Source: Tom's Guide US | Keywords: celestron, telescope | Themes: Digital Cameras, Digital Entertainment
1. Celestron NexStar 6SE
As a kid, I wanted to build my very own 8” reflecting telescope. At that time, Edmund Scientific offered mirror grinding kits and pre-built clock drive equatorial mounts. My parents were less impressed with my mirror making ability than my enthusiasm, so my project never materialized.
At last year’s CES, I met Celestron’s and Meade’s PR people, and was impressed with how much amateur astronomy has changed in the intervening years. The biggest change now is the use of computers, both those integrated into telescopes and laptops. Most telescope manufacturers sport so-called GoTo technology, where a computer-controlled drive steers the telescope to a celestial object. Laptops are used for analyzing images, querying star catalogs, and controlling telescopes remotely.
Telescope Pricing
The best change, though, is that prices for assembled telescopes really haven’t increased, despite new scopes including the GoTo drives, and in the case of Celestron, their superior XLT coatings. The 6” Schmidt-Cassegrain (SCT, or catadioptric, with lens and mirror) is a good general purpose design and very portable in their basic NexStar SE series. This NexStar 6 SE is available at a street price of $999, a price I find really reasonable, and the 8” is considerably less than $1,400 after rebate at Adorama at this writing. This 8” has 78% more light gathering power than the 6”, and these days, 8” is the new 6”-with telescopes, size does matter. Even the 6” SCT is a useful telescope for the beginning astronomer, as well as experienced observers, because of its portability. I just want to stress what a great price point this is for a serious, practical instrument.
I begin this month’s review of visual gadgets with some astronomy tools from Celestron. I was also fortunate to make a trip to Celestron’s factory. Celestron is generally considered to have high quality amateur scopes, with some of the best mirrors and coatings available commercially.
I will introduce you to some common telescope types, discuss some common mounts, and mention a few useful books. Then I will tell you a little about telescope making, before I begin the review of the Celestron NexStar 6 SE.
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Many amateurs started by using a GoTo. IMHO, the more astronomers the better. Talking to denizens of LAAS and reading cloudyskies.com, there is little sense of elitism. All amateurs are welcome, even and esp. those with GoTos.
I didn't have room to talk about the wedges that covert yoke mounts to equatorial mounts, but they exist for many yoke types. That way you can have the best of both worlds.
Finally, one of the books I recommended does just what you suggest: tries to teach the night sky so you can find stuff without using (or even using) a GoTo. Hope this addresses your comments.
Doug
The fact is that these new generations of scopes make astronomy so much more accessible to people who find astronomy interesting but don't have the time or ability to invest. They also make it simple to introduce new people to astronomy by quickly showing them lots of interesting things.
Plus, as a computer geek, there is nothing more fun than plugging your telescope into your laptop, hooking up a camera and driving it around from your computer. Do an easy DIY project like adapting a webcam to use with the scope and you have yourself tons of fun *and* you learn the night sky, you just don't waste months of time trying to figure out how to see anything.
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