Bresser Messier 130N Telescope Review

The Bresser Messier N130 or 130N is a 5” or as the name implies a 130mm aperture Newtonian Telescope with a focal length of 1000mm/100cm/1m.

Bresser Messier 130N TelescopeThe Bresser Messier 130N was my first telescope purchase, and I was glad to know that it came complete with a number of eyepieces – 25mm, 15mm, 10mm and a Barlow lens, a planisphere, a good manual, as well as the astronomy software Cartes Du Ciel which can also be downloaded for free on the internet.

I paid £190 for the telescope new. At the time I only wanted to pay a maximum of £250 for a telescope, so it was nice to have some money spare, although this money and more was subsequently spent on astronomy accessories.

There were two largish boxes to unpack; one contained the tripod and equatorial mount whilst the other box contained the scope and the accessories. It did not take me too long to unpack and setup the telescope, although reading the manual was necessary.

As soon as I unpacked the telescope I was amazed that the equatorial telescope mount was so well made and very sturdy for the amount I paid. You may find the tripod quite heavy especially when you add the balancing weights to the tripod, so the 130N scope is not for young children due to the weight. The tripod height can be altered by loosening the tripod locks on the legs in order to get the telescope to a comfortable height for viewing. The tripod base underneath also has a plastic triangle to lock the legs in place, this also doubles up as an accessory tray, which can hold three 1.25 inch eyepieces and other bits and bobs.

N130 Mount and TelescopeWhen it’s your first telescope you never know what to expect when it comes to what you are going to see. I began by using the scope to see trees and plants outside of the window, and I was amazed to find out that I could see magnified images of ants on trees which were about 30m away.

Using the telescope indoors also gets you used to using the scope and how the equatorial mount works and how to get the scope in focus etc.

The 130N moves across the RA and Dec axis via manual control, although an optional RA motor drive can be fitted to the MON1 mount in order to track objects.

Bresser 130N TelescopeOne good thing about the 130N is that you can remove or unscrew the barrel part of the eyepiece focuser on the telescope, which provides you with even more focusing range when doing imaging with the scope.

I have used the 130N many times for taking images of the moon (see my gallery to view the images) and this telescope excelled at viewing the moon as well as planets such as Venus, Jupiter and Saturn. I also managed to use a web cam to get some great images of Jupiter, unfortunately due to the time of year when I owned the telescope; Saturn and Venus were not available for imaging.

N130 Telescope TubeI was also able to view other objects such as the Ring Nebula, Hercules cluster, Andromeda Galaxy and Whirlpool galaxy. But don’t expect to get views such as those from the Hubble Space Telescope for £200, but you can see a whole lot of sky if you can find the objects. Astrophotography of certain fast moving deep sky objects will be very difficult with this scope but viewing them will not.

Moving and setting up the Messier 130N telescope was relatively easy with most of the weight being in the tripod mount, it was then just a matter of setting the tripod height and then placing the telescope tube onto the mount and tightening it onto the mount via a screw and you are ready.

After a while I got used to polar aligning the scope as directed in the user manual and then finding objects by using the RA and Dec settings.

Really I don’t know what else to say about the scope, other than for the price the telescope was very good value for money, and I can definitely recommend the Bresser Messier 130N as a starter scope.

9 comments

  • michael

    hi.

    i want to buy a messier n-150. what can i get form this scope? can i see clear planets or a nabula ? i’m a starter but i want a good telescope can you see in googel this type and tell me if it’s good thank you

  • Daniel

    You can look at my 130N images for some idea of what you will see. I think the focal length of the 150N is the same as the 130N but you get a wider aperture so you can gather more light, so see more and objects should look brighter.

    You will be able to see nebula, (if you can manually find them) I used to look at the Ring Nebula and Jupiter was quite clear together with the Moon, Saturn etc. Just don’t expect to see the type of astronomy images you see on the web or from those from the Hubble telescope.

    It’s difficult to compare telescopes unless you own both at the same time. After I spent lots more money on an LX200 I epxected quite a lot more, but really the magnification was not much better than my N130, due to the Earth’s atmosphere. There is only so much you can see.

    It would be great telescope to start with, and see if you like astronomy then you can always upgrade later on as I did.

  • michael

    hi again. i i have the n 150 bresser but… now i got offer from the store that i can upgrate it to a bresser r152s. what do you say about it? evreybody say that the reractor is super great. if you can see the details on the r152 and tell me please if it’s an oppertunity?

    thanks

  • Daniel

    Hi, I think refractors are better telescopes, but I have been told they can produce “false colour”. I don’t know though as I have never owned one.

    May be you should ask someone in an astronomy forum.

  • agron

    Hi Daniel,
    first of all you have a great web site…sure can find a lot of stuff here.
    I was wondering about the Planet photos that you have made with the Messier N-130. The Saturn photo seams heavily blured! Is it so when i look through the eye piece??? Or is it the problem of the focusing, atmosphere or …?
    I was interested in astronomy for a long time and now it’s time that i bye my first telescope.
    Or what would you suggest for a upper begginner form the price of 400EURO???
    thanx and take care,
    agron

  • Daniel

    Hi Agron. There could have been lots of reasons for the blurred image. But I think the main one was not having a decent SLR camera attached to telescope. I began by just holding a Canon IXUS up to the eyepiece. But you will also have a little blur if the telescope does not track the object in the sky.

    If I was going to buy I a telescope I would look for:

    1. A light telescope you don’t mind setting up and lifting
    2. A large aperture and good focal length
    3. A GoTo scope to help you find objects and not get bored

    Perhaps look at the 2nd hand market for a telescope? It depends what you want to do, photography or just observing, and observe planets or deep sky objects.

  • Cesar

    Hi there. I just bought th N-130 from a friend that was moving to NY e leaving Brazil. The problem is that the user manual is in German and I only speak portuguese, english and a bit of spanish. Do you know if there is a site where I can download one?

  • Daniel

    Hi, I have just had a look on the web and I cannot find a user manual either. As I remember my telescope came with 2 instruction manuals, one in English and one in German.

    I’ll keep an eye out and see if I can find one on my travels.

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