New to amateur astronomy? Looking for a high-performance telescope you can take practically anywhere? Or perhaps you are seeking an easy-to-use, high-quality yet affordable telescope for your child? Look no further—you have found it!
The SkyWatcher Virtuoso Gti 130/650 Dobson telescope is an extremely portable, ultra-compact, lightweight astronomical telescope with a far-from-astronomical price tag. The optical tube is rigid, and its focuser can be adjusted somewhat more precisely than that of its collapsible counterpart, although the latter offers greater portability. This is a true "grab-and-go" telescope, and its optical performance is sure to impress beginner astronomers.
At the heart of the SkyWatcher Virtuoso Gti MiniDobson is a precision-crafted 130 mm primary mirror which, unlike many entry-level reflecting telescopes, is not spherical but has a paraboloidal surface, providing beautiful, sharp images even at high magnifications. An instrument of this size already reveals a wealth of celestial objects in the night sky. The Moon's countless craters, Saturn's rings and Jupiter's colourful cloud bands are sure to impress the observer, along with dozens of star clusters, nebulae and galaxies that this telescope displays beautifully under dark rural skies.
The telescope comes with 25 mm and 10 mm barium eyepieces, providing magnifications of 26x and 65x respectively. Of course, the magnification range can be extended up to 200x by purchasing additional eyepieces or a Barlow lens.
The optical tube is moved by SkyWatcher's latest tabletop single-arm Dobsonian GoTo mount, known as the Virtuoso Gti MiniDobson. Thanks to the manufacturer's "Freedom Find" technology, the telescope can also be moved freely by hand without losing its celestial position. This ensures outstanding convenience and simplicity when locating objects.
The mount can communicate with your smartphone via built-in WiFi; simply download the SynScan App from Google Play or the App Store. Optionally, a SynScan hand controller can also be used. The app or hand controller provides access to data for 42,900 objects, allowing you to find countless spectacular targets under dark rural skies within the limits of the telescope's aperture.
Although the Virtuoso Gti Minidobson is best placed on a table for convenient use, it can also be mounted on a tripod with a 3/8-inch photo thread, allowing the complete mount to be raised freely to a comfortable height. The StarAdventurer tripod is one such option.
For power, you can use 8 AA batteries placed in the built-in battery holder, or optionally operate it from a 12 V mains power supply or gel battery. The mount is not only suitable for moving your telescope: a digital camera can also be mounted in place of the telescope for astrophotography landscapes or time-lapse videos, while the mount can also control timed exposures via its jack connector.
