Celestron NexStar 5 Evolution GoTo, 127/1250, telescope

Evolution -the next step in portable telescopes!

• built-in WLAN module – instead of using the hand controller, you can also wirelessly control the NexStar Evolution with your iOS or Android SmartPhone or with a tablet. Use the free Celestron SkyPortal app,which includes planetarium software and SkyAlign! Of course you can also use the classical NexStar hand control with the telescopes too.
• lithium-ion battery – forget cable clutter or having to use expensive ‘Power Tanks’! The built-in (and replaceable) battery can power the telescope for one night (ten hours) and even allows you to recharge your smartphone via USB port. The enclosed power pack included lets you recharge the built-in battery.
• even more ergonomic – Celestron’s innovative product design, first introduced with CPC telescopes, can now also be found in NexStar telescopes. These include not only a more powerful drive, but also many small touches that make observing more comfortable – a very stable tripod whose accessory tray does not need to be removed before folding it up. The flat surface of the mount also serves as a place for keeping your eyepieces handy and has been provided with rubber armouring. A very discreet red light helps you locates your accessories more easily in the dark. A handle located on the fork arm and a handhold on the fork base makes the mount very easy to handle.

Celestron SC telescopes:

Despite the long focal length of these telescopes, the OTA itself has a very short length, making the system a compact telescope which is extremely easy to transport. Light first hits an aspherically figured Schmidt corrector plate and is then thrown onto a spherical main mirror. This reflects the light back up, throwing it onto a secondary mirror which subsequently throws it back in the direction of main mirror. The light then passes through a central hole in the main mirror and into the focuser at the bottom of the OTA. Thus the system is closed and hence does not suffer from air turbulence which could degrade the image. Of course this also means that the system is optimally protected from dust. The Schmidt plate is multi-coated, ensuring bright images which do not suffer from stray light reflections.

This telescope provides a very good image, boasting high contrast and definition and provides a lot of pleasure when planetary observing. The Schmidt-Cassegrain design provides a good all-round system suitable for both observing and astrophotography and with an enormous range of optional accessories available. Using the bottom end of the OTA to look through means easy orientation. The system is also optimal for occasional terrestrial observing, e.g. birdwatching at close range. Celestron SC telescopes have an aperture ratio of around 1:10 which, so astrophotography is also very easily possible.

Main mirror focusing means a very large range of focus is made available, which allows virtually any common accessory to be used. Two pre-loaded ball bearings are used in the main mirror focus positioning mechanism in order to prevent ‘mirror shift’ – a typical problem when using simple bushings. The use of high quality materials such as CNC-milled aluminium components, cast steel and stainless steel guarantees extreme robustness with low weight. This means that a very heavy mount is unnecessary, not always the case for other telescope designs.

Features of these telescopes:

• long focal length with short OTA
• low weight aluminium OTA
• high quality XLT multi-coating
• closed system
• pre-loaded ball bearings for low mirror shift main mirror focusing