Celestron Celestar 8

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Celestron Celestar 8
More fun than one can imagine. The fork mount is just fine for visual observing. The coatings on the Celestar 8 I have found to be slightly better than comparable SCTs. I use mine in an alt/az setup. This telescope is extremely user friendly, easily transportable and a lot of fun. The first time you view a galaxy floating through the cold darkness of space through your C8 you'll be hooked for life. Don't forget that Celestron was the first company to mass market the Schmidt-Cassegrain, so they've been doing this for a long time.

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Celestron Celestar 8
The OTA itself is very good and the fork mount and drive are more than adequate for visual observation. I've modified my Wedgpod to have adjustable legs
(very easy to do - use ABS pipe fittings and dowels) so I'm pleased with the tripod now. I have yet to collimate it though the star test was good, maybe
slightly out of collimation. There was some image shift, though. Replace the diagonal and that cheap finder, too.

Overall Rating: 9
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Celestron Celestar 8
Optics very good

Diffraction limited in excellant seeing at 340 x. Split Gamma circirnus and shows plenty of detail on mars and Jupiter.

Outperforms a Questar 7 in particular much brighter images and also better resolution on Planets and double stars.

Mechanically drive ok but nowhere near as accurate as needed for long exposure images although they are possible.

Wedgepod as supplied limited in its potential especially when polar aligning.
Needs level ground. a simple adjustment on each leg would help considerably,

Very easy to set up and use. Blows away any questar 3.5 on everthing.

Optics are better by a wide margin than Celestron starhopper 8 although the starhoppers images are slightly brighter.

overall outstanding value for money.

Overall Rating: 8
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Celestron Celestar 8
The mount is stable enough, but could be better. However, the star brightness tetest is excellent and the motor tracks very well on my scope even with rather ccursory polar alignment.

Overall Rating: 9
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Celestron Celestar 8
Portability, size, & ease of use.

Overall Rating: 8
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Celestron Celestar 8
It does exactly what its advertising promised! I love it.

Overall Rating: 10
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Celestron Celestar 8
I owned a C-8 about 12 years ago and had no problem selecting the Celestar to get back into a cat for visual use. I was not impressed with what I received. Marginal Optics on the one I received, that coupled with the "Wedgepod Joke" makes this a "worst buy". By the time you add the cost of a hand controller, dec motor, wedge, usable tripod, and a finder scope that is usable you have a ton of money tied up in this "visual only entry level scope". Exchanged it for a Meade LX-10 with tripod, 8x50 finder and dec motor. Much more stable fork, a real wedge and tripod and better optics for less money.

Overall Rating: 3
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Celestron Celestar 8
My preferred "visual" scope! Easy to transport, great optics!

Overall Rating: 10
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Celestron Celestar 8
Very nice scope for the price. The supplied finder is lousy, though. (I use a Telrad) Mine was well collimated "out of the box". Lunar performance is outstanding. Scope doubles nicely for both astro and terrestrial viewing. I've noticed very little of the spherical aberations that supposedly hinder this design. Field is flat and stars focus to sharp points at low power. Nice for deep sky. Planetary performance is pretty good but not breathtaking. Some field shift when focusing, especially at high mags. Mount is fine for visual use, but I think there's too much vibration for photography. Overall quite happy with it.

Overall Rating: 9
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Celestron Celestar 8
fantastic scop with one exception-many samples had R circle which dragged as fork tines are rotated,possibly indicating an internal slight burr in the casing which catches the RA circle.Otherwise a fun scope,great value,great optics excpt for crummy diagonal,highly recommended!And I own one.

Overall Rating: 9
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Celestron Celestar 8
Currently own this one.No problems.Wonderful,practical scope.Great value.Can't think of anything I don't like about the scope except that optional $38 Deluxe Latitude Adjuster/Knob Set should be standard equipment to make it perfect right out of the box.

Overall Rating: 9
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Celestron Celestar 8
Celestar 8 arrived well packed in two large box's. Good thing too because UPS
had really handled them roughly. The box's looked like they were run over by
the truck! Upon unpacking everything seemed OK but just to be sure I checked the Collimation with a Laser Max (if you don't have one of these get one).
This Celestron Celestar 8 came with the generic 1.25" diagional with no brand
name. It showed the scope was out of collimation when the Laser Max was used
through it, but without the diagonal the collimation showed good. the diagonal
was NG. This type of diagonal is supplied with other Celestron scopes besides
the Celestar 8. Everything else was as advertised and I have been using it for
visual Astronomy without any problems. I find the optics bright and color free,
and because it is a Schmidt Cassegrain my bino viewer has no trouble reaching
focus. All in all I am very pleased with the Celestar 8.
I rate it a 10 even with the bad generic diagonal.

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Celestron Celestar 8
I BOUGHT MINE 2 YEARS AGO AND CAN ONLY SAY IT IS A GREAT TELESCOPE FOR THE MONEY!! I ALSO OWN 2 LARGE APERATURE REFRACTORS AND NO, THE CELESTAR 8 CAN'T
GIVE QUITE THE NICE, TIGHTLY FOCUSED STAR IMAGES THEY CAN DUE TO THE CENTRAL
OBSTRUCTION BUT FOR DEEP SKY SUCH AS GALAXY AND NEBULA VIEWING IT IS SUPERB.
ACTUALLY, PLANETARY VIEWING IS MUCH BETTER THAN ONE WOULD EXPECT AND VIEWS
OF THE MOON ARE REAL CRISP AND SHARP SO I WOULD RATE IT AS A "8" FOR AN ALL
AROUND TELESCOPE.

Overall Rating: 8
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Celestron Celestar 8
Good optics.I immediatly ordered a 9x50 finderscope. The wedgepod appears to be unsuitable for astrophotography. I should have bought the deluxe.

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Celestron Celestar 8
The Celestar 8 is offered as an entry-level scope for the knowledgeable amateur. Before anyone drops $1100 on a scope, they should already know the pros and cons of SCTs, and the limits of Celestron's base accessories.
Yeah, the finderscope is nearly worthless on anything higher than about 60 degrees. Yeah, the wedgepod could use some adjustment of some sort. No, you're not going to get Jason Ware - like pictures with it's drive.
But the optics on mine are very good, which is the #1 prerequisite of ANY scope at ANY price. I've had it for over a year, and have never had to collimate it. I've never done astrophotography, but for visual observing, the drive will keep the object in view for hours (and I still haven't replaced the 9-volt battery yet!)
You'll have to spend another $700 - $1000 to get the next level up in performance. But anyone interested in photography or SERIOUS viewing would be spending that much ANYWAY. Give me a 9X50 finder scope and an adjustable tripod, and this is all the scope I'll need for years (at least 'til my next raise!).

Overall Rating: 9
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Celestron Celestar 8
With the exception of some surface roughness, once collimated properly, this scope shows a perfect star test for a 33% obstructed optical system. The views are exceptional using low power eyepieces plus a focal reducer, and without the focal reducer, using a 26mm plossl on down to 5mm plossl, the stars snap into sharp focus, with a single, small, perfect diffaction ring around stars brighter then about 6th magnitude. Under dark skies at low power the Virgo galaxy group is easily explored, with as many as three galaxies showing in the eyepiece at the same time. M81 & M82 are bright and detailed with both being in the same eyepiece field of view. Jupiter shows red banding, the G.R.S., small white ovals, and festoons. Saturn looks like a photograph out of a book. The Messier globular clusters, at least the bright ones, are easily resolved. The double-double is split wide, plenty of dark space between the stars. The finder scope is tolerable under dark skies. I've even succeeded in using this scope for prime focus astrophotography for durations up to one hour. That's with the joke Celestron calls a wedgepod. Of course I'm using the optional declination motor and Celestron vibration reduction pads. The pads really help. I've recently replaced the wedgepod with an adjustable tripod, adjustable wedge, and a latitude adjuster from Scopetronics. These products make a declination drift alignment straight forward. The R.A. motor tracks well, and while the periodic error is unpredictable, it is not sudden or large in degree and easily corrected by manual guiding at 400 magnification or with an autoguider. The only caveat is the autoguider integration times should be 5 seconds max. The setting circles work well, though I often find myself in strange physical positions reading the R.A. circle. In closing, the scope cost me about $1050.00 including shipping and the drive corrector....and it's not for sale! Bud buddyl@pe.net

Overall Rating: 9
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Celestron Celestar 8
Optically: Celestar is better than a 8" Meade and a 8" Criterion,
with fine resolution on planets and no focusing shift.
Mount: It's very portable and very easy to use. And no only for visual work.
If you wish I can send you CCD images (M8, M13, M20, M51, M97, M106 ETC.)taken trough my original Celestar 8 with an MX5 CCD camera.
Worst ponit: The diagonal (I actually use a flip mirror all the time)and the
finder.
Fine multipurpose telescope for no rich men.

Overall Rating: 9
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Celestron Celestar 8
An excellent scope for all around visual use. I have viewed every messier object with this scope. I have successfully taken several very good deep space long exposure pics with this scope with only one modification: Adding a bungie cord to provide light tension against the right ascention motor to remove any backlash. Some pics can be seen at www.graaa.org. Looks in the members astrophotography area under Mark Hansen. Replace the finder with a telerad or 8x50 finderscope. Polar aligning the wedgepod is not bad at all: Level the wedgepod. Rotate the forks to align polaris. When adjusting declination, only loosen the screws in the slots. Leave the other two tight. bump polaris into alignment and retighten the two slot screws. Easy! Good luck.

Overall Rating: 9
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Celestron Celestar 8
I use my Celestar 8 all the time. The wedgepod mount is very stable. I agree with other reviews that the tracking motor is excellent. The optics are very good for viewing planets, the moon, nebula, and star clusters. The unit is just portable enough to drag out for weekly viewings. I find the three screws which connect the mount to the wedge to be a bit of a pain, but the setup is very stable.

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Celestron Celestar 8
Great scope. Jupiter was sharp and the sky backround was dark. Get this if your considering an LX200. Meade has fancy gadgets but celestrons optics are far better. The optics are the important part anyway.

Overall Rating: 9
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