ZWO FF130 APO with ZWO ASI183MC Pro
0.50″ per pixel across a 0.76° × 0.50° field, at 1000 mm and f/7.7. 5 of the catalogue's 29 equatorial mounts carry the 13.16 kg train within the imaging derate.
Every figure is computed from catalogue rows that link their maker's page. Rows marked provisional have not yet had a second, human check.
Optics
At the native focal length.
Image circle: 60 mm, the telescope's stated figure (ZWO FF130 APO). Source
Sampling
Seeing divided by image scale: how many pixels a star's core spans. Each band is a tradeoff, and wide-field work is undersampled on purpose.
At 2.5″ seeing a star’s core spans 5.05 pixels on this sensor. Heavily oversampled: the atmosphere limits resolution long before the pixel does. Binned 2 × 2 it spans 2.53.
| Seeing | FWHM | Band |
|---|---|---|
| 1.5″ | 3.03px | practical |
| 2.5″ | 5.05px | heavily oversampled |
| 3.5″ | 7.07px | heavily oversampled |
- Practical band for typical seeing.
- Heavily oversampled: the atmosphere limits resolution long before the pixel does.
Framing
The 13 catalogue targets against this field, by the fraction of the frame each fills along its tighter axis.
M45 Pleiades fills 496 % of the frame and M27 Dumbbell Nebula 22 %. Of the 13, 5 fill the frame, 7 need a mosaic, 1 is small in the frame.
| Target | Size | Frame filled |
|---|---|---|
| M31 Andromeda Galaxy | 178′ × 70′ | 392%needs a mosaic |
| M45 Pleiades | 150′ × 150′ | 496%needs a mosaic |
| NGC 7000 North America Nebula | 120′ × 30′ | 264%needs a mosaic |
| NGC 1499 California Nebula | 160′ × 40′ | 353%needs a mosaic |
| IC 1805 Heart Nebula | 60′ × 60′ | 198%needs a mosaic |
| M42 Orion Nebula | 90′ × 60′ | 198%needs a mosaic |
| NGC 2237 Rosette Nebula | 80′ × 50′ | 176%needs a mosaic |
| M101 Pinwheel Galaxy | 24′ × 23′ | 76%fills the frame |
| M27 Dumbbell Nebula | 6.7′ × 6.7′ | 22%small in the frame |
| M51 Whirlpool Galaxy | 13.7′ × 11.7′ | 39%fills the frame |
| M81 Bode's Galaxy | 22′ × 11.3′ | 48%fills the frame |
| M13 Hercules Globular Cluster | 16.5′ × 16.5′ | 55%fills the frame |
| NGC 4565 Needle Galaxy | 16.8′ × 2.9′ | 37%fills the frame |
Target sizes: OpenNGC by Mattia Verga (tag v20260501), CC BY-SA 4.0. This table is shared under the same license. Source and license
Spacing
The corrector rows this telescope links in the Backfocus Solver's catalogue, with the face each figure is measured from.
No separate corrector is needed. The maker: “The FF130 APO is a long-focal-ratio refractive astrograph with a powerful flatfield optical design which saves you from the expensive cost of a field flattener.” Source
ZWO FF130 APO (built-in flattener)
- Connection range
- up to 96mm
- Measured from
- base of the M48x0.75 male thread on the scope's M54-M48 adapter (maximum connection length)
- Focal length
- the telescope's own
- Image circle
- 60 mm; this sensor is 15.86 mm
Mounts
The catalogue's equatorial mounts that carry this train within 60 % of their rated payload, the imaging derate. The sum is the Rig Reality Check's.
On the saddle this train weighs 13.16 kg, 2.25 kg of it assumed. 5 of the 29 equatorial mounts in the catalogue carry it within the derate; the smallest rated is the Losmandy GM811G (LW tripod), at 58 %. 24 more would run it over 60 %.
| Mount | Rated | Used | Band |
|---|---|---|---|
| Losmandy GM811G (LW tripod) | 22.7kg | 58% | Workable; more sensitive to wind, little room to grow |
| Celestron CGX | 25kg | 53% | Workable; more sensitive to wind, little room to grow |
| iOptron CEM70 (iPolar) | 31.8kg | 41% | Comfortable |
| Sky-Watcher CQ350 Pro (with tripod) | 35kg | 38% | Headroom for a future upgrade |
| Sky-Watcher EQ8-R (head with counterweights) | 50kg | 26% | Headroom for a future upgrade |
What the 13.16 kg is made of
| Component | Mass | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| OTA: ZWO FF130 APO | 10.50kg | maker’s figure |
| Rings and dovetail | 0.90kg | assumption |
| Camera: ZWO ASI183MC Pro | 0.41kg | maker’s figure |
| Filter drawer and filter | 0.20kg | assumption |
| Guide scope and guide camera | 0.80kg | assumption |
| Cables, dew strap, focuser motor | 0.35kg | assumption |
| Total | 13.16kg |
Assumptions are the Rig Reality Check’s round placeholders, not measurements; replace them with your own figures there.
Run the Rig Reality Check with the ZWO ASI183MC Pro as yours, then give it your budget, sky and targets.
Sub length
The shortest sub at which read noise adds no more than 5 % to the stack's noise, from the Exposure Planner. Each figure opens the planner with the same inputs.
Not computedThe planner is missing the sensor's quantum efficiency for this camera.
Prices
Dated readings from the maker's store or a major US retailer, with the page each came from. A first-year total needs a mount and the essentials, which the Rig Reality Check adds.
| Part | Price | Read |
|---|---|---|
| Telescope: ZWO FF130 APOProvisional | $3,499 | manufacturer, 2026-09-27OTA with standard package; OUT OF STOCK |
| Camera: ZWO ASI183MC ProProvisional | $799 | manufacturer, 2026-09-27variant ASI183MC-P |
| $799 | retailer, 2026-09-27 |
Provisional rows have not yet had a second, human check against their source. The Rig Reality Check prices whole builds, essentials included.
How this is computed
scale["/px] = 206.265 × pixel[µm] / focal length[mm]
field[°] = 2 × atan(sensor side[mm] / (2 × focal length[mm])) × 180/π
sampling = seeing FWHM["] / scale["/px]
frame filled = max(major axis / field width, minor axis / field height)
utilization = Σ imaging mass[kg] / rated payload[kg]
shortest sub = R² / (e_sky × ((1 + p)² − 1)), p = 5 %Focal length is the telescope’s, times a corrector’s factor only where its maker states one. The image scale and field use the exact forms; the worked example shows the arithmetic. The sampling bands are the physics reference’s presentation choice, and every band is printed so the tradeoff can be read in full.
The payload sums every part on the saddle, the way the Rig Reality Check does, and the bands encode the 50 to 60 % imaging derate, which is forum practice rather than a maker’s figure. Spacing figures are the Backfocus Solver’s rows; sub lengths are the Exposure Planner’s.
Source: docs/03-physics-reference.md §§ 1, 3 and 4. Implemented in packages/physics (optics.ts, payload.ts, exposure.ts, scoring.ts), each with the reference's worked examples as unit tests.
Last updated Computed from the catalogue when the site is builtEvery camera on the ZWO FF130 APO