Celestron's SE telescope line is the successor for their larger GT and SLP lines. The NexStar 5 SE uses Celestron's legendary 5" Schmidt-Cassegrain optics in a new and compact GoTo package. The instrument offers several great advantages and features:

Setup
The NexStar 5 SE comes with a sturdy adjustable height tripod. The telescope can be used in equatorial mode (with the integrated polar wedge) or in alt-azimuth mode. EQ mode is for astro-imaging, alt-az mode for visual use. You can also put the telescope with its mount directly on a table, without using the tripod at all. Then you have an even more compact setup for travelling.

The tube is attached to the mount with a quick release saddle plate - it can be removed quickly
This is a particularly practical feature for transport. The mount itself and the telescope form two separate, easily portable parts. Another huge advantage is the possibility to use the telescope on other mounts, or to use other telescopes on this mount.

Highly Refined Software
The software has in the past years been improved for very good user friendliness. The new "Sky Align" procedure allows you to align the telescope on three bright stars without needing to know them at all! The procedure is easy, quick, and reliable. After alignment you can use all the comfort of a sophisticated GoTo control for your telescope.
You can even controll the functions of your digital SLR camera with the hand controller of the telescope!

Ultra-Compact - Suitable for Airline Travelling
You can remove the tube with its delicate optics from the mount for transport. Then you can take the tube - along with the delicate optics in it - as carry-on luggage for airline travelling, while the mount and tripod can go as normal luggage.

Suitable For Astro-Imaging
The digital revolution with its highly sophisticated digital cameras has spawned a new popularity of astro-imaging of all kinds. The NexStar 5 SE is a good basis for astro-imaging.
-- You can directly attach your SLR camera to the quick release saddle plate of the mount.
-- The integrated polar wedge allows you to use the mount in equatorial mode. This allows for longer exposure times without image rotation.
-- Polar alignment is extremely easy through the assistance of Celestron's revolutionary "Wedge Align" mode (see box below)

Remote Control of Digital SLR Cameras
-- You can control your digital SLR camera (e.g. Canon EOS) remote from the hand controller of the NexStar 4 SE. You can choose exposure times and access many camera functions.

Optical Quality
The NexStar 5 SE features the well-known optical quality that customers have come to expect from Celestron. The image is sharp, well-defined and diffraction-limited.

The Schmidt Cassegrain optical layout is very versatile and is "faster" than a Maksutov. The telescope performs equally well in all applications.

The Schmidt Cassegrain optical layout is very versatile and is "faster" than a Maksutov. The telescope performs equally well in all applications.

Celestron's SE telescope line is the successor for their larger GT and SLP lines.

The NexStar 8 SE uses Celestron's legendary 8" Schmidt-Cassegrain optics in a new and compact GoTo package. If you want to have a C-8 as portable as possible then in our opinion there is no alternative to the NexStar 8 SE.

The instrument offers several great advantages and features:

Setup
The NexStar 8 SE comes with a sturdy adjustable height tripod. The telescope can be used in equatorial mode (with the optional polar wedge) or in alt-azimuth mode. EQ mode is for astro-imaging, alt-az mode for visual use. You can also put the telescope with its mount directly on a table, without using the tripod at all. Then you have an even more compact setup for travelling.

The tube is attached to the mount with a quick release saddle plate - it can be removed quickly
This is a particularly practical feature for transport. The mount itself and the telescope form two separate, easily portable parts. Another huge advantage is the possibility to use the telescope on other mounts, or to use other telescopes on this mount.

Highly Refined Software
The software has in the past years been improved for very good user friendliness. The new "Sky Align" procedure allows you to align the telescope on three bright stars without needing to know them at all! The procedure is easy, quick, and reliable. After alignment you can use all the comfort of a sophisticated GoTo control for your telescope.

Ultra-Compact - Suitable for Airline Travelling
You can remove the tube with its delicate optics from the mount for transport. Then you can take the tube - along with the delicate optics in it - as carry-on luggage for airline travelling (the tube is at the limit of the accepted dimensions for carry-on luggage. But most airlines will accept it.) The mount and tripod can go as normal luggage.

Suitable For Astro-Imaging
The digital revolution with its highly sophisticated digital cameras has spawned a new popularity of astro-imaging of all kinds. The NexStar 8 SE is a good basis for astro-imaging.
-- You can directly attach your SLR camera to the quick release saddle plate of the mount.
-- The integrated polar wedge allows you to use the mount in equatorial mode. This allows for longer exposure times without image rotation.
-- Polar alignment is extremely easy through the assistance of Celestron's revolutionary "Wedge Align" mode (see box below)

Autoguider Port
-- Through this port you can connect an autoguider for long exposures.

Optical Quality
The NexStar 8 SE features the well-known optical quality that customers have come to expect from Celestron. The image is sharp, well-defined and diffraction-limited.

The Schmidt Cassegrain optical layout is very versatile and is "faster" than a Maksutov. The telescope performs equally well in all applications.

We see the same sad spectacles on various star parties: Excellent ideas for a telescope that were then compromised by economical and commercial considerations. The motto seems to be: "Good idea, perfect marketing, and a product full of compromises"

With the new CPC 800 GPS Celestron intentionally leaves that path. The telescope not offers Celestron's famed C-8 optics, but also an ultra-sturdy and functional GoTo fork mount with lots of electronic features that make life easier for the user. Celestron's revolutionary new Sky Align process makes the otherwise awkward alignment process absolutely easy for everyone to use.

Visual Use
Every amateur will confirm this: With an 8" (203mm) telescope you will cross a boundary beyond which thousands of objects become visible. The optics do not only show countless beautiful details on the moon and the planets - as a smaller achromat of 120mm aperture or a Newtonian of 150mm aperture possibly could show too. Given good "seeing" (a term that describes the negative influence of the Earth's atmosphere on visible detail) the CPC 800 GPS will show small discs instead of just points of light where the moons of Jupiter are. With the proper filters cloud structures in Venus' atmosphere can be seen!

On top of that the large aperture of the Celestron CPC 800 GPS captures enough light so that you can see thousands of deep sky objects in detail - galaxies will reveal their spiral structure, planetaries and gas nebulae will show lots of detail and globulars are often dissolved into single stars.

The massive fork mount of the CPC 925 GPS.

A rock-solid base even when using heavy accessories for long exposure astro-imaging.

Portability is crucial for most amateur astronomers. Make a telescope too big and you won't be able to move it out to a good observing site. Obviously nobody wants to waste observing performance, though. This is where the Celestron CPC 925 GPS comes in. The tube can be folded down for transport, making the telescope compact enough for transport even in small cars. The massive fork mount - originally designed for the heavier C-11 - is a rock-steady base for the telescope even in windy environments.

The carbon fiber tube is very light. In combination with the oversized mount this turns the CPC 925 GPS into an extremely powerful telescope for astro-imaging and other applications requiring heavy accessories.

Premium Grade 9 1/4" Schmidt Cassegrain Optics
The C-9.25 is more than just a fill-in between the C-8 and the C-11. It has almost the same tube length as the C-11, but a smaller primary mirror. The C-9.25 intentionally deviates from the classical 2x5 optical layout (i.e. a primary mirror with f/2, and a secondary with 5x magnification). The result is a particularly high contrast image on planets and the moon as well as all other objects. Many observers have chosen the C-9.25 as their favourite among Schmidt-Cassegrains.

Visual Use
Deep Sky objects are an easy prey for the telescope's enormous 9.25" primary mirror and the excellent transmission of this Celestron Schmidt-Cassegrain. Faint nebulae and galaxies will reveal details that are simply invisible in smaller instruments. Extended objects can be seen with this telescope due to the FREE TS 2" Kit.

Due to its "relaxed" optical layout the image quality on the moon and the planets is particularly good.