Celestron 11036 NexStar 5SE Computerised Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope with Automated GoTo Mount, SkyAlign Technology and Steel Tripod, Black/Orange

When setting up, don't forget the bubble-level supplied.It is an essential part of an ALT-AZ mount. Get the mount "flat" to the ground. If on old grass, with a thatch, or soft ground, tripod pads may help with "drift", over a session.With this sorted, what can I say ?!! Amazing Telescope is the minimum comment.You have gained a portable, good value telescope.It is obvious that other eyepieces may be a requirement.I bought a case of assorted eyepieces and filters (Celestron).I treated myself to a zoom lens too, great fun, but not essential.Having read other reviews (thank you all), I bought a Celestron Power Tank.AA batteries are a great option though.With a corrector plate, dewing over, in the cold is a possible issue.Again, a Celestron Dew Shield, prevents this. There are electric ones around, but a basic shround has served me well enough with a frosty air.In short you could end up buying many "extras", which are not required. I bought a focal reducer for brighter, wider angled view (F6.3 compared to C8 F10). Do you need this ? I did for some things, but could have survived without.Decide what you need to add, and don't go mad for "power/magnification". 50x Magnification for every Inch of scope is great, before the loss of resolution starts.I found Jupiter's Red Spot (more light brown at the moment), at 150x.However, know the difference between a clear sky, and good "seeing", when the stars have very little "twinkle".The atmosphere can be be deceptive from day/night. Avoid being disappointed, if a clear view is so different from one night to the next.I do not do astrophotography, Very expensive hobby. But below, with a mobile phone holder on the eyepiece, limited view of Venus at Crescent phase and a moon shot. Visual is best for me !Lastly, Alignment is very easy. 2 star, if you know the star Names, 3 star for any bright objects, but you must be accurate with location, and local time .Keep it simple, and do as much as you feel happy with, the 25mm eyepiece is fine. AA batteries are fine, don't spend a fortune with add-ons. Grow with the scope and what you want from it.A fantastic telescope. Have fun looking up !!!

Astronomy made easy or so I was lend to believe.You do need a good knowledge of the stars to setup this up.That’s he moan out the way.This is the best telescope I’ve ever had the pleasure to own.Yes it’s not straight forward to setup but once done the night’s stargazing is an absolute pleasure.That power and clarity of the optics is outstanding.Looking through the telescope for the first time was as if I’d opened my eye for the first time.I could not believe what I was seeing the brightness was incredible.It is not the cheapest of telescope and only get the one lens but I do feel it would be money well spent.The mount is well made and quite sturdy.Easy to fit the goto arm and the telescope is simple to fit too.Take about 5 minutes there’s a few options to align the telescope once done your good to go.The finder scope that come with this I’d don’t rate at all I can’t get on with it and will be replacing it as soon as possible.Everything else about the telescope is great there’s a little lens holder that fits on the mount and help keep everything sturdy.For mobility it’s a good size not to bulky the case for this is £300 up but I do feel with a little effort you use some of the packaging and away you go.I’d recommend this telescope every day of the weekExcellent work Celestron this Nexstar 8se is fantastic.

My wife has just started her astronomy adventure and we took quite a while choosing which telescope to buy. This one came out very high in many reviews and on many websites, and although I was a little reluctant to start off with a £600+ telescope, I wanted to make sure we could have a good experience so opted for this one.Firstly there's no doubt this is a quality telescope. The tripod itself would set you back a couple of hundred Im sure if you just wanted a good one for professional level photography or a replacement. Perhaps a pro photographer would disagree but without doubt it's a strong and sturdy set up. The tripod also comes with an equatorial alignment wedge. Now at this stage I don't know very much about what that is, but on reading many other reviews related to the other Nexstar SE series telescopes, it's clear that the others don't appear to have that option oddly. (Im sure someone will correct me if Im wrong). But at least it is there as and when you need it.The telescope itself is fairly impressive, particularly if you are not accustomed to telescopes as a rule. It comes with the basics you need to get going (also bought a lens & filter kit to compliment further). There are a number of tutorial videos for this telescope available online to assist you in setting it up and to be honest we found it quite a doddle to get the whole thing erected.Using the GoTo computer attachment for the alignment process was another experience however. I quickly realised that the software needed to be updated as the alignment process did ask me for global co-ordinates. I know these are easily obtained from most smartphones, but I had noticed on a couple of aforementioned tutorial videos that this wasn't requested by the handset, instead simply asking you to select your country and city.So the first issue in updating the software was of course connecting it to your PC. Trouble is it comes with an RS-232 (serial adapter) and not a USB. Who uses those anymore? This prompted me to think: how long as this product been around? I haven't used a serial adapter since I last owned a dial-up modem over 10 years ago. So I purchased a separate adapter and after a bit of fiddling about with serial port issues, finally managed to update the software.It took us a couple of frustrating evenings getting the telescope aligned properly, but this was of course due to our inexperience and the required learning curve, but was eventually rewarded with amazing views of the Moon, Jupiter & Saturn on the same evening. (if you do buy this I advise you to get a 2x Barlow lens as well. It really makes a huge difference when coupled with the 25mm Plossl lens that comes with the telescope as standard. More experienced stargazers will no doubt offer better advice but I at least discovered that was the case very quickly).Once you get the hang of the alignment process you're off. The GoTo computer and auto alignment motor does all the hard work from there.Overall I think this is a great telescope, and especially for beginners. The price might make some people think twice for a first scope, however there are a number of other viable options if you take your time and some advice from experienced stargazers.So far I'm very happy. I would have given this the full five stars had it come with a USB connection option.