Telescope Comparison
Bresser Messier N-150/750 vs Celestron AstroMaster 130EQ
The specs are close. The experience isn't.
First light
Bresser · 150mm · £229
The sky-learner's equatorial scope
- 150mm newtonian reflector on a manual equatorial mount
- Good for: Moon, planets, bright star clusters and nebulae
- Setup includes rough polar alignment before observing — more steps than a simple alt-az
- Mount axes feel counterintuitive at first; users find they become natural after several sessions
- Keeps the door open for adding tracking motors and moving into astrophotography later
Celestron · 130mm · £169
The sky-learner's equatorial scope
- 130mm newtonian reflector on a manual equatorial mount
- Good for: Moon, planets, bright star clusters and nebulae
- Setup includes rough polar alignment before observing — more steps than a simple alt-az
- Mount axes feel counterintuitive at first; users find they become natural after several sessions
- Keeps the door open for adding tracking motors and moving into astrophotography later
The full picture
The numbers that separate these two scopes — and what they mean at the eyepiece.
Aperture
Bresser Messier N-150/750 gathers 1.3× more light. On bright targets — Moon, Saturn, Jupiter — you won't notice. On fainter targets — dim galaxies, faint globular clusters — the gap is real.
Focal length
Bresser Messier N-150/750's longer focal length reaches higher magnification with the same eyepiece — better reach for planetary detail. Celestron AstroMaster 130EQ's shorter focal length gives a wider true field — better for large open clusters and extended nebulae.
Focal ratio
Same focal ratio — the same eyepiece gives equivalent magnification and true field in both scopes.
Mount type
Same mount type — setup experience and ergonomics will be similar. Differences lie in build quality and included accessories.
Weight (OTA)
Celestron AstroMaster 130EQ's optical tube is 1.1kg lighter. Relevant if you plan to use it on multiple mounts or carry the tube to dark-sky sites separately.
Optical design
Both are Newtonian reflectors — the same optical formula. Any performance difference comes from collimation quality, focal ratio, and eyepiece choice, not the design itself.
At the eyepiece
| Target | Bresser Messier N-150/750 | Celestron AstroMaster 130EQ |
|---|---|---|
| Planets | ||
| Moon | Excellent 150mm resolves craterlets, rilles, and mountain shadows with crisp detail; f/5 handles high magnification well on lunar targets | Excellent 130mm resolves abundant crater detail, rilles, and mountain shadows; the short focal length means you'll want a higher-power eyepiece to take full advantage |
| Saturn | Good Rings clearly defined, Cassini Division visible in steady seeing at 150–200x; focal length of 750mm is adequate but not ideal for high-power planetary work | Good Rings clearly defined, Cassini Division glimpsed in steady seeing; 650mm focal length keeps the image small so a short eyepiece or Barlow helps |
| Jupiter | Good Two main cloud belts and GRS visible; 150mm shows some detail in the equatorial bands at 150x+ | Good Two main cloud belts visible, GRS detectable in good conditions; 130mm aperture has the resolution but the wobbly mount limits high-magnification use |
| Mars | Good Disc and polar cap visible at opposition; some dark surface markings detectable in good seeing | Moderate Small orange disc at opposition with polar cap hints; the 650mm focal length makes the image scale quite small for surface detail |
Deep sky | ||
| Orion Nebula (M42) | Excellent Bright nebulosity with extensive structure visible; Trapezium resolved; f/5 gives good wide-field context | Excellent Wide field at 650mm frames the full nebula with surrounding running man region; 130mm shows clear nebulosity and the Trapezium stars |
| Andromeda Galaxy (M31) | Excellent 750mm focal length and 150mm aperture show the core, dust lane, and outer halo in a wide-field eyepiece | Excellent 650mm focal length captures the full extent including companion galaxies M32 and M110; dust lane visible under dark skies |
| Open clusters | Excellent Wide field at low power frames clusters like the Double Cluster and Pleiades beautifully | Excellent Short focal length provides wide fields that frame large clusters like the Double Cluster, Pleiades, and M35 beautifully |
| Globular clusters | Good 150mm begins to resolve stars at the edges of M13 and M22; cores remain granular but not fully resolved | Moderate 130mm shows granular texture in M13 and M92 but cannot fully resolve individual stars in the core |
| Faint galaxies | Good 150mm pulls in galaxies across Virgo and Leo as defined smudges; brighter examples like M81/M82 show shape and contrast | Moderate Brighter Messier galaxies like M81/M82 visible as distinct smudges; fainter targets need dark skies and averted vision |
| Milky Way / wide field | Good 750mm focal length is slightly long for sweeping panoramas but still delivers rich star fields at low power | Good 650mm focal length is just outside the ideal range but still delivers rewarding star-field sweeps in Cygnus and Sagittarius with a low-power eyepiece |
Other | ||
| Double stars | Excellent 150mm aperture resolves sub-arcsecond pairs; f/5 is forgiving enough with quality eyepieces, though less clean than f/10+ refractors | Good 130mm resolves sub-arcsecond pairs in theory, but the fast f/5 ratio and shaky mount make clean splitting harder than in a longer-focal-ratio scope |
| Astrophotography (planetary) | Good 150mm at 750mm focal length works well with a planetary camera and Barlow; no tracking needed for short video captures | Not applicable |
| Astrophotography (deep sky) | Not recommended The included EQ mount has no motor drive or tracking — long exposures are not possible without upgrading to at least a single-axis motor | Not applicable |
The real tradeoff
Both scopes are capable. The question is which one fits the way you actually observe.
Bresser Messier N-150/750
- You'll spend an extra £60 over the AstroMaster, but that buys you 20mm more aperture and a dual-speed Crayford focuser — the kind of focuser you'd normally have to upgrade to separately, and the one that lets you nail focus on Saturn's Cassini Division instead of overshooting it back and forth.
- You'll notice the difference on deep-sky nights: M13 starts to show granularity, M81/M82 reveal clear elongation, and M42's nebulosity extends further — the extra aperture collects roughly 33% more light than the 130mm, which is the difference between a smudge and a shape in galaxies.
- You'll still be polar-aligning each session and dealing with manual tracking drift at high power, but the EQ mount under the Bresser is noticeably steadier — you won't be waiting several seconds for vibrations to die down every time you nudge the slow-motion controls.
Celestron AstroMaster 130EQ
- You'll get into equatorial-mounted Newtonian observing for under £170, which means more budget left over for a better eyepiece or a collimation tool — both of which this scope genuinely needs out of the box.
- You'll see the Moon, Saturn's rings, Jupiter's belts, and the bright Messier objects well enough to know whether this hobby is for you — but you'll also feel the ceiling sooner, especially on faint galaxies where the 130mm aperture runs out of light before the 150mm does.
- You'll spend more time wrestling with the focuser than you'd like — the basic rack-and-pinion unit has play in it, and at 150x+ on planets you'll find yourself chasing sharp focus rather than holding it, which is the single biggest night-to-night frustration compared to the Bresser's Crayford.
The dark side
Every scope has a personality. Here’s where each one gets difficult.
Bresser
Bresser Messier N-150/750
The f/5 focal ratio produces noticeable coma at the field edges with wide-angle eyepieces — if you invest in quality wide-field oculars, you'll also want a coma corrector to get the most out of them, adding to the total cost.
The included EQ mount has no motor drive, so objects drift out of the field at higher magnifications and any astrophotography beyond quick lunar snapshots requires a motor upgrade the mount may not handle well anyway due to flexure.
The ~700mm tube on the equatorial mount is not a grab-and-go setup — count on several minutes of assembly and polar alignment before every session.
Celestron
Celestron AstroMaster 130EQ
The CG-3 equatorial mount is undersized for the 130mm tube — it vibrates noticeably at high magnification and takes several seconds to settle after every adjustment, which turns planetary observing into an exercise in patience.
The included 10mm and 20mm eyepieces have narrow apparent fields of view (around 40–45°) with significant sharpness falloff toward the edges — you're essentially paying for eyepieces you'll want to replace immediately.
The rack-and-pinion focuser has mechanical play, making precise focus at high power genuinely frustrating — this is a limitation you'll feel every session, not just occasionally.
Which is right for you?
Two different buyers. Two different right answers.
The sky-learner's equatorial scope
Bresser · Bresser Messier N-150/750
You want a serious first deep-sky scope and you're willing to spend £229 to get one that won't need a focuser upgrade on day one. You're drawn to nebulae and galaxies more than planets, you don't mind learning collimation and polar alignment, and you want the option to try basic astrophotography of the Moon and bright planets later — even if you know the mount will be the bottleneck. You'd rather buy once at a slightly higher price than upgrade piecemeal from a cheaper starting point.
The sky-learner's equatorial scope
Celestron · Celestron AstroMaster 130EQ
You're testing the waters and want to spend as little as possible on a scope that still shows you real deep-sky objects through real aperture. You're comfortable accepting a shaky mount and a frustrating focuser because your priority right now is finding out whether you'll actually use a telescope regularly — and if you do, you'll upgrade from here rather than trying to build on this platform. This isn't for you if you already know you're committed; in that case, the extra £60 for the Bresser buys meaningfully better hardware at every point in the optical and mechanical chain.
Our verdict
These two are closer than most comparisons on this site. The spec differences are genuine — mount type, focal ratio — but neither is the wrong answer for a typical observer starting out.
If I had to choose between them: the Celestron AstroMaster 130EQ is the scope most people will be using regularly six months from now. The Bresser Messier N-150/750 rewards you more once you know what you're doing — it's worth revisiting after your first year.
Bresser Messier N-150/750
View Bresser Messier N-150/750 →Celestron AstroMaster 130EQ
View Celestron AstroMaster 130EQ →Deep field: Full specifications
Every data point, for those who want to go further.
Full specifications
Fields highlighted in blue or amber indicate the better value for that spec. Data is manufacturer-stated and may vary.
How much can it see?
| Spec | Bresser Messier N-150/750 | Celestron AstroMaster 130EQ |
|---|---|---|
Apertureⓘ The most important spec — bigger = more light = better views | 150mm | 130mm |
Focal Length Longer = more magnification potential | 750mm | 650mm |
Focal Ratio Lower f-number = wider field of view; higher = more magnification per eyepiece | f/5 | f/5 |
Optical Design The type of optics — each design has different strengths | Newtonian Reflector | Newtonian Reflector |
Coatings Better coatings = more light transmission through the optics | Parabolic primary mirror, fully coated | Fully coated parabolic mirror |
How do you point it?
| Spec | Bresser Messier N-150/750 | Celestron AstroMaster 130EQ |
|---|---|---|
Mount Type The mechanical system that holds and moves the telescope | Equatorial | Equatorial |
GoTo Computer-controlled pointing — finds any of thousands of objects automatically | ||
Tracking Motor keeps objects centred as the Earth rotates — essential for astrophotography |
The focuser
| Spec | Bresser Messier N-150/750 | Celestron AstroMaster 130EQ |
|---|---|---|
Focuser Size 2" accepts wider eyepieces and gives better low-power views | 2" | 1.25" |
Focuser Type Rack-and-pinion is standard; Crayford and dual-speed are smoother | Dual-speed Crayford (2" with 1.25" adapter) | Rack and pinion |
Size & weight
| Spec | Bresser Messier N-150/750 | Celestron AstroMaster 130EQ |
|---|---|---|
OTA Weightⓘ Optical tube only — useful for comparing mount load capacity | 5kg | 3.9kg |
Total Weightⓘ Full setup including mount — this is what you lug to the car | 13.5kg | 10.5kg |
Tube Length | 670mm | 640mm |
Tube Material | Steel | Steel |
What's in the box?
| Spec | Bresser Messier N-150/750 | Celestron AstroMaster 130EQ |
|---|---|---|
Eyepieces Included eyepieces — more is better, but quality matters more than quantity | 25mm and 10mm eyepieces | 10mm and 20mm eyepieces |
Finder Scope Helps you locate areas of the sky before switching to the main eyepiece | 8x50 optical finder | StarPointer red dot finder |
Diagonal Tilts the eyepiece 90° for comfortable viewing — useful on refractors |
Blue highlight: Bresser Messier N-150/750 advantage · Amber highlight: Celestron AstroMaster 130EQ advantage · Greyed cells: equal or subjective.