Varrow Hearth 130 Newtonian reflector, tube with alt-az mount

Specifications

Description

The Hearth 130 is a Newtonian reflector with a 130 mm parabolic primary mirror and a focal length of 650 mm, which gives a focal ratio of f/5. At that ratio, a 25 mm eyepiece gives a wide field with a bright image, while a 6 mm eyepiece reaches high power for the Moon and the planets. The primary carries an aluminum coating with a protective silicon monoxide overcoat, which keeps reflectance high across the visible spectrum.

The secondary mirror sits on a four-vane spider, and its position is set with three collimation screws at the focuser end of the tube. Collimation is needed before the first session and after the tube has been moved or stored for a while. The supplied collimation cap and a center-mark check make the alignment simple to repeat. Because the tube is open at the top end, it takes roughly thirty to sixty minutes to reach outdoor temperature, so a short wait before high-power work avoids blurred images caused by air currents inside the tube.

At 6.4 kg, the tube is light enough to lift onto a tabletop Dobsonian base or a small equatorial mount that accepts a standard tube ring. The 1.25 in rack-and-pinion focuser holds a standard eyepiece steady, and the dual-speed knob makes fine focusing on planetary detail easier. Typical targets include the Moon, the rings of Saturn, the belts and four Galilean moons of Jupiter, the Orion Nebula, the Pleiades, and the Double Cluster in Perseus. Under dark skies, the brighter galaxies M81 and M82 show as faint oval patches, and globular clusters such as M13 begin to resolve into individual stars at moderate power.

About this configuration

Every configuration of the Varrow Hearth 130 Newtonian reflector shares the same optics; the choices below change how the telescope is mounted, finished, and equipped. The included alt-az mount moves up and down and side to side, so you point the telescope by hand without polar alignment. Manual alt-az motion suits visual observing, though you need to nudge the tube now and then to follow objects as the sky turns. Gloss white paint is easy to wipe clean, and the tube stays easy to spot in a dark yard.

The planetary kit adds a short focal length eyepiece and a set of color filters for the Moon and the bright planets. The optics in the 2024 edition match the other years; the changes concern hardware details only. The optical figures in the specifications table apply to this configuration and to every other version of the Varrow Hearth 130 Newtonian reflector.

What's in the box

• Optical tube with 130 mm parabolic primary mirror
• Four-vane spider with secondary mirror
• Tube rings with dovetail bar
• 1.25 in dual-speed focuser
• 6x30 finder scope with bracket
• Collimation cap
• Front and rear dust caps
• Alt-az mount with aluminum tripod
• 6 mm planetary eyepiece (1.25 in)
• Four color filters (1.25 in)

Compatibility notes

• Accepts 1.25 in eyepieces and filters directly in the focuser.
• The dovetail bar fits most small equatorial mounts and Dobsonian bases with a standard saddle.
• The focuser does not accept 2 in eyepieces without a separate adapter.