Bresser Spica I 130/650 EQ3 Reflector Telescope

Sun, Moon, planets, deep sky - this entry-level telescope with extensive astronomy accessories is the perfect all-rounder for your easy start.

Complete set of telescope, tripod, mount and many accessories for starting immediately
Easy to use reflector telescope for beginners
Fine adjustment with flexible shafts in 2 axes
Telescope aperture: 130 mm; focal length: 650 mm
Very versatile, suitable for Moon, planets, deep sky objects and Sun with safe objective solar filter
Enables astrophotos using smartphones

Set off in search of your own fascinating discoveries at the night sky. This starter set comes with everything you need for your first astronomical observations: reflector telescope with 130 mm aperture and 650 mm focal length, equatorial mount, tripod and comprehensive astronomical accessories. The system is very easy to use and extremely versatile. It is suitable for observing the Moon, the Sun and the planets as well as star clusters and gas nebulae. Ideal for your easy start in sky observation!

Astro all-rounder for beginners - the telescope
The astronomical telescope is a classic reflector telescope, a so-called Newtonian reflector. One characteristic of this particular type: They are designed to look in at the front and from the side instead of the rear. Thus, the observation position always remains comfortable, even when the tube is pointed vertically into the sky. Once familiar with it, the telescope is also very easy to use. These reflector telescopes also have one important advantage regarding their optics: they are free of chromatic aberrations and thus offer good imaging properties.

With its 130 mm aperture, this entry-level telescope already collects a lot of light from celestial objects. In addition, 130 mm aperture and 650 mm focal length result in a short focal ratio (ratio of aperture to focal length) of 1 to 5 (F/5). This allows you to marvel at a bright image through this fast telescope. It also allows for high magnifications, making the beginner's telescope a flexible all-rounder for sky observing. Enjoy the full range of astronomical highlights: At low to medium magnification, take in open and globular clusters such as M13 in the constellation Hercules. Or you can admire gas nebulae such as the famous Orion Nebula M42. At high magnifications, on the other hand, observing the planets or details on the Moon becomes an absolute pleasure.

The 130 mm aperture offers a resolution which allows you to admire your favourite celestial objects in sharp images at magnifications of up to about 260x. Technically, even more is possible - theoretically up to 487.5x with the included accessories. However, the image sharpness can then slowly decrease with increasing magnification. Nevertheless, how much you can really magnify, depends not only on your telescope. The air turbulence in the atmosphere (seeing conditions) is also always an important factor in your astronomical observations.

Please note that reflecting telescopes of the "Newton" type always produce images both laterally reversed and upside down. This does not matter for astronomical observations, which is why these telescopes are very well suited for these purposes. For nature and landscape observations during the day, however, this characteristic is disruptive. Therefore, we recommend the BRESSER refracting telescopes for this application.

User-friendly and stable - mount and tripod
Have you found the perfect place for your observations? Then just attach the telescope to the equatorial mount and the height-adjustable aluminium tripod. The advantage of this type of mount: unlike azimuthal models, the movement of the celestial bodies has to be counterbalanced on just one axis. For this purpose, one axis is aligned parallel to the Earth's axis by pointing it approximately at the polar star. Adjustment and tracking of the telescope is particularly precise and comfortable via the two flexible shafts with fine adjustment. And your accessories stay always within reach on the storage plate attached to the tripod.

Keep track of things automatically: For this telescope’s equatorial EQ-3 mount, the tracking motor with item number 4951400 is available as an optional accessory. This eliminates the need to manually track a celestial object set in the telescope. When this motor is installed at the mount, it automatically tracks the celestial object, keeping it in the field of view of the eyepiece. This makes observing the night sky even more comfortable!

Complete astronomy starter package - the accessories
Unpack and get started straight away - the beginner's telescope comes with lots of accessories. The LED viewfinder enables you to navigate the night sky with ease. This direction finder is installed on the telescope and projects a red dot onto a small ground-glass screen. When you look through it, the red dot appears to be floating at the exact location in the sky to which the telescope is pointed. Thus, the LED viewfinder allows you to easily find celestial objects and accurately align the telescope.

Different perspectives of the night sky: With the two eyepieces included, you are able to view astronomical objects at different magnifications. With the standard 31.7 mm (1.25 inch) diameter sockets, they are simply inserted into the telescope's focuser. Do you want an even more detailed image? Then the 3x barlow lens can triple the magnification.

However, during the day taking a look at the sky is also worthwhile: with the solar filter you can safely observe sunspots and granulation on our very own star.
CAUTION: Never point the telescope at the Sun without the solar filter!

Whether Sun, Moon, planets or deep sky objects - with the smartphone adapter you can capture your most fascinating moments on intriguing snapshots. Simply slip it over the eyepiece and take your first steps in astrophotography!

FEATURES

Reflector telescope with 130 mm aperture and 650 mm focal length
Reflector type Newton
Well suited for observing Sun, Moon and planets as well as star clusters and gas nebulae
Height-adjustable tripod with equatorial EQ3 mount
Precise adjustment through flexible shafts with fine adjustment in both axes
Easy to use, very good for beginners
Focal ratio F/5, thus well suited for many celestial objects
31.7 mm (1.25 inch) focuser
Two eyepieces and one barlow lens with 31.7 mm (1.25 inch) sockets for different magnifications
Safe solar observation with the included solar filter
First steps in astrophotography with smartphone camera adapter

SCOPE OF DELIVERY

Telescope
Aluminium tripod
Equatorial EQ3 mount
Eyepieces: 4 mm and 20 mm (1.25-inch socket)
Barlow lens 3x (1.25-inch socket)
LED illuminated dot viewfinder
Solar filter
Smartphone camera adapter
Accessory tray
Astronomy software download
Instruction manual

Some items that are showing as in stock are in stock at our holding warehouses, not at the shop. To double check the stock levels at the shop, please contact us on 01909774369 or sales@rothervalleyoptics.co.uk.

The delivery times for most items is 1 - 2 days but again, please double check stock levels on important orders before placing an order via the website.

The delivery costs for courier next day are for mainland UK only. If you live in the Scottish Highlands/Islands, Channel Islands or Northern Ireland, then a shipping surchage will apply. please contact us for prices. Smaller items can still go 1st class via Royal Mail.

Please note that if you are wanting to take advantage of our Saturday and Sunday timed services or next day pre 12 or pre 10:30 services, you MUST check that the stock is here at the shop before placing orders. Also, orders using the Saturday and Sunday services must be placed before 1pm the previous working day. Also, please remember to check that the stock is here at the shop before placing orders. If the stock is not at the shop, we won't be able to ship on any of the timed services. 

Please note International customers will need to contact us for a shipping price prior to ordering via the website. We don't ship all items internationally. It is at our discretion what we ship outside of the UK. This all depends on the size and weight of the items. Please get in touch with us for any postage costs. Please note we do NOT ship telescopes or heavy items outside of the UK. This is due to massive postage costs and problems regarding returns.

If you have any questions regarding stock levels or delivery, please get in touch.

Zygo Interferometer Testing For ED Refractor Telescopes!

We are extremely pleased to announce our Zygo Interferometer is now installed and ready for use! Our experienced staff can test refractor lenses up to 120mm aperture and provide a comprehensive 2 page report showing the optical quality and Strehl ratio, plus much more information. We are using the very latest Zygo MX software to provide a more detailed report compared to other standard reports.

The interferometer is essentially a measuring instrument. Within the interferometer is a calibrated laser that is pointed through the optical test surface, then onto a high quality reference sphere, then back through the test subject then to an internal camera which gives us the measurement on the screen. From this, we can adjust the position of the test optic and the reference sphere to obtain a perfectly calibrated system. The more central the laser to the test optic and then on return, the better and more accurate reading and measurement we can take. This takes a lot of adjustment to get the best results from the optical surface. Once the measurement has been taken, we are provided with a series of results that show the optical quality of the surface plus other information. Continue reading for an explanation of the individual values and you can also see a test report that was done on one of our RVO Horizon 60 OTAs. 

We are offering certain telescopes with a Zygo test at an extra cost. Mainly ED doublets and triplets. All available telescopes with a Zygo test report are listed here. Just select Zygo Test Report from the drop down box at the top of the listing and we will test the optics in house and provide a full 2 page report with your scope. This will show you the optical quality of your telescope optics. We can also offer this service on your refractor telescope. Please get in touch for more details about this. 

At Rother Valley Optics, one thing we pride ourselves on is customer service and quality of our equipment. When we test your telescope, we will ensure that it is of the highest quality otherwise, we will reject the scope under our strict quality control and test another model for your peace of mind. One of the main values to look at when testing a refractor is the Strehl ratio. The higher this number, the higher quality lens you have. At Rother Valley Optics, we will guarantee the highest possible Strehl ratio for your telescope.  We will aim to provide 0.95 Strehl or higher on Takahashi, RVO Horizon, William Optics and many more! Generally, the higher the Strehl ratio, the lower the Astigmatism and Coma meaning a better image quality from your instrument. 

Other measurements such as the PV and RMS are important too. With these measurements, the lower the number the better as it shows less curvature on the lens. The flatter an optical lens, the better it will perform. The PV rating (Peak To Valley) is a measurement from the highest point (Peak) to the lowest point (Valley). From this we get the RMS (Root, Mean, Square). This is a similar figure to the PV and measured exactly the same way. The RMS is basically an average height difference from the PV so again, the lower the better. As you can see form the example below, we measured an RMS of just 0.027 wave which is a very good value.

We also measure the Power with our systems which is essentially the error from the reference sphere to the test optic. The reference sphere we use on our system is a very high quality sphere so the closer to zero the Power, the less error between the 2 elements thus ensuring a higher quality optical surface. 

You will also see some more values such as Astigmatism and Coma. Again, these are measured by the interferometer when we take measurements of the optical surface after adjustment. These are values which ideally would be at 0 but as our test optics are all curved lenses, there will always be astigmatism and coma present. The lower the number, the less of these aberations you will effectively see but with most refractors, you can buy field flatteners which will compensate for the coma anyway. The astigmatisms value is explaining the error between the symmetrical curvature of the lens. Basically, no lens will be perfectly symmetrical, the lower the astigmatism, the more symmetrical the lens surface is. 

Once the Zygo test report has been completed, the optical alignment is thoroughly tested and tuned to ensure they are spot on before they leave us. 

All available telescopes are on the website at the link below and ones we've tested already that are available straight away are also listed.

https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/zygo-tested-refractors.html

Here is an example of the test what we provide. This was a test on one of our Horizon 60 ED OTA's.

For any questions about this amazing new service, please either call 01909774369 or email sales@rothervalleyoptics.co.uk.

Are you interested in this product but would like to speak to someone with some more information? Simply fill in the form below and we will get back to you as soon as we can!

* Name

Please enter your full name

* Telephone Number

Please input your telephone number here

* Model Number

Please enter the model number which is just above

Additional Information

Please include any information here that will help our staff members assist your query

*

Please add the two numbers

SubmitSubmit