night sky and calculate its position in real time.

Ideal for beginners and seasoned astronomers alike, the StarSense Explorer DX 130AZ offers a user-friendly interface and detailed tutorials through its dedicated app. It's like having a personal tour guide to the cosmos, making celestial navigation simpler, faster, and more accurate than ever before.

With the StarSense Explorer, you can leave behind the complexities of star charts and imprecise planetarium apps. Within minutes of setting up the telescope, you'll be navigating the night sky with confidence. Simply dock your phone in the unique StarSense dock, launch the app, and align your phone to the telescope's optics. The app then generates a list of celestial objects currently visible, guiding you to your chosen object with onscreen arrows.

The StarSense Explorer DX 130AZ is compatible with most modern smartphones, including iPhone 6 and up and most Android devices running 7.1.2 or later manufactured since 2016. It employs patent-pending StarSense Sky Recognition Technology and a Lost in Space Algorithm (LISA) to accurately determine where the telescope is pointed in the night sky.

This telescope features a high-quality altazimuth mount with slow-motion control, providing a sturdy foundation and smooth navigation. The adjustable, full-height tripod anchors the telescope, making it easy to follow celestial objects as they drift across the sky.

With a large 130mm (5") objective lens, this telescope offers dazzling views of celestial objects. Its highly reflective coatings on both the primary and secondary mirror enhance the views even more, allowing you to see impressive details of Jupiter's Galilean moons, Saturn's rings, the Orion Nebula, and the Pleiades Open Star Cluster, among others.

Whether you're in a city or a dark sky site, the StarSense Explorer DX 130AZ is advanced enough to pick out the most famous celestial objects. Its lightweight design makes it perfectly portable, so you can easily bring it on your next camping trip or to a remote observing site. Experience the universe like never before with the StarSense Explorer DX 130AZ Smartphone App-Enabled Newtonian Reflector Telescope.

Celestron StarSense Explorer Features

  • Unleash the power of your smartphone to take you on a guided tour of the night sky-no telescope experience required.
  • Award-winning and Patent-pending StarSense sky recognition technology uses your smartphone to analyze star patterns overhead and calculate its position in real time.
  • StarSense Explorer app automatically generates a list of objects currently visible. View planets, brighter nebulae and galaxies, star clusters, and double stars from the city. Or take your telescope to darker skies to view faint, deep sky objects.
  • Manual altazimuth mount with smooth, dual-axis slow-motion controls makes it easy to follow the on-screen arrows to your desired target. When the bullseye turns green, it's ready to view in the telescope's eyepiece.
  • 130mm (5") Newtonian reflector with highly reflective coatings and enough light gathering ability to view all the best celestial objects.
  • Includes 25mm and 10mm eyepieces, StarSense smartphone dock, a red dot finderscope (in case you want to use the telescope without your phone), and a sturdy, full-height tripod.

Key Features

  • Innovative smartphone app-enabled telescope for real-time night sky analysis
  • User-friendly interface with detailed tutorials, perfect for beginners and seasoned astronomers
  • High-quality altazimuth mount with slow-motion control for smooth celestial navigation
  • Large 130mm (5") objective lens for bright, detailed views of celestial objects
  • Lightweight and portable design, ideal for city stargazing or remote observing sites

What's in the box:

  • 130mm Newtonian Reflector Optical Tube
  • 25mm Kellner Eyepiece
  • 10mm Kellner Eyepiece
  • StarSense Smartphone Dock
  • Red Dot Finderscope
  • Altazimuth Mount with Slow Motion Control Rod
  • Full Height Tripod
  • Accessory Tray
  • Celestron 2 Year Limited Warranty