Celestron Advanced VX 8-Inch EdgeHD SCT GoTo Telescope

Celestron EdgeHD 8-inch SCT (CGE) Optical Tube Assembly

The night sky has always fascinated individuals and with good reason. The heavens are teeming with life, but sadly, most of it is not visible to the naked eye. Now with the study of Astronomy and the invention of telescopes, the moon, stars and planets are all within reach. With the right instruments, there's no telling what you might see.

See the Universe in HD

The Celestron EdgeHD 8-inch SCT Optical Tube Assembly is an aplanatic, flat field Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope that produces aberration-free images across a wide visual and photographic field of view. The optical system was designed to reduce more than just off-axis star coma; it also provides an astrograph-quality flat focal plane all the way to the edge of the field of view. The EdgeHD OTA has an 8-inch aperture with a focal length of 2032 mm. It comes with a 40 mm Plössl 1.25-inch eyepiece, a 9x50 finderscope, and a 1.25-inch mirror diagonal for more comfortable viewing.

True Quality

Many optical designs that advertise themselves as astrographs actually only produce pinpoint stars across a curved focal plane. While this may be acceptable for some visual observing, stars will appear out of focus at the edge when used with the flat chip sensor of a digital camera. EdgeHD optics produce a focal plane more than three-times flatter than a standard Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope and dramatically flatter than competing coma-free designs. This guarantees you visibly sharp stars across some of the largest CCD chips available today.

Improved Performance

Superior edge performance not only creates rounder, more pleasing stars, but actually improves the resolution and limiting magnitude when compared to telescopes of equal aperture. With Celestron’s StarBright XLT optical coatings on every surface, EdgeHD optics gives you maximum light throughput across the widest visual and photographic spectrum.

Mechanical Features

In addition to EdgeHD’s optimized optical design, the telescope tube has been redesigned to make sure you get the most from your optics each and every night. Mirror clutches, tube vents and Fastar versatility are just three examples of EdgeHD's newest features.

Flexible tension clutches hold the mirror in place and reduce image shift when taking long exposure astro-images. Once focused, the flexible rods allow the mirror to be held in place without putting any force or pressure on the mirror assembly, keeping the image centered in the eyepiece (or on the sensor).

Cooling vents located on the rear cell allow hot air to be released from behind the primary mirror. Each vent has an integrated 95-micron micromesh filter guaranteed to let warm air out without letting dust in.

EdgeHD is the most versatile imaging telescope available today. At its native f/10, you can achieve the image scale necessary to capture the smallest of deep sky objects. Add the optional reducer lens—custom-designed for your size EdgeHD tube—and you can increase your field of view without sacrificing optical performance. A Barlow gives you added power for high-resolution planetary, lunar and solar imaging. All EdgeHD optical tubes are Fastar-compatible, allowing the secondary mirror to be removed and replaced with a third party lens accessory for ultra-fast f/2 wide field imaging.

Individually Tested

Every EdgeHD that ships has been tested not only for the surface quality of each optical component, but also with a camera and artificial star to ensure the imaging system meets Celestron's rigid quality assurance. This final acceptance test confirms the EdgeHD will perform in the field and deliver high-quality astroimages.

Celestron Advanced VX GoTo Mount

Engineered from the ground up with astroimaging in mind, the new Advanced VX series from Celestron sets a new standard in mid-level telescopes. Advanced VX provides you with many of the features found on Celestron’s most sophisticated German equatorial mounts, at an extremely affordable price. Experienced imagers will love taking this portable mount to a dark sky site, with all the performance of their larger observatory mount. Or, if you’re new to imaging, this mount will help you get started with the hobby and keep up with your needs for years to come.

Design

Celestron's Advanced VX Mount is an integrated telescope support, alignment and guiding system and was specifically designed to provide optimum imaging performance for smaller telescopes. The mount holds a maximum instrument capacity of 30 lbs. This mount packs some of the features found on more sophisticated German Equatorial mounts, minus the added bulk or cost. Now your smaller telescope can take advantage of All-Star Polar Alignment and autoguider support. Advanced VX features significantly larger base castings than the previous design, improving stability under heavier loads.

Motors

To enhance tracking performance, the mount features permanently programmable Periodic Error Correction (PEC). PEC eliminates recurring track errors from the worm gear to prevent trailing and improve photographs. You’ll also be able to track through long exposures using the PEC. The Advanced VX improved motors offer more torque and can handle slight load imbalances with ease.

Features

An updated industrial design offers more rigidity, less flexure and improved aesthetics. The new design allows viewing or imaging across the meridian without interference from the motors housings, so you can seamlessly image the best part of the night sky. With the enhanced latitude range, the telescope can be used between 7 – 77° latitude allowing for a larger range of view. The improved electronics contain increased memory for future expansion. The mount has an adjustable stainless steel tripod and a 12 lb. counterweight for extra stability.

Technologies

Start observing celestial objects with the push of a button on the NexStar+ Hand Control. It's pre-loaded with a huge database of over 40,000 celestial objects. Automatically slew to objects in a variety of catalogs, including the Messier, NGC, Caldwell, and SAO brightest stars. NexStar+ hand control offers multiple language programming (English, French, Italian, German, Spanish). For enhanced pointing and tracking accuracy, the mount features Celestron's All-Star Polar Alignment. This system uses multiple guide stars to assist tracking across the night sky while keeping the optical tube parallel to the Earth's axis of rotation.

Observers and astroimagers will be impressed by the seamless operation the Advanced VX SkyAlign function. It makes computerized aligning of the telescope fast, easy, and accurate--simply point at any three bright objects in the sky and the telescope aligns itself. Navigation and tracking of the night's sky is as easy as pushing a button once the telescope is precision aligned.