Celestron NexStar 5 SE Telescope

Description

Astronomy made simple Let a NexStar SE help you find thousands of stars, planets, galaxies, and more at the touch of a button! In the tradition of Celestron s famous orange optical tubes, the NexStar SE Family combines the classic heritage of the original orange tube telescopes with state-of-the-art features including a fully computerized operating system, flash upgradeable hand control, superior coatings, and much more. With the NexStar SE, you are in the driver s seat. Simply choose an object from the menu and the telescope will find it for you. Using our patented NexStar technology, the SE scopes have the ability to locate nearly 40,000 objects. All you have to do is look through the eyepiece and enjoy the view! Don t know what object to choose? Let the intelligent NexStar SE give you a guided tour of the night sky! The Tour feature offers a customized list of the best objects in the sky to view for your exact time and location anywhere in the world! Not only can your NexStar SE find objects, but it can teach you about them as well. Information on the most popular objects can be viewed in the LCD screen of your hand control. Whether you are a seasoned astronomer looking for a portable scope with advanced features, or just starting your astronomy adventure and looking for an easy way to enjoy the night sky, a NexStar SE will help you take a closer look. The days of complicated telescope assembly and setup are over. NexStar SE telescopes can be set up in a matter of minutes with no tools required!     Celestron NexStar SE Key Features   Computerized hand control with nearly 40,000 object database and motorized altazimuth mount. Quick release optical tube for easy no-tool setup. StarBright XLT enhances coatings for maximum light transmission and clarity. Flash-upgradeable hand control; update your telescope s operating software via the internet. Internal battery compartment to prevent cord wrap during use.Celestron s NexStar 5 SE computerized telescope combines excellent optics and easy computerized GoTo tracking in a convenient portable size. The standard equipment tripod and mount feature easy no-tool setup, and the package even includes a student version of "The Sky" planetarium software for your computer.

The excellent optics of Celestron s classic C5 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope have been updated with premium Starbright XLT optical coatings. This telescope consistently delivers crisp, high contrast views of the moon, the planets, and brighter deep space objects. The standard equipment 25mm plossl eyepiece produces a magnification of 50x, powerful enough to show the rings of Saturn, the cloud bands of Jupiter, and the changing face of the Lunar disk. Optional eyepieces can be added to bring out significantly more detail. I like to use a 12.5mm plossl (100x magnification) or a 7.5mm Ultrascopic eyepiece (166x) for high power views of the planets. With the 7.5mm Ultrascopic eyepiece I can usually see the Cassini Division in Saturn s rings and cloud bands on the planet itself. I like to use a 32mm plossl eyepiece for great low power views of deep space highlights like the Orion Nebula or the Double Cluster in Perseus.

The NexStar 5 SE package also includes a sturdy adjustable tripod, a motorized alt-azimuth mount, and the NexStar hand held computer controller. You won t need a GPS receiver or star charts to operate this telescope. The SkyAlign procedure is easy to use, and experienced observers will like the two-star align and solar-system align options because they are even quicker to set up. The steel tripod and alt-azimuth mount provide a solid base for the NexStar 5 SE. Vibration is not a problem, even while focusing at high power. The computerized tracking is also very good, easily keeping planets in the field of a high power eyepiece. The disadvantage of a computerized telescope, of course, is battery consumption. I like to use a rechargeable Celestron Power Tank because the standard AA alkaline batteries only last a few hours.

This telescope is perfect for visual observing, and allowed me to capture some sweet images of the moon and planets using a Celestron NexImage web-cam. For long exposure deep space photography, however, I d take a look at Celestron s Advanced Series equatorial telescopes such as the C6 N-GT --Jeff Phillips

Pros:

• Excellent optics
• Light and portable
• Computerized GoTo tracking

• Short battery life
• Too light for deep space photography