Celestron NexStar 8 SE Schmidt-Cassegrain Computerized Telescope, Bundle with Night Vision Flash Light, Sky Maps Book, 1.25" Moon Filter, Cleaning Kit

I had decided on the NexStar 8 SE telescope due to it's goto capability, large primary mirror, and portability. When looking at various stores, I found Adorama was not only offering ($) off of the typical price, but included a nice accessory kit for free. The package arrived earlier than promised in good condition.

We are loving this telescope and it is so nice to have for sky watching. We have a lot to learn but this is one that is really nice but learnable. We plan on purchasing additional lens, etc. in the future.

What a system from my SLT 130. Its just the greatest thing I have bought. It has spectacular view. The only thing I would have done is to put a handle on the tube itself, would make it easier to lift it to the mount.

This is my very first telescope and I bought it to buddy it with my Nikon z6 camera. I can't wait to get some amazing photos of the moon.

Great beginner telescope for starting out.

The best Celestron has to offer .

Great product has performed amazing so far.

Excellent telescope. Adorama was great to work with.

First off, I have to say that the Nexstar 8SE gives a lot of bang for the buck. The optical tube has been around for a long time and is popular because it works; it's big enough to gather serious light but still easily portable by car (if your viewing site requires it) or from house to yard.<br />On my first session with the 8SE, which I got primarily to have a quicker 'scope to set up than my Advanced VX (same tube on an equitorial mount), I used the Sky Align feature which is a great idea. You align the 'scope on any three bright stars, and the mount's computer works which stars they are from their geometry. The alignment that resulted was marginal at best though, so next time I'll align on known stars. I ended up using my A-VX for deep sky objects and the 8SE for moon observations.<br />A notable omission from the kit is a power cable - it runs off 8 AA batteries but external power is better, hooked up to rechargable battery (a tip - car jump starters with 12V sockets are cheaper and better made than Celestron or Skywatcher battery packs). Also, the red dot finder scope is useless. A decent magnified finder scope is a must. <br />The kit comes with a single, 25mm, eyepiece. There's nothing wrong with it, but a range of eyepieces and a Barlow lens are worth having. The Celestron eyepiece kit is good value and worth getting. <br />The extras included in the kit from Adorama are a nice touch, though the moon filter has plastic threads which distort easily. Also, cleaning the corrector plate of an SCT is not something you should do often so don't be in a rush to use the cleaning kit.<br />The next upgrade for me, applicable to both if my telescopes, will be better eyepieces, possibly 2", and better filters.

I just ordered this telescope a month ago and hate to leave this review but I?ve run into issues. Unfortunately, the computer that comes with this telescope that I received cannot complete the star alignment process, which is necessary in order to use the telescope. <br /><br />The text that displays on the computer screen is not always readable ? it becomes erratic and the individual characters (letters) don?t display correctly, making the info unreadable. They end up looking like hieroglyphs of some jumbled up lines. We have tried to align this thing multiple times and the star alignment fails whether you select your City as your location or input latitude and longitude. Also, the longitude and longitude format that the computer lets you enter is incorrect ? it doesn?t let you enter the full coordinates for latitude or longitude?! <br /><br />I know this can?t be the case for all of the computers on these telescopes because I?ve read all of the reviews. I feel like the computer I got is faulty and is using technology from the 80?s or 90?s. I?ve reached out to Adorama Support so I?m hoping they can help. But if you?ve run into this issue too - you?re not alone! Hoping for a resolution to this so we can finally use our new telescope.