These telescopes are a serious telescope for the serious astronomer with the aperture we all look for. First I will give you a run down on what you get with these Celestron telescopes.

First the software which has a 50,000+ object database and flash memory allows you to upgrade the software over the internet. There is also a search engine database to create your own custom tours plus storage for user-defined objects.

Next is the electronics – Computerized hand control, a permanent error correction which permanently saves and plays back corrections to reduce periodic error to a minimum. Auxiliary ports for add-on Nexstar accessories and RS-232 port so you can communicate with your PC.

The mechanics on these Celestron telescopes are 5,625″ precision worm gear on both axes, 9.5″ friction roller bearings, faster compatible optical tube for f/2 CCD imaging and lastly 9 available slew speeds. The telescope weighs 65lbs and the tripod weighs 26lbs.

My first night out and I found how advanced these Celestron telescopes are. With its integrated Global Positioning system and the electronic compass the telescope automatically pinpoints your exact location and goes directly to the first alignment star.

The next thing I noticed was how quite it was when slewing unlike the meade systems which could wake the neighbors each time the telescope moved.

I asked for Jupiter first and the view was sharp with excellent detail. The color and swirls in the cloud bands were excellent. Saturn’s ring system had a great deal of detail in them and you could count Saturn’s moons in and around the rings.

Deep sky viewing is where these Celestron telescopes excels. I took the tour of some of my favorite objects, the Andromeda Galaxy M31 was breathtaking and I could see a marvelous disk. I viewed M20 (Trifid nebula), M16 (Eagle Nebula), M81 (Bode’s Galaxy), and M101 (Pinwheel Galaxy) all had excellent detail and sharpness.

I then viewed some of my favorite Star Clusters such as M6 (Butterfly Cluster) and M13 (Hercules Cluster) with excellent results. The optics on these Celestron telescopes are superb and the best I have seen on a Schmidt-Cassegrain. The star test showed near perfect collimation.

Celestron Telescopes Recommendation

I cannot recommend these Celestron telescopes enough. Superior viewing, superior optics this is a telescope you will love to own.

Even though this is a big telescope I could pick it up and move it in one piece, but it is quite awkward. To make this easier I set up the tripod first then put the OTA on and you’re ready to go in a couple of minutes.

You can buy these Celestron telescopes at the Binocular Center for a good price. But the best price I found was at Adorama with the heavy duty tripod for under $2,800 which is an excellent price for a telescope of this caliber.