Review of the Celestron NexStar 127SLT Computerised GoTo Telescope

I'm writing this review on my new Celestron 127mm Maksutov Cassegrain Nexstar SLT. This telescope is my second purchase for astronomy, more so planetary observation.

To start with as soon as you open up the box there is a large amount of protection for the scope ( OLA - Ocular Lens Assembly ) as I keep getting it referred to as, overall impressed with the protection. Once all the boxes have been discarded, and you build your scope up which was so easy, literally 30 seconds to put it together.

Build quality - OLA is heavy and feels really well-built, tripod is robust and very sturdy compared to my last one as there is very little wobble to this you can get a really good sight in with the scope. Downside to the red dot scope is I don't think it's adequate for the job with this scope as this I believe is for a more basic beginners telescope, however I don't use this so not much of a deal breaker for me.

GoTo mount - This is probably the biggest part of this for me to get used too, it has taken a while to get set up properly after a multitude of misalignments when trying to align with planets and the moon. Top tip, highly recommend updating the firmware as soon as you get this as mine had 11 updates to add. Since I have done this, I haven't had any issues with aligning plus the major update to this is connecting a USB cable to your handset and controlling your GoTo mount through the software provided on your PC. Massive advantage if you're planning on controlling it from indoors and using an Astro camera. 

Image Quality - millions time better than my older scope, which due to this costing 5 times more, I would expect better clarity to the images. The first time I had the moon in prime position for viewing, aligned and started tracking as it was panning over the night sky. Absolutely crystal-clear image to my eyes. So much detail you can see craters with the ridges especially with the right eyepiece as I used a 15 mm and 17 mm. Used a Barlow x2 for distant object like Jupiter which you can make out the cloud rings on there but for lunar observation a Barlow is too much for the focal length which is 1500 mm.

Overall I'm very impressed with this Celestron Nexstar telescope and I will be endeavouring to use this as much as I can, hopefully for a little deep sky observing and Astro photography with the DSLR lens adapter. I have always wanted a Maksutov telescope and I'm so glad I got this one from PicStop.

Review by Craig H