First, a follow up on the DEC balancing issue. I did get it balanced in DEC. I had to move the OTA back as far as possible in the tube rings and slide the whole assembly back almost to its limits to achieve good balance.

First Light.

As many astronomers know, first light is one of the most important events of any new telescope. It allows you to look at a well known object and get a idea of how good your telescope is going to be. For this celebrated event, I chose M 31, often referred to as the “Great Andromeda Nebula”.

Now, before I go any further, I need to tell you about the sky conditions here in Harleysville, PA. Lots of sky glow from light pollution. On a scale of 1 to 5, 5 being the worst, my location rates a 3. The faintest visible star is magnitude 4.5 when transparency is at it’s best. On this night transparency was just that but seeing was just moderate and M 31 is at the zenith. I dropped in my Meade Series 5000 20 mm Plõssl which gives me x37.5. I got a clear, crisp view with pinpoint star images. The brightest portion of M 31 is well defined and I can see M110 at the edge of the eyepiece. I increased the power to x53.5 with my Meade Series 5000 14 mm eyepiece. This gave me the best view. The galaxies central region is stunning and with averted vision I can detect a dark lane across the width of the eyepiece.

Next up, the Double Cluster h and Chi Perseus (NGC 869 & NGC 884). For this I dropped in the 25 mm Plössl that was supplied with the Celestron XLT 150R. I don’t know much about this eyepiece except that it gives me x30. The entire Double Cluster is visible in the eyepiece. What a sight!. The star images are pinpoint sharp, clear to the edge of the FOV. The Double Cluster has always been one of my favorite deep sky objects.

All told, out-of-the-box, the Celestron XLT 150R is easy to assemble, setup and use. Take your time to balance this instrument. A little trial and error is all it takes. This telescope offers clear, crisp views and is a good value for the money. I’d recommend the Celestron XLT 150R to any beginner or intermediate level amateur astronomer.

Clear Skies,

- Dan

Disclosure