Celestron 22096 NexStar 102SLT Portable Computerised Refractor Telescope - Includes Adjustable Tripod, Fork-Arm Altazimuth Mount, Viewing Accessories and Bonus 'Starry Night' Software, Grey / Black

Product Information

The focal ratio also means it should be decent at astrophotography also due to the time needed to capture an image not being insanely long. Overall, the optics within the 102SLT aren’t necessarily of the highest power and do suffer from chromatic aberration nevertheless it’ll still be quite solid and versatile experience for most newbies to the astronomy scene. What Do The Celestron Nexstar 102SLT’s Specifications Mean?

The Orion SkyQuest XT8, as with the AD8/Z8 and similar 8” Dobsonians, features double the resolution and 4 times as much light collecting area as the NexStar 102SLT thanks to its large 8” diameter primary mirror. The XT8 has a 2” Crayford focuser and provides great views, though it’s a little sparse on included accessories.Refractors rarely get the computerized treatment so it is refreshing to see that here. The Celestron NexStar 102SLT Refractor has all of the advanced technology that Celestron adds to all of its NexStar telescopes. This includes the 40,000 object database stored in a handy controller, SkyAlign tech and the automatic goto mount that utilizes both to work independently of your input. The Celestron StarSense Explorer DX 102AZ is an achromatic refractor, with a 102 mm doublet lens composed of two different types of glass. It has a focal ratio of f/6.5, which means that it has a comparatively short tube for its diameter — a situation that provides a wide field of view and bright image with a fairly compact instrument. True to form, even on their refractor, Celestron continues to deprive all of their NexStar models of any good accessories. This kit comes with two eyepieces. One at 25mm and one that is 9mm for a low zoom and high zoom mode. They also threw in a basic red dot finderscope. And that is it. SkyAlign allows you to align on any three bright celestial objects, making for a fast and easy alignment process

If the price of the 102SLT isn’t to your liking, especially for the specs that it provides a few other good other refractor scopes you can look into can be found on this list of ours.

Conclusion

I thought one of the 3 scopes above would be an ideal place to start as they can be mounted on NEQ5/6’s which I intend to buy at a later date I may even buy a bigger/better/different telescope to go with NEQ5/6 in the future when I have more experience, space and money. This route therefore allows me to get a fast scope for DSO’s and a slower scope for the rest while also giving me time to get a decent AP mount all in due course as experience, time, money and life allow.

Can be powered by 8 AA (user supplied) batteries or a suitable AC adapter or portable power-tank. This telescope loves to travel! The ergonomically designed hand control can be removed from its holder for remote use or left in situ for hands-free operation. With a touch of a button you can select the object catalog, change the slew speed, view fascinating information about an object, or simply know if a desired object is visible in the sky. NexStar+ Hand Control – This computerized hand control enables you to automatically slew to any of 40,000 celestial objects with the push of a button. The NexStar+ database includes more than 600 galaxies, 300 clusters and dozens of beautiful binary stars. Not sure what to observe? Choose the Sky Tour feature and the NexStar+ hand control will automatically generate a list of all the best celestial objects currently visible based on your exact time and location.If you received a red dot finderscope that looks like the unit pictured here, follow the instructions below to replace the battery:

Please note: Product is now a 102mm Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope, not the refractor which is shown in the picture and description.Includes CD-ROM "The Sky" Astronomy Software which provides education about the sky and printable sky maps Refractor based optics come in 2 different forms being in the form of an achromatic lens and an Apochromatic lens. The former is what will be found within the 102SLT. Refractor telescopes are generally more portable than their design counterparts due to the sturdier design of lenses versus mirrors but this telescope is especially portable. It has a strong body and durable design that can stand up to some travel.