We live in a rich time for astronomy enthusiasts. There are dozens of apps designed to help you navigate the sky and find good viewing positions and weather windows for optimal viewing. Best of all, optics have never been cheaper, and integration between hardware and software has never been better.
Celestron’s new StarSense Dobsonian telescope is a great example of this. With a smartphone holder on the range and a carefully calibrated app, you can easily find your way around the night sky even if you don’t know how to navigate the stars visually.
Dobsonian Design
I have previously tested and loved Celestron’s StarSense Explorer DX telescope (9/10, WIRED Recommend), using the same smartphone app and stand. The technology here is both impressive and simple, combining the power of the star maps in your phone with the mirrors on your telescope to handle the navigation for you. The Dobsonian model is much larger and more powerful.
The Dobsonian telescope is a Newtonian telescope, with what is called a biaxial mount altazimuth. The stand rotates in a circle and also allows for an up and down range of movement. The mount points support the weight of a larger mirror than you’ll get in other designs, and it places the balance point near the bottom of the lens, making it easy to move. The result is a large, powerful telescope that is not too heavy or difficult to maneuver.
Celestron has released two nearly identical Dobsonian models. One is an 8-inch scope, and the other, which I tested, is a 10-inch scope. Aside from the size (which increases light gathering), the design is identical. It is important to realize that this is a large telescope. Don’t let the “10-inch” in the name fool you — that only refers to aperture (diameter). Fully assembled, the 10-inch model stands just 5 feet tall. The lens itself is 44 inches long. It’s portable because it’s not too heavy, but taking it anywhere by car would require a good sized vehicle.
StarSense comes in two packages. The base is packaged like an IKEA piece of furniture, and another large box containing the lens itself, comes fully assembled. All you have to do is put the base back together, which takes about 20 minutes. This is a one-time process. To move it, there’s a handle to carry it around (it’s a bit bulky but manageable). And it is presser, so it should not be stored outdoors.
The scope also has a handle and is lighter and easier to carry. It comes with a dust cover to keep your mirror protected when moving it around. The scope fits snugly into the base and is screwed down with two large knobs. You then position the range using these buttons.
StarSense also includes a 25 mm Plössl eyepiece (though any other eyepieces you may have should work), 2 inches Crayford focusand a collimation tool. If you are really serious about stargazing, I would recommend buying a laser collimator. But if you don’t know what collimation is, don’t worry. You don’t have to use it to get great views.
The final step in the initial setup is to attach the phone holder and add the star spot scope, which is used primarily for eyepiece correction (or if you plan on navigating it manually). Once everything is assembled, you need to calibrate the eyepiece with a fixture about 1/4 mile away (I used a small building). Place your phone in the cradle, open the app and it will guide you through the process.
Navigation app
If you’ve never tried using a telescope without a smart app, it’s hard to understand the significance of what Celestron has done with its smartphone-powered telescope. The best I can say is that even though I took two semesters of astronomy years ago in college, I still found using the telescope a challenge.
That’s why I love the Celestron StarSense system. I don’t have to spend hours trying to find stars for my kids to look at. I just drag something up in the app, follow the arrows until I have it in the eyepiece, tweak it with a red, orange and green bull’s eye that lets you know when you have an object. statue in sight and I’m done. The kids looked, and there were oohs and aahs. No frustration, wait and loss of interest would happen if I navigated manually. Eliminating the cost of learning to use a telescope is a huge win for attracting newcomers — children or otherwise — interested in astronomy. There’s still a lot of value in learning how to use a telescope, but that can go awry after initial interest is rekindled.
Another cool feature of the app is the description section, which provides detailed information about whatever object you’re looking at, as well as observational suggestions. For example, if you want to see a cluster of stars, StarSense will recommend a lower power eyepiece so you can see the entire cluster in a single view.
