Features:

  • The world’s most beloved telescope! The classic, 8-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain revolutionized amateur astronomy in the 1970s. Now, the iconic “orange tube” design is updated with all the latest features to provide the best stargazing experience for beginners and experienced observers alike
  • Large, 8-inch aperture with excellent light-gathering ability provides spectacular views of the Moon and planets, along with deep sky objects like the Whirlpool Galaxy and Hercules Globular Cluster
  • Fully automated, GoTo mount with database of 40,000+ celestial objects automatically locates and tracks objects for you. Alignment Procedures : SkyAlign, Auto 2-Star Align, 1-Star Align, 2-Star Align, Solar System Align
  • SkyAlign technology gets your telescope aligned and ready to observe in minutes. Even if you’re unfamiliar with the night sky, you can easily align your telescope on any three bright objects; Resolution (Rayleigh): 0.69 arc seconds
  • Unique single fork arm design and sturdy steel tripod all break down into separate components for easy transport and quick assembly.Apparent Field of View:0.63°.Dovetail:Vixen / CG-5 Dovetail bar
Great Telescope.

Great Telescope for 3 years now. I bought the 5" for the polar alignment feature. There are many good reviews on here about the scope already. So, I'll just say that you don't really 'see' what these images show, you need a decent camera and a computer to process your photos into stunning images. I would also suggest getting the Celestron Star Sense Auto Align, it will save time and that means more viewing. The Orion Nebula was shot with a Sony A6000 at 30 Sec ISO3200 using a Celestron 94123 1.25-Inch UHC/LPR Filter and is a single image. Jupiter was created from a series of video frames shot with the Celestron NexImage 5.

Absolutely Fantastic Telescope !

This review is for the NexStar 8 SE, the 8 inch one ... Got it as an Amazon warehouse deal which shaved off $200, was in absolutely perfect condition. Easy to put together and set up. Make sure you get the AC adapter because it eats trough the batteries pretty quickly. Even though it's an Alt-Azimuth mount (not an equatorial) it tracks objects pretty well. The picture on the right is the Orion Nebula M42, I took the picture two weeks after I got the telescope. I attached a Canon EOS T3i with a t-adaper and added a Celestron LPR UHC filter to reduce light pollution. The final result is 50 10-sec frames, stacked. You can see a video of the whole thing on youtube under Nm7Pxb3jENs .

I am in love with it

I have had this now for about 2 weeks, and needless to say, I am in love with it. I have found using the manual 2 star method or the solar system method for alignment works the best. I use google skymap to confirm the stars I am using for alignment. I bought it with the accessory kit, the electric adapter (the telescope should come with this), the lens kit, (a must, just for the filters alone, but the additional lenses really give you great views of the planets. I actually got a few "Wow's" from my wife. And the case, be warned, the case for the 8" only fits the tube and some small accessories, and not the electronics or the tripod. Update: 4/19/2017 I added my first pics of the cloud bands of Jupiter, these pics are taken with my cell phone mounted to the eye pieces. Having it now for a few months, I am really getting the hang of aligning it, and getting it to properly track the planets. Be warned, though, once the bug has bitten you, you will want more. I am now looking at a 14", but that will be a while. I still have so much to learn, but the accessories I am buying, are with that eventual larger scope. Clear Skies!

and will eventually like to get a new EQ mount to replace the ...

So far, I'm really impressed. Extremely clear optics, solid and well built. Out of the box, it's ready to set up in use in minutes. Only took me a few days to get tired of the three star alignment, and I bought the StarSense Auto Align. What a difference. With the optional T-adapter and T-Ring I was effortlessly taking amazingly clear photos of the moon with my Canon 6D MKII. I still have a lot to learn, and will eventually like to get a new EQ mount to replace the one it came with for deep sky photography. But, I'm in love with this thing. I waited years to finally pull the trigger on buying one, and I don't regret it at all.

Very good telescope with some notes

Overall I like this telescope and give it 5 stars! Things that I love about this telescope are: 1. Portable, not very heavy, and easy to set up 2. Nice and big (8 inches of course) aperture. It could reveal plenty of deep sky objects. 3. The 25 mm Plossl eyepiece, which come with it, was pretty useful for the very first setup of looking at the planets Things that I dislike about this telescope, but could be fixed are: 1. Some acccessories which come with this telescope. The finder scope is, IMHO, too small. You need to buy a new bigger finder scope. The star diagonal is also not a good quality diagonal 2. Vibration, especially if you slew the telescope using the hand control Nextstar+. It is not too bad though, the vibration usually settles in less than 2 seconds 3. It does not have a clear setup instruction / manual 4. The hand control Nexstar+ is not able to record the time, so I need to enter the time for every alignment Some additional notes: 1. When my telescope arrived I found out there was a problem with its motor. Thus, I called the Celestron technical service in CA. They took care the problem promptly! They asked me to return the whole box (postage paid by them) and resend a "new" telescope (again postage paid!) in about 2 weeks. 2. Since this is an ALT-AZ type of telescope, a long time exposure astrophotography is not really possible - in this case you need to add an equatorial wedge for 8" telescope (cost about $299) 3. To make the process of alignment much easier, buy a so-called Celestron StarSense (cost about $329). Also, buy some additional eyepieces (32 mm or 40 mm, 5 mm, 10 mm or 15 mm) and a filter or two. I took the attached image of Saturn with a Samsung S6 Edge+ camera, a 10 mm eyepiece and an UHC filter

Best general purpose scope money can buy

In my opinion, the Celestron Nexstars are the best overall, general purpose telescopes money can buy (tripod, mount, and optical tube in a single package). I have used both the 4" and the 8". There are trade-offs with size. The 4SE is very light, more stable, easy to carry in one piece outside your house, adjusts to temperature differences rapidly, and has razor sharp clarity without ever requiring mirror adjustment (collimation). You can see pretty much every object with the 4 that you can see with the 8, it's just dimmer. The 8SE is bulkier, heavier, shakier, harder to carry in one piece, adjusts slowly to temperature differences (sometimes 1 hour), but everything looks a little bigger and brighter, and it requires occasional (a few times a year depending on how rough you handle the scope) mirror adjustment with a screwdriver which can be annoying if you are a perfectionist. The better your collimation, the better your clarity. You can't really go wrong with any size. Get what fits your budget. My advice if you get one, get a 8-24mm zoom eyepiece, a 32mm eyepiece, and you are good for years of enjoyment. Keep the legs low to minimize shaking, sit in a chair, and buy the anti-vibration pads (generic brand is just as good as the Celestrons). Once you master this telescope, you can upgrade the mount if you want to get into more advanced photography. Keep looking up!

Awesome Telescope

The Celestron Nexstar 6se Telescope is fun, big and heavy, powerful, and really good optics. The night I first used it I used the Skyalign alignment and worked perfectly along with auto 2 star alignment. That night I saw Saturn In really good detail, and what was surprising was I was able to see Swan Nebula and Hercules Cluster all from a heavy light polluted sky. Optics: 10/10 Goto: 8/10 Tracking: 8:10 Portability: 7/10 Eyepiece: 7/10 Battery Life: 4/10 Strength of tripod: 10/10 Magnification: 10/10 Light Gathering: 9/10 So this telescope is really cool and fun to use and I will buy an AC adapter later. This telescope is the best I have Ever Had and Is worth the $800.00 Update 11/30/13: I live in a very heavy light polluted sky and no deep sky objects are visible to the naked eye. But when I look through the telescope I see the Orion Nebula(M42) very bright and clear. But when I type in Dumbbell Nebula(M27) I don't see a thing except several tens of stars. To see it you have to image it, I took 10 images 10 second exposure each (10x10s) and stacked them for a total of 100 second exposure . The Nebula was big, bright, and colorful(you can see the image in the product image gallery). So to see brighter/faint deep sky objects in a light polluted sky you have to image them with a camera. the faintest thing I have ever detected in any image is about magnitude 12(244 times fainter you can ever see with the naked eye).

Amazing little scope for advanced amature observing!

This is hands down a fantastic instrument. I purchased this scope to have something portable for camping in the summer and something less cumbersome to set up in our pasture for impromptu star parties. I have a 12" Meade lx200 classic with great optics but it's a beast to move around and flat out miserable to take camping where the really dark skies are. I wanted/needed a scope that was easy to transport but had enough aperture to make things interesting. This scope got awesome reviews and everyone seemed to love it so when Amazon had it on a warehouse deal for a scandalously low price I bought it. No regrets at all so far after a couple of months of solid use. When I first looked through the 6se, I was blown away by how bright and sharp the images were for being a 6" as opposed to my 12" Meade which desperately needs its mirrors recoated. This little 6" reignited the spark as I observed favorites like Albireo and the great cluster in Hercules. Amazing views! The single arm mount seems very solid though the spur gears are not optimal for fine tracking needed for loooong exposure astrophotography. I may end up upgrading next year to the nexstar 8 evolution for better gearing and some more bells and whistles. There is a noticeable amount of noise in the gearing as it tracks but really not a big deal in my mind as it does its job very well. I'm impressed with how well it does track though as I've centered an image and come back 2 hours later to find it still centered exactly as I left it so far as I can tell (visual observation, not using a camera). The 6se is about as big as I'd think you could go on this mount however as a scope that is much bigger might be a little heavy for the arm but I don't have an 8se so I'm just guessing there. As far as my original goal of portability goes, I found a cheap hardside suitcase which the packing foam fits in perfectly that makes transportation to observing sights a dream. This is a total winner for my needs and I look forward to years of quality astronomy using it. Highly recommended.

Its not the Hubble or Palomar observatory, but the Nextstar 8 SE sure is worthy.

This is my second telescope, waited 16 years for a telescope with all these features and size. The 8" aperture do make a difference. You can go plain vanilla, but in order to make it more easy, therefore more fun, certain gear must be replaced or acquired. 1) The original viewfinder sucks, has to go...fast. Try to get a "Telrad Finder Sight", that thing is awesome, easy use and easy to mount. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000ALKAN/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03__o00_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1 2) Get the "Celestron 18778 AC Adapter", the telescope will eat batteries like a boss, 8AA in an hour or less. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0012YXF1O/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03__o00_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1 3) Instead of buying full set of eyepieces, go for "Celestron 93230 8 to 24mm 1.25 Zoom Eyepiece". Its like having a full set of eyes pieces for half the price the set. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0007UQNV8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 The photos were taken using a Canon Rebel EOS T6, using ISO 1600 and 15 secs exposure for the deep space objects.

Baby Stargazer (Nexstar 4SE)

First telescope and with nothing to compare, i'll give it a 5. Takes some getting use to the programming but slowly catching on. FYI - If this is your first telescope, buy everything up front!!!! It will be short of $1000. Telescope, carry case, Sky Portal wifi, large eyepiece & filter kit, 3x barlow & most importantly the battery pack. Once you view your first planet (Jupiter +4 moons) with the standard eyepiece, you are going to want more magnification. Once the expense of 8 AA batteries keep dying, you will want longer term power. The only real issue i have, again with nothing to compare, is the focusing knob is clunky and trying to fine tune under high magnification really sucks. But again I'm a first timer. Enjoy.

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