Celestron Starsense Explorer LT 80AZ Refractor Telescope

Celestron has reinvented the manual telescope with the Celestron Starsense Explorer LT 80AZ Refractor Telescope — the first telescope that uses your smartphone to analyze the night sky and calculate its position in real time. StarSense Explorer is ideal for beginners thanks to the app’s user-friendly interface and detailed tutorials. It’s like having your own personal tour guide of the night sky.

Leave complicated star charts, imprecise planetarium apps, and computerized mounts behind. With StarSense Explorer, locating objects has never been easier, faster, or more accurate. Within minutes of setting up the telescope, you’ll be navigating the sky with confidence. Simply place your phone in the unique StarSense dock and launch the StarSense Explorer app. After aligning your phone to the telescope’s optics (a quick, 2-minute procedure), StarSense Explorer generates a list of celestial objects currently visible. Make your selection and arrows appear onscreen, guiding you as you to move the telescope. When the object is ready to view, the bullseye turns green.

Celestron Starsense Explorer LT 80AZ Refractor Telescope works with most modern smartphones, including iPhone 6 and up and most devices running Android 7.1.2 or later manufactured since 2016. For a complete compatibility list, click here.

Celestron Starsense Explorer LT 80AZ Refractor Telescope uses patented technology and your smartphone to determine exactly where the telescope is pointed in the night sky. A Lost in Space Algorithm (LISA), like the ones satellites use in orbit to correctly orient themselves, helps the app match star patterns it detects overhead to its internal database.

While other astronomy apps may claim that they can help you find objects, they rely exclusively on the phone’s gyros and accelerometers, which aren’t as accurate as LISA technology. No other app can accurately tell you when your target is visible in the eyepiece.

StarSense Explorer LT’s simple altazimuth mount makes it easy to move the telescope to find your target. An altitude slow motion adjustment with a sliding rod helps you fine tune the telescope’s pointing position and follow targets as they appear to drift across the night sky. It’s all anchored by an adjustable, full-height tripod.

You can expect sharp, bright views through this 80mm refractor. Fully coated glass optics provide increased light transmission, enhancing details in celestial objects. The telescope also includes a 90-degree erect image diagonal, so you can use it during the day to view birds, wildlife, landscapes, and more.

Even if you live in a light polluted city location, StarSense Explorer is advanced enough to be able to pick out Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, the Orion Nebula, double stars, and a few more of the most famous celestial objects.

But if you can take the telescope to an even slightly darker location, more objects will become visible. The entire telescope kit weighs just 9.2 pounds, so it’s perfectly portable and easy to bring on your next camping trip or to a remote observing site.

FEATURES

• Unleash the power of your smartphone to take you on a guided tour of the night sky—no telescope experience required.
• Award-winning and patented StarSense sky recognition technology uses your smartphone to analyze star patterns overhead and calculate its position in real time.
• StarSense Explorer Powered by SkySafari™ app automatically generates a list of objects currently visible. View planets, brighter nebulae and galaxies, star clusters, and double stars from the city. Or take your telescope to darker skies to view faint, deep sky objects.
• Manual altazimuth mount with altitude slow motion adjustment with a sliding rod makes it easy to follow the on-screen arrows to your desired target. When the bullseye turns green, it’s ready to view in the telescope’s eyepiece.
• 80mm refractor with fully coated glass optics for bright, sharp views.
• Includes 25mm and 10mm eyepieces, 2x Barlow Lens, StarSense smartphone dock, erect image diagonal, a red dot finderscope (in case you want to use the telescope without your phone), and a full-height tripod.

SPECIFICATIONS

• Optical Design: Refractor
• Aperture: 80mm (3.1″)
• Focal Length: 900mm (35.43″)
• Focal Ratio: f/11
• Focal Length of Eyepiece 1: 25mm (0.98″)
• Magnification of Eyepiece 1: 36x
• Focal Length of Eyepiece 2: 10mm (0.39″)
• Magnification of Eyepiece 2: 90x
• Barlow Lens: 2x (1.25″)
• Finderscope: StarPointer red dot finderscope
• Star Diagonal: Erect image 90° (1.25″)
• Optical Tube: Aluminium
• Highest Useful Magnification: 189x
• Lowest Useful Magnification: 11x
• Limiting Stellar Magnitude: 12
• Resolution (Rayleigh): 1.74 arc seconds
• Resolution (Dawes): 1.45 arc seconds
• Light Gathering Power (Compared to human eye): 131x
• Optical Coatings: Fully Coated glass optics
• Optical Tube Length: 965mm (38″)
• Optical Tube Diameter: 90mm (3.54″)
• Optical Tube Weight: 5.4 lbs (2.45 kg)
• Dovetail: None