Eyepiece and telescope pairing
Best eyepiece for the Celestron AstroMaster 130EQ
Which eyepiece gets the most out of the Celestron AstroMaster 130EQ, chosen by exit pupil rather than by guesswork.
- Aperture / focal length
- 130 mm / 650 mm (f/5)
- Deep-sky pick
- Celestron Omni 9mm Plossl: 72x, 1.8 mm exit pupil
- Low-power pick
- Celestron X-Cel LX 25mm: 26x, 5 mm exit pupil
- Focuser barrel
- 1.25 in (both eyepieces fit)
For deep-sky detail, the Celestron Omni 9mm Plossl is the pick of the eyepieces here: at 72x it lands near the 2 mm exit pupil where faint-object contrast peaks in the Celestron AstroMaster 130EQ. For wide low-power sweeping, drop to the Celestron X-Cel LX 25mm at 26x.
An exit pupil near 2 mm is the classic sweet spot for teasing detail out of faint deep-sky objects, because it concentrates the light while keeping the image bright enough. In the Celestron AstroMaster 130EQ the Celestron Omni 9mm Plossl lands there, at 72x with a 1.8 mm exit pupil and a 0.69 degree field.
For a low-power finder-and-framing view you want a wider exit pupil, around 5 mm. Here the Celestron X-Cel LX 25mm gives 26x, a 5 mm exit pupil and a 2.31 degree field, the widest true field of the eyepieces that fit this focuser.
Eyepieces to buy
Search Amazon for Celestron Omni 9mm Plosslaffiliate searchFind Celestron Omni 9mm Plossl on eBayaffiliateSearch Amazon for Celestron X-Cel LX 25mmaffiliate searchFind Celestron X-Cel LX 25mm on eBayaffiliate