Price: $189.99
(as of Nov 18, 2024 01:40:07 UTC - Details)

The best telescope is the one used often to enjoy the beauty and intrigue of the night sky. For those searching for telescopes for astronomy beginners that are infused with the latest computer technology, Celestron’s NexStar 8SE Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope fits the bill perfectly. The NexStar 8SE Computerized Telescope features Celestron’s iconic “orange tube” design and updated technology with the latest features for amazing stargazing for beginners and experienced observers. Celestron’s signature telescope combines advanced features and excellent optics in one easy-to-use system, the NexStar 8SE. It’s the perfect choice for your first serious telescope, offering striking views at an economical price. The eight-inch primary mirror in this computerized telescope packs enough light-gathering ability to observe the best that our Solar System has to offer, from Saturn’s rings to the cloud bands on Jupiter and geographic features on the surface of the Moon. When it comes to deep sky objects, take your 8SE to a dark-sky site and you’ll see hundreds of pinpoint stars in the Hercules Globular Cluster, the spiral arms of the Whirlpool Galaxy, and more. Featuring a database of more than 40,000 celestial objects, the 8SE’s GoTo mount automatically locates and tracks objects for you. You can also take a Sky Tour and let your telescope show you the best objects currently visible. The single fork arm design and sturdy steel tripod all assemble and break down from separate components for easy transportation. 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 3 bright objects. The NexStar 8SE is a telescope that will grow with you as you advance in the hobby of astronomy. It’s compatible with all the high-tech accessories advanced users love. Provide GPS coordinates to your telescope with SkySync, or add automatic alignment functionality with StarSense AutoAlign. Buy with confidence from the world’s #1 telescope brand, based in California since 1960. You’ll also receive a two-year warranty and unlimited access to technical support from our team of US-based experts.
Nexstar computerized telescope: The NexStar 8SE Computerized Telescope features Celestron’s iconic orange tube design with updated technology and the latest features for amazing stargazing for beginners and experienced observers.
8-Inch aperture: The 8-inch primary mirror in this Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope for adults and kids to be used together packs enough light-gathering ability to observe the best that our Solar System has to offer, while retaining a compact form factor. Compatible with starsense technology, Wifi
Fully-automated go to mount: Featuring a database of more than 40,000 celestial objects, the go to mount built into our telescopes for astronomy beginners automatically locates and tracks objects for you.
Easy to assemble and break down: The single fork arm design and sturdy steel tripod all assemble and break down from separate components for easy transportation. SkyAlign technology gets your telescope aligned and ready in minutes.
Unbeatable warranty and customer support: Buy with confidence from the telescope brand, based in California since 1960. You’ll also receive a 2-year warranty and unlimited access to technical support from our team of US-based experts.
Reviewer: Elle
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great purchase!
Review: Where to start...first, I am so happy with this telescope! We transitioned from the Celestron 80MM Star Sense Explorer to this scope. Quite a jump, I know but so glad we did. So...it was a bit heavier than expected but manageable. I had to do a lot of reading and I am still learning about the "utilities" and settings and it definitely took some time to get used to. The manual is okay but you will find more on You tube and on the Celestron website for tutorials. Putting the scope together was simple enough. The red dot finder is not great, definitely need to upgrade that if you choose not to purchase the Star Sense Auto Align. More on that later. The 25 mm lens that comes with the scope is actually really good and we pair it with the Barlow lens. The scope arrived in great condition and was packaged nicely. The tripod is decent and easy to adjust. So back to the Auto Align. the first few times we took the scope out we attempted to use the 3-star alignment....never could get it to work correctly....having said that...we live in a light polluted area near Nashville so we expected some issues. After attempting this alignment several times we decided to purchase the Star Sense Auto Align...I know it is fairly pricey but wow, so glad we did!!! The Star Sense aligned the first time and has worked great each time (read my review on that one as well, hopefully it will help if you decide to purchase it). I had never seen the Orion Nebula before and my first early morning viewing was breathtaking! Views of Saturn, the Moon, and Jupiter are fantastic...you can see the Cassini division in Saturn's rings. Images are clear and detailed. The one thing that I was unaware of when purchasing this scope and only found out after watching some You Tube videos is that you have to upgrade the firmware on the mount....the joy of being a newbie! So things we purchased for this scope that may be of use for someone purchasing it:1. Celestron X-Cel 12 MM lens2. Celestron X-Cel 3x Barlow3. Celestron Oxygen iii Filter4. Baader UHC-S Nebula Filter5. Celestron Solar Filter (8" for the 8 SE)6. Celestron Lithium Power Tank 12 V (a must have or you will be replacing batteries every 30 minutes)7. Colored filters but mainly Red, Violet, Blue, and a Moon filter...haven't used the other colors yet. Orion has a great set, although it is expensive.8. A carrying case- we travel a lot....Celestron has one for this tube size, otherwise use the boxes it came in- they work just as great!9. A pelican case for your eyepieces and filters....we purchased one with pullouts and made our own...or you can buy one from Celestron.10. And a must have for those living in the South or colder climates...a dew shield or heater!11. A red flash light or just use the red light on the Lithium Power tank.12. Last but not least....for newbies...there are several companion books you can purchase....The Backyard Astronomer's Guide, Night Watch, The Total Skywatcher's Manual, and National Geographic has some great books. We love locating things in the sky, then looking them up and reading about them. The books also contain great tips and suggestions from purchasing eyepieces to filters, and how to best view objects in the night sky.All of these items were purchased on Amazon and we bought them over time but each purchase has enhanced our viewing and really made our nights out so enjoyable.Pros: So many but to name a few...Great, clear images, mostly newbie friendly- just have to educate yourself on operating the telescope to get the most out of it, a lot of items available for purchase to upgrade your experience, and with the star sense auto align you can spend hours outside enjoying clear skies. Not to say most people cannot get the 3-star alignment, we just lost patience with it and purchased the auto align :-)Cons: Manual not so great...You Tube has great videos from knowledgeable enthusiasts, it seems a bit heavy but manageable for one person. My husband is always with me so portability isn't an issue but just going out alone it may be somewhat heavy.Overall, I am so happy with this purchase and would recommend it for anyone wanting to add a more advanced telescope to their collection. There are several tutorials available online at Celestron and via You Tube that I encourage you to view. The telescope can be a bit intimidating for those that are new to the hobby but with a little research you will be loving it! We take it out at least 3x per week (skies permitting). The most beautiful site seen was the other morning I went out at 5 am and viewed Venus...the moon, and Orion's Nebula...so clear and amazing...it was definitely a treasure trove that morning, spent about 90 minutes viewing the sky until the Sun started to come up...very peaceful! We are still learning this telescope and each thing we learn just enhances our experience. I was hesitant on this purchase at first...a lot of money to spend plus accessories but we are so glad we decided to buy it! Definitely do your research to determine which telescope is best for you and your goals but this is a great one for those just entering the hobby or graduating from a starter scope. Now if we could only afford to buy another one of these so my husband and I don't fight over viewing time!

Reviewer: ICEMAN
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great Telescope !
Review: When I was a kid in the late 60's, my folks got me a Tasco telescope, had a lot of fun with it. In 2007 I got a Bushnell reflector telescope as a gift. Both telescopes were the lower end of the quality window but still enjoyed using them.I finally decided to upgrade for several reasons. Neither telescope would track an object through the night, after about a minute in the eyepiece, the object would be out of view and a readjustment was necessary. Finding anything in the sky was a pain as I had to rely on my knowledge of where to point the telescopes. The Bushnell came with a sort of 'guide' to help, and it did, but it was just mainly in the general direction to point the scope. And then the lenses that came with both the telescopes were cheap and hard to focus. These telescopes were very beginner based models.After looking around on the web, the Celestron telescope was often mentioned in the top 10 or so of quality scopes to purchase for the price, and the Nexstar SE series was getting very good reviews. After much deliberation and a cut in price of over $200 one day, I ordered the Celestron NexStar 8 SE. I also ordered the X-Cel LX 25mm, 9mm, and 5mm eyepieces to go with it, it comes with a lower quality 25mm Plossl lens. I also got an X-Cel 2x Barlow lens and a zoom lens from Celestron, the zoom works okay but is not in the same league as an X-Cel, and a Celestron StarSense Automatic Alignment device to help in locating celestial bodies. Also got the AC Adapter as the reviewers everywhere said don't rely on the 8 AA batteries to run the device as they die quickly.Of course the day it arrived it was cloudy for three nights, which gave me a chance to really review and read the instructions. It was delivered safely and fast, the telescope was in a box, in another box, and then another box in foam, so no problems there. If I had any issues, it was with the assembly instructions, they never actually show you how to put the orange tube on the fork, which IMO was the most important part. After looking at the pictures in the manual and checking Youtube vids, I was able to figure it out (I had it on upside down and backwards). Otherwise no problems.Once I had a clear sky I took it outside at dusk and set it up, just lined up the index points and aimed the scope at the horizon, leveled it by eye and took off. I did use the StarSense Auto Alignment unit to calculate the position and within about 7 minutes was enjoying the sights of Jupiter and the Moon like I had never seen them before. Saturn is still below the horizon, but I can imagine it will be a sight to see also. The telescope is definitely worth it, the X-Cel lenses are a must, so clear and great views and focus ability. The zoom lens was actually used the most as I could capture an object in the sky and then zoom in and out easily, and the zoom lens has a rubber eyepiece so you can still wear glasses if you want.The absolute best part was being able to use the handheld remote and tell it to find something, a star, galaxy, planet and then it slews right to it. The first time it was a little off because of user inexperience, so I doubled down and researched it, actually called Celestron and talked to a live person and then the second time was ready. You do need to keep a few things in mind.Try to insert the EXACT time into the controller ( I used my iPhone, I just set it for the next minute at 00 seconds, and then wait for the second hand to hit the 12 and then hit enter on the controller, perfect), be sure to set the time correctly, UTC 24 hour time (i.e. 9PM is 2100), make sure you have the correct time zone and daylight savings time set correctly.Also try to set the correct location as close to where you are setting up, again I used an app on my iPhone to give the correct longitude and latitude coordinates. You have to enter the degrees and not the decimal coordinates, also make sure to get the north/south and east/west location right.Then you have to align the scope to find out your best calibration, take your time, it is definitely worth it. I used the StarSense Auto Alignment method, so your calibrations may be a different set of instructions. After the final alignment (which took all of about 5 minutes), I told the hand controller to find a star and it slewed right to it, in the absolute center of the eyepiece and then tracked it for as long as I had it on there. Fantastic, it was doing everything it was advertised, I am very happy with this purchase.It is a heavy telescope, I have to have help to move it safely in and out of the house, you may be able to move it by yourself, or take the tube and fork off the tripod and reassemble in your viewing location.Only con I can see is the hand controller is a bit hard to see at night, just a little dim, I remedied that with a small flashlight with a red lens to keep down the light pollution, but I found you can control brightness and contrast on the controller so problem solved.Very glad I finally have an almost pro (IMO) telescope. After I see an object I can tell my wife to look at it and she was amazed at the improvement over the Bushnell scope, and since it tracks the object, no need for a readjustment every 45 seconds...Great value for the money, great construction, I called Celestron for help and was talking to an expert in two minutes who knew exactly what I was talking about, would recommend this telescope to anyone who wants to experience astronomy.

Reviewer: Jose de Jesus Munoz
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Es un excelente telescopio para iniciar, muy preciso en los GOTOs. Si está bien colimado, da imágenes definidas, aunque no del nivel de un refractor. El control de mano es fácil de usar, muy intuitivo. Las únicas cosas que no me gustaron fueron: buscador de punto rojo (imposible trabajar en el cenit con él), el diagonal de plástico, y el ocular (se requieren otros dos oculares). Es muy silencioso en los desplazamientos a máxima velocidad.

Reviewer: Matheus Amaral
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Tudo certo e dentro do prazo. Produto chegou em ótimo estado

Reviewer: Bijesh Kumar KV
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Good one for those who have aspirations to watch celestial objects..

Reviewer: Bob tries hard
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Astronomy made easy or so I was lend to believe.You do need a good knowledge of the stars to setup this up.That’s he moan out the way.This is the best telescope I’ve ever had the pleasure to own.Yes it’s not straight forward to setup but once done the night’s stargazing is an absolute pleasure.That power and clarity of the optics is outstanding.Looking through the telescope for the first time was as if I’d opened my eye for the first time.I could not believe what I was seeing the brightness was incredible.It is not the cheapest of telescope and only get the one lens but I do feel it would be money well spent.The mount is well made and quite sturdy.Easy to fit the goto arm and the telescope is simple to fit too.Take about 5 minutes there’s a few options to align the telescope once done your good to go.The finder scope that come with this I’d don’t rate at all I can’t get on with it and will be replacing it as soon as possible.Everything else about the telescope is great there’s a little lens holder that fits on the mount and help keep everything sturdy.For mobility it’s a good size not to bulky the case for this is £300 up but I do feel with a little effort you use some of the packaging and away you go.I’d recommend this telescope every day of the weekExcellent work Celestron this Nexstar 8se is fantastic.

Reviewer: Koenig
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Tres bon télescope , j' en suis ravi très simple utilisation même pour novice ,oculaire de série mes rendue très nette bon instrument pour commencer .