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• Newtonian reflector optical tube: 8” aperture (1000mm focal length f/5 parabolic primary mirror), guaranteed to be diffraction-limited. The optical tube is black-finished aluminum, to allow the mirrors to cool to ambient temperature more quickly. Also, the lower end of the tube is sealed to reduce image-degrading thermal currents within the optical tube. These features extend your undisturbed viewing time by minimizing the time you have to wait for the images to stabilize after you take your C8N outside in the cold air of late fall or winter. The scope’s tube end rings are sturdy die cast aluminum, to protect the tube during transport and provide exceptionally rigid support for the optics. The mirror cell’s six-screw push/pull locking collimation system keeps the primary mirror aligned far longer than conventional mirror cells – so you spend more time observing, and less time adjusting the optics. The lightweight optical tube rotates in its felt-lined die cast cradle rings to bring the focuser and finder to the most comfortable viewing position. The mounting rings even include a built-in piggyback mount for wide field astrophotography. The 37” long aluminum optical tube weighs only 20 lbs., making it easy to transport and assemble in the field.

• Finderscope: 9 x 50mm straight-through achromatic design, with a wide 5.8° field of view. Focuses by loosening the trim ring behind the objective lens cell, screwing the lens cell in or out to focus, and tightening the trim ring to lock in the correct focus.

• Focuser: 2” metal rack and pinion type with 1.25” eyepiece adapter.

• Eyepiece: 1.25” 20mm Plössl (50x). The 1.0° field of the eyepiece is twice the diameter of the Moon, for exciting views of large objects such as the Orion and Lagoon Nebulas.

• Software: TheSky Level 1 sky-charting CD-ROM, with a database of 10,000 stars and objects it can plot and display on your Windows-based computer screen. That’s enough solar system and deep space detail to keep you busy observing for years, yet not so much that you’re overwhelmed by charts showing much more detail than your scope can usefully reveal. Custom sky chart printing lets you print out eyepiece finder charts to use with your telescope to help you locate and identify the planets and many famous and faint deep space nebulas, galaxies, and star clusters. There are 75 full color images of well-known celestial objects to help you identify them through your scope.

This Telescope’s Mount . . .

• Heavy duty CG-5A Advanced Series go-to computerized German equatorial mount: The mount includes a heavy-duty tripod with 2” diameter steel legs, a dovetail slide bar system for fast set-up, and dual-axis slewing/tracking motors with positioning encoders on each axis for go-to computer control using the supplied NexStar computer hand control. The scope is supplied with a car battery cord to operate from the cigarette lighter plug of your car or from a rechargeable 12V battery pack. For more details, click on the “mount” icon above.

• NexStar computer hand control: The supplied computerized hand control has a built-in database of more than 40,000 stars and deep space/solar system objects it can find for you. These include the complete RNGC, Messier, Caldwell, IC, and Abell catalogs; selected SAO stars, such as variables and multiple star systems; the planets, the Moon, and more.
      In addition, the NexStar computer hand control is GPS-compatible (using an optional inexpensive CN16 GPS module) for full GPS (Global Positioning System) satellite accuracy. Adding GPS to the computer is something no competitive scope can do. With the Advanced Series go-to mount and the CN16, orienting the scope in time and space on earth and aligning the scope on the sky becomes almost as easy as simply turning the scope on. For more details, click on the “computer” icon above.

• Two-year warranty: All Celestron go-to telescopes have a two-year warranty, double that of competitive go-to scopes.