Celestron NexStar 4 SE 4" Go-to Maksutov-Cassegrain

$679.00

Availability: In stock

If you want a small scope with big features, this 4" Celestron NexStar 4 SE may be what you're looking for. It has sharp 4" Maksutov-Cassegrain optics, combined with 21st century computerized go-to technology and advanced multicoatings, at a price that's very affordable . . .
Our Product #: NX4SE
Celestron Product #: 11049
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Product Description

This 4" Celestron NexStar 4 SE go-to Maksutov-Cassegrain is a great alternative to competitive 3.5" Maksutovs. It has 30% more light gathering and 14% higher resolution than another manufacturer's similarly-priced 3.5" Mak. Even better, the NexStar 4 SE has the clear optical advantage of Celestron's state-of-the-art XLT multicoatings. Across the full photo/visual spectrum from 400nm to 750nm, independent laboratory tests show the new Starbright XLT coatings are 16% brighter than even Celestron's legendary original Starbright multicoatings - long the industry standard.

The Celestron NexStar 4 SE comes with a red dot finder, tripod, 25mm E-Lux Plössl eyepiece, and flashlight battery-operated dual-axis motor drives. Its go-to computerized hand control will find nearly 40,000 stars and deep space objects for you automatically, nearly 10,000 more than the competitive 3.5" Mak.

New SkyAlign technology makes it easy to line up this Celestron telescope on the sky so it can find celestial objects for you. You don't have to level the scope or point it north, or know which stars are which. Simply point the scope at any three bright stars, or at two bright stars and a planet or the Moon (you don't even have to know which stars and planet you're looking at). The telescope will then know how the sky is laid out that night and will be ready to find and track those nearly 40,000 objects for you at your command.

The Celestron NexStar 4 SE has all the features and optical performance you need to keep you happily observing for years to come - and a classic Celestron color scheme that will draw admiring glances wherever you take your scope. It may well be all the telescope you'll ever need!

This Telescope's Optical System . . .

Maksutov-Cassegrain optical tube: 4" aperture (1325mm focal length f/13) aluminum tube, 13.5" long, weighing less than 2 lbs. One-knob quick-release attachment to fork arm for fast assembly in the field. Guaranteed diffraction-limited optical performance. Celestron orange finish.

Starbright XLT fully-multicoated: This state-of-the-art coatings package includes a high reflectivity multilayer aluminum mirror enhanced with titanium dioxide for high reflectivity, plus a unique combination of magnesium fluoride and hafnium dioxide antireflection coatings on both sides of the Maksutov corrector lens. Starbright XLT multicoatings give you higher light transmission for brighter deep space images. They also increase the contrast of subtle lunar and planetary details when compared with a scope with standard coatings or multicoatings. For more information on the XLT multicoatings, click on the "4" Starbright XLT optics" icon in the support tab above.

Red dot finder: Star Pointer non-magnifying variable brightness red dot-type. The Star Pointer is the quickest and easiest way to point your telescope exactly to the desired object in the sky. It's like having a laser pointer that appears to shine directly onto the night sky. No need to worry about the inverted images that you see through traditional finders. Just align the red dot seen through the Star Pointer with the desired star in the sky. It's that easy.

Internal focuser: Focuses by moving the primary mirror fore and aft in the optical tube by means of a large focusing knob on the rear cell.

Internal flip mirror system: An internal first surface flip mirror, operated by a knob on the rear cell, directs the incoming light either to a 90° viewing angle 1.25" eyepiece holder at the top of the rear cell for astronomical observing (or mirror-image terrestrial observing), or to the Cassegrain focus at the center of the rear cell.
The Cassegrain focus is threaded to accept either an optional NexStar 4SE-specific 45° viewing angle erect image 1.25" diagonal for right-reading (correctly oriented) terrestrial observing or an optional NexStar 4SE-specific camera adapter for terrestrial and astronomical photography. Standard SCT rear cell 5"/8"/9¼"/11"/14" photographic and visual accessories will not work with this scope.

Eyepiece: 1.25" 25mm Plössl (53x). The eyepiece field of view is 1° across, twice the diameter of the full Moon.

This Telescope's Mount . . .

Fork mount/drive system: The heavy-duty single fork arm is made of die-cast aluminum, so it is rigid and damps vibrations quickly. The optical tube is offset slightly so that its center of mass is over the axis of rotation of the mount, keeping the optical tube properly balanced in all planes. Built-in friction clutches in altitude and azimuth keep the optical tube fixed in place when eyepieces or accessory loads are changed. No mechanical locking levers or knobs are required.

The 11 lb. mount includes slewing/tracking motors in both altitude and azimuth. There are nine user-selectable slewing/centering/guiding speeds - 6°/second; 3°/second; 1.5°/second; and 128, 64, 16, 8, 2, and 1x sidereal. There are also three selectable drive rates - sidereal, solar, and lunar. The drives normally operate in the altazimuth mode (right/left up/down) to locate and track objects for visual use and casual solar system photography.

If long exposure deep space photography is planned, the tripod includes a built-in wedge that quickly converts the scope to equatorial operation, although deep space imaging will realistically be limited by the scope's relatively small aperture and long focal ratio.

A compartment in the drive base accepts eight user-supplied AA batteries for powering the scope in the field. The Celestron Power Tank Lithium (#PTL12V) is a highly recommended optional 7 amp-hour capacity multi-purpose rechargeable 12V DC battery that can provide several nights worth of observing from a single charge. To conserve battery life, an optional 2.5 Amp AC adapter (#2338N) is available to operate the scope from household current during backyard use.

Computer control: The supplied NexStar computer hand control has a nearly 40,000 object database of stars and objects that it can locate and track for you. The database includes the complete RNGC, Messier, and Caldwell catalogs; selected SAO stars (including the best variable stars and multiple star systems); the planets; the Moon; and more. You can also store and edit the right ascension and declination coordinates of 200 objects of your own choosing, such as favorite deep space objects or the comet and asteroid coordinates published monthly in Astronomy and Sky & Telescope magazines.

You have several ways to have the NexStar computer find celestial objects for you. The most popular and easiest to use is Celestron's exclusive SkyAlign no-guesswork technology. After turning on the scope, simply enter the date and time and your location, then point the scope at any three bright stars, or at two bright stars and a planet or the Moon (you don't even have to know which stars and planet you're looking at, and you don't have to know and locate specific stars as you do with other alignment programs). The NexStar computer will use the stars you've pointed at to model the sky overhead. Once it knows what the sky looks like, it's ready to find and track nearly 40,000 objects for you at your command. Not all of the objects may be easily visible, however, due to the scope's limited aperture.

The computer hand control includes a built-in RS-232 communication port allowing you to use a CCD autoguider for deep space photography. It also lets you use popular astronomy software to control the NexStar from a lap top or personal computer for remote control point-and-click slewing. The hand control software can now be flash-upgraded from the Celestron website. You can always have the most up-to-date control program, database, and software features simply by downloading the new programs as they are posted.

The scope can be operated with its ergonomically designed hand control conveniently docked in its fork arm storage compartment. You can also remove the control and its coiled connecting cord from the fork arm for hand-held use. There's no need to worry about wrapping the cord around the mount as you walk around the scope to observe different parts of the sky. The hand control plugs into the fork arm rather than the base, so it always moves with the scope.

The computer includes a camera control software program and a camera shutter cable. These let you remotely take a series of timed exposures using your digital SLR camera (connected to the scope by an appropriate camera adapter). This can be very useful during lunar or solar eclipses and during occultation events, since you won't have to miss any of the sights while worrying about the operation of your camera.

All of the database and scope operation information is displayed on a double line, 16-character, liquid crystal display on the hand control. There are 19 fiber optic backlit LED buttons to make it easy for you to control the computer without affecting your dark-adapted vision. If you are new to astronomy, you may wish to start by using the computer's built-in Sky Tour feature. This program commands the NexStar 4 SE to find the most interesting objects in the sky and automatically slews to them one at a time for you to observe at your leisure.

No matter what level of experience you start from, however, the NexStar 4 SE will unfold many of the wonders of the Universe for you, your family, and your friends. For much more information on the NexStar computer and the unique SkyAlign software, click on the "NexStar 4/5 computer with SkyAlign" icon in the support tab above.

Adjustable height altazimuth/equatorial tripod: The 10 lb. adjustable height altazimuth tripod has tubular chromed steel legs for stability, and a combined die-cast spreader bar/accessory tray that is cut out to hold two 2" eyepieces and four 1.25" eyepieces. The spreader bar is spring loaded, so that it can't accidentally detach from the tripod.

Spring loaded attachment bolts, that also can't be lost in the dark, hold the telescope to the no-tool adjustable wedge tilt plate that allows equatorial tracking for astrophotography. The tilt plate has a built-in latitude scale and can be operated from 0° to 90°, allowing both polar and altazimuth operation without having to buy a separate wedge.

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

Tech Details

Aperture 4"
Focal Length 1325mm
Focal Ratio f/13
Heaviest Single Component 11 lbs.
Highest Useful Magnification 189x
Motorized Controls Computerized GoTo
Weight 21 lbs.
Resolution 1.14 arc seconds
Supplied Eyepiece 25mm 1.25"
Telescope Type Maksutov-Cassegrain
View Finder StarPointer
Visual Limiting Magnitude 12.5
Warranty 2 years

Reviews

Review by:
This is my first telescope and it is a nice scope to view the moon! I wish I could find a solar filter for it! I was looking at Jupiter and I can faintly make out the bands on the planet. I did see 4 moons(no detail) pretty clearly as I live in light polluted NYC. All in all it is a decent scope easy to set up and view. I had to get a better pointer as the stock one isn't that good. (Posted on 9/9/2019)
Review by:
My wife bought me this for Christmas. Its been awesome so far. I live inside a mid-sized city and have already seen the Andromeda galaxy, Mars, and the Orion Nebula. The two star alignment works great. I bought a few eyepieces in addition to the one that came with along with the Celestron Pro battery pack. Great starter scope! (Posted on 1/14/2019)
Review by:
This was my first telescope model, and I got an absolute kick out of using it. The GoTo system is great for seeing all the sights you could ever want in the sky, but if you prefer to learn the stars on your own you can always resort to manually controlling the mount which is great fun too. While the aperture is slightly limiting, the portability is unbeatable. It takes less than 2 minutes to set up, and another minute or so to get an alignment. By the time I'm viewing, most other people in my group are still unloading boxes and bags from their cars. This means break-down is also a breeze - you can go from tracking your last Messier to on the road in less than 3 minutes. For portability, you can't beat that! (Posted on 1/12/2019)
Review by:
This Celestron mount is just fantastic. I bought the sky-fi wifi adapter and can align and goto using my ipad/ iphone. However, if you are going down this line, drop a few more pennies for the next higher up OTA. This little fella will leave you wanting more.

Although, this could be a very smart choice if you have a better OTA on hand. The shoe will fit any vixen style dovetail. As long as your OTA isn't huge, this makes a smart way to add goto functionality to a better OTA. Also, this style Nexstar unit is pretty capable and sturdy for middle-weight scopes. The gearing and motors are very stable. (Posted on 1/3/2019)
Review by:
This is the tenth telescope to become part of our family, early summer 2018. I like to use it for outreach, as it gives really crisp and nicely detailed views of the Moon and planets. With a zoom eyepiece, it can give great views of open star clusters, with the stars in M7 looking bright like diamonds. Visitors to our outreach events have told me that the view in this little scope is better than the views in some of the larger SCT's and Dobs also in the observing field.

I do not like the fact that the mount does not have the ability to manually unlock the Alt and Az motions. It has to be powered up to change position. It eats AA batteries, so find an alternate power source if you use this scope a lot.

I would not recommend this as a first telescope, but in my opinion, a new observer needs an 8" Dob to learn the sky. (Posted on 12/5/2018)
Review by:
I recently bought one of these NexStar 4SE telescopes. It is an excellent telescope for the money. I have been able to view Mars and the moon with eyepieces all the way down to 3.5mm in good seeing conditions. SHARP optics with no hint of CA. I also am using the SkyPortal WiFi adapter along with my cell phone for an even better astronomy experience. It is great to highlight a celestial object, have to scope move to it, then view the object while your phone tells you all the specifics of that object.

Highly recommended for those looking for a great, feature rich telescope on a budget. (Posted on 11/26/2018)
Review by:
this was my first telescope and it has worked flawlessly from day one providing breathtaking views of the moon and planets and jaw dropping views of distant galaxies and nebula. (Posted on 11/4/2018)
Review by:
I bought the NexStar 4SE because of its size - I do a lot of volunteering in the National Park System and often do night hike/star view tours for our park system. The 4SE gives a really good image (Mak-Cas quality) in a small package.
I bought the GPS module for it which makes alignment in the middle of nowhere a lot easier -
It has an amazing Solar System align and I often delight park visitors by aligning on the Sun or the Moon in daylight and then letting the scope find Venus or Jupiter or even Saturn in broad daylight - visitors are amazed that you can "find" NIGHT sky objects in the daytime - but this scope can!
My only objection is the red-dot finder - it does eat batteries. (Posted on 10/6/2018)
Review by:
Using Auto Two Star alignment option was a breeze. I selected two alignment stars from the hand control list and manually slewed to the stars and aligned. Selected target from the hand control list, and the telescope automatically slewed to the object. Great scope! (Posted on 10/6/2018)
Review by:
I have had this scope for a few years now and its a great scope to start your stargazing career with. The alignment feature is great once you get it set up, but it does take a few minutes. Also, the controller menu's take some getting used to, I would like it to be a bit more user friendly, but after a few tries anyone can figure it out. The optics are great for this size of scope, so all in all, if you are just getting started, this is a good choice. (Posted on 10/6/2018)
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Supplied Accessories

  • Starbright XLT multicoated 4" f/13 Maksutov-Cassegrain optics
  • Quick-release tube attachment
  • Single fork arm design
  • Classic orange and black color scheme
  • Multicoated 1.25" 25mm E-Lux Plössl Eyepiece (53x)
  • Star Pointer red dot non-magnifying finder
  • 1.25" star diagonal
  • 1.25" visual back
  • Dual axis DC drive (powered by 8 user-supplied AA Batteries)
  • Heavy duty base with rubber feet for tabletop operation
  • NexStar SkyAlign go-to computer hand control with a nearly 40,000 star and object database
  • Adjustable height tripod with combined accessory tray/spreader bar
  • NexRemote and TheSky Level 1 software on CD-ROM
  • Camera shutter cable and camera control software program
  • Dust covers.

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