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Get stunning views of the moon for less with $108 off this Celestron telescope

A Celestron Astromaster 130EQ telescope in front of a brown door, with a Space Prime Day deals logo.
(Image credit: Morgan Bailee Boggess)

Looking to get into skywatching, but aren't sure which telescope to buy? Celestron's Astromaster 130EQ Newtonian reflector telescope is a solid foothold for would-be astronomers. Ideal for surveying the solar system, it's an amazing $108 off for Prime Day.

You can get the Celestron Astromaster 130EQ Newtonian reflector telescope right now at Amazon for $252.

Celestron is one of the most trusted optical brands and their products feature heavily in our best telescopes guide and best binoculars guide. This scope may be beginner-friendly but with its 130mm aperture and optics, coated for clearer views, it should be with you a while at least.

Now's a great time to invest in a telescope, too. The Celestron Astromaster 130EQ is ideal for gazing at the surface of the moon, picking out its craters and plains. And on October 21, you can spy the Orionids meteor shower streaking across the sky. With its roots in Halley's Comet, it should be a stunning display as its fragments burn up in the Earth's atmosphere, some almost explosively!


Celestron AstroMaster 130EQ
The Celestron AstroMaster 130EQ's equatorial mount is easy for beginners to come to grips with. (Image credit: Morgan Bailee Boggess)

The Celestron Astromaster 130EQ has everything you need to get stargazing, including a free download of the basic edition of Celestron's Starry Night Software. It includes a tripod, red dot finderscope, and 20mm and 10mm lenses. The former has image correction, so if you do want to use this scope for terrestrial viewing, it'll be the right way up.

The telescope's 130mm aperture drinks in plenty of light, and you can swap in a 6mm eyepiece for extra magnification, though the 20mm and 10mm should be enough for beginners. You can trust Celestron to deliver quality optics, so this is a great choice for new astronomers. You'll have to be fast, though, since there are only a few hours of Prime Day left.

Key features: 130mm aperture, 552m optical tube length, fully-coated glass optics, metal tripod, 20mm eyepiece with built-in corrector, 10mm eyepiece, red dot finderscope, Starry Night Basic Edition software (download), 2 year warranty.

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Price history: We've seen this telescope hit $350 at one point, but it typically retails in the region of $300. It dipped to $241 last Black Friday, but factoring in inflation, $251 is an excellent price and we'd be surprised if it went any lower this year.

Price comparison: Amazon: $251 | Walmart: $325 | Celestron: $360

Reviews consensus: This is a good starter scope from a trusted manufacturer, with a beginner-friendly mount and all the accessories you need to get stargazing. Those who've purchased it also express its excellence for beginners, with a few saying that the tripod could be more stable.

✅ Buy it if: You're a beginner, and you're mostly interested in capturing the moon, the planets, or other objects in our solar system.

❌ Don't buy it if: You want a telescope purely for gazing further into the cosmos. Consider one of the best telescopes for deep space, or if it's portability you're after, the Celestron Travel Scope 70 is heavily discounted.

Check out our other guides to the best telescopes, binoculars, cameras, star projectors, drones, lego and much more.

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Chris is a freelance journalist who, aside from covering games and gaming-related tech, has a taste for horror, sci-fi and the post-apocalyptic. As well as Space.com, you can find his work at The Escapist, GameSpew (where he’s the morning news writer) and more. You can follow him on Twitter @MarmaladeBus.

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