Celestron Advanced VX 8" f/10 EdgeHD Telescope

Description

The Advanced VX 8" f/10 EdgeHD Telescope from Celestron is a complete astroimaging platform including an 8" Aplanic Schmidt-Cassegrain optical tube, 40mm eyepiece, Advanced VX computerized German Equatorial mount, adjustable stainless steel tripod, and NexStar hand controller. By pairing the 8" EdgeHD tube with their redesigned Advanced VX mount, Celestron has created a high-performance optical instrument ready for deep sky observation and image capture. The fusion of lightweight materials, compact design, and astroimaging technology equip this telescope with the portability and functionality to satisfy advanced amateurs and demanding astrophotographers.

The EdgeHD optical design, like other Schmidt-Cassegrains, utilizes a system of lenses and mirrors to produce long focal lengths with a relatively compact tube length. This configuration of the EdgeHD optical tube boasts a 2032mm focal length using a tube less than 2 ft long. In addition to the compact design, EdgeHD optical tubes are also lightweight for their size. Housing the optical system inside an aluminum tube not only minimizes flexure and helps equalize the temperature inside the tube, it also reduces excess weight, making the 8" EdgeHD a manageable 13 lbs.

Celestron's StarBright XLT coating system uses multiple layers of proprietary lens and mirror coatings to optimize the light transmission of each lens and maximize the reflection of the primary and secondary mirrors. The XLT coatings were engineered specifically for astroimaging purposes, using layers of highly-reflective aluminum, SiO2 (quartz), and TiO2 (Titanium Dioxide) mirror coatings to accurately replicate the colors of the visible spectrum, as well as anti-reflective MgF2 (Magnesium Fluoride) and HfO2 (Hafnium Dioxide) lens coatings to transmit a wider band of visible wavelengths. The result is an f/10 optical system that transmits more color faithful images than Celestron's previous StarBright-coated systems. Further improving the performance of the EdgeHD optical system is a Water White glass corrector lens that is capable of up to 97% light transmission when finished with the XLT anti-reflective coatings.

Celestron's Advanced VX German-Equatorial mount is an integrated telescope support, alignment and guiding system optimized for astrophotography. Celestron engineered the Advanced VX mount from the ground up to deliver the functionality and affordability required by astroimagers on a budget. This telescope mount delivers some of the features found on more sophisticated German Equatorial mounts but without the added bulk or cost associated with more robust options. The Advanced VX mount is designed to accommodate an optical tube weighting up to 30 lb, enough payload capacity for most Schmidt-Cassegrain OTAs with up to an 8" aperture.

This fully-integrated telescope mounting system also includes an adjustable stainless steel tripod that has two-inch diameter legs, locking spreader, and caddy for the NexStar hand controller. The combination of digitally encoded servo motors, broad tracking latitude, and an array of sophisticated alignment and tracking technology equip the Advanced VX with the mechanical precision needed to observe and photograph any nearby or deep sky object.

Key Features

EdgeHD Optical Tube Assembly

• StarBright XLT multicoated lenses and mirrors
• SCHOTT glass lens elements
• Dual ball bearing focus screw
• Dual optical tube cooling vents
• Spherical secondary mirror for easy and accurate collimation
• FASTAR compatible tube has removable secondary mirror for f/2.8, wide FOV imaging

Advanced VX German Equatorial Mount

• Computerized go-to capability
• Permanently programmable periodic error correction
• All-Star Polar Alignment with 2-Star alignment mode
• Eq North / Eq South tracking modes, Sidereal / Solar / Lunar tracking rates
• Digitally-encoded low-cog DC servo motors on both axes
• Dedicated Autoguider communication port

NexStar+ Hand Controller

• Flash upgradeable operating system
• LED-backlit interface buttons
• RS-232 serial communication port
• Selectable language programming (English, French, German, Italian, Spanish)

Tripod

• Stainless steel construction
• 2" diameter upper leg
• 44-64" (112.8-162.6 cm) height adjustment

Specifications