Celestron 22460 StarSense Explorer DX 102AZ Smartphone App-Enabled Refractor Telescope, iPhone/Android Compatible, Silver/Black

Product Information

The word “achromatic” implies a freedom from the false color that bedevilled refractors in the very early days of telescopes, but this is a comparative term. Like other achromatic refractors, the Celestron StarSense Explorer DX 102AZ still has some false color, which reveals itself as colored fringes around the edges of objects, particularly at high magnification, and the short tube results in inherently more false color than with a longer focal-ratio achromatic instrument. To completely overcome false color you need a considerably more expensive apochromatic refractor or a reflector. However, refractors are traditionally more robust than reflectors, so there is no ideal instrument to suit everyone. I've been using telescopes for 50 years and set up a DX 102 starsense explorer for a friend who bought this as a beginner scope. Let's start with the good. For a beginning achromat it is solid and very good quality. The red dot finder is great. The alt-az mount is sturdy and mount head movement is smooth and stays where you put it. Also very good assembly instructions. Now the app. I think the app itself is actually great as a tool for seeing what's out there. It has great graphical interface, a ton of information about the objects you're looking at. Unfortunately the whole smart-phone to telescope alignment and telescope orientation using that patented LISA algorithm or whatever does not seem to work very consistently if at all. I did get the telescope to orient initially and tried moving it to M42 and it was about 1 field width off. Then I tried improving telescope alignment and after that the telescope would not locate at all.

The battery compartment on this finderscope is located on top of the unit. Use a Philips-head screwdriver to loosen the screw holding the battery door closed. The screw is captured and will not fall out when you open the battery door. The telescope comes with two eyepieces — a 25 mm and a 10 mm, offering powers of 26x and 65x, which are suitable for low power wide-field observing. If you wish to use higher powers, we recommend purchasing a good quality Barlow lens. To see a good amount of detail on the planets, you will need magnifications of at least 150x — well above what the included eyepieces offer. StarSense Explorer uses patented technology and your smartphone to determine exactly where the telescope is pointed in the night sky. A Lost in Space Algorithm (LISA), like the ones satellites use in orbit to correctly orient themselves, helps the app match star patterns it detects overhead to its internal database.

The Celestron StarSense Explorer DX 102AZ is a must-have for beginners: its innovative technology provides a simple and quick solution to locating targets.

With a large 10" Newtonian reflector optical tube, this telescope has enough light-gathering ability to bring out impressive detail in celestial objects while remaining remarkably portable. You can expect sharp, bright views of Jupiter's four Galilean moons, its cloud bands and Great Red Spot, the rings of Saturn, the gaseous glow of the Orion Nebula, dust lanes in the Lagoon Nebula, and our neighbor galaxy, Andromeda. Compared to the StarSense Explorer DX 130 AZ, the 10" Dobsonian has 380+% more light gathering area, providing better views of faint objects. It is possible to access these images by selecting “Save Images & Logs” from the Menu icon at the bottom left of the main screen before using StarSense Explorer. The app will then save the images it captures and they can be accessed later. We have provided access to the images so that they can be used for troubleshooting purposes. If you are having problems finding astronomical objects in the night sky using StarSense Explorer, these image and log files can help the Celestron Tech Support Team diagnose the issue. We recommend turning on “Save Images & Logs” only if you are having problems with StarSense Explorer and need to troubleshoot. Otherwise, the images will fill up the memory storage on your smartphone. To retrieve the image and log files, follow the steps below. Celestron has reinvented the manual telescope with StarSense Explorer—the first telescope that uses your smartphone to analyze the night sky and calculate its position in real time. StarSense Explorer is ideal for beginners thanks to the app’s user-friendly interface and detailed tutorials. It’s like having your own personal tour guide of the night sky. Looking to upgrade your equipment? Get competitive prices on major brands with our part-exchange service. Submit a valuation request and we'll provide guide prices with no delay. Plus, we'll collect your gear from your home or work for FREE.

StarSense Explorer LT’s simple altazimuth mount makes it easy to move the telescope to find your target. An altitude slow motion adjustment with a sliding rod helps you fine tune the telescope’s pointing position and follow targets as they appear to drift across the night sky. It’s all anchored by an adjustable, full-height tripod. For all their simplicity and supreme light-gathering powers, there's something about Dobsonians — and all Newtonian reflectors — that aren't very beginner-friendly. This telescope needs to be collimated, which basically means it needs to have its components specifically aligned to bring light to its best focus. That requires an Allen head wrench and a Phillips head screwdriver, which is a bit of a fiddle, but at no point during our review did we need to do this despite the product being in transit. Should you buy the Celestron StarSense Explorer 8-inch Dobsonian telescope? After a simple 2-step procedure to align the smartphone’s camera with the telescope, the app displays a view of the night sky and shows a bullseye on the screen to represent the telescope’s current pointing position. From here, you can select an object to view by tapping it in the planetarium view or selecting it from the Tonight’s Best observing list. Objects will vary from night to night; you may see planets like Jupiter or Saturn, nebulae like Orion, the Andromeda Galaxy, or other object types.

This great telescope is featured in our best telescopes for beginners guide, along with its highly-recommended cousin — the Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 114AZ — featured as one of our best telescopes for 2021. Transporting your StarSense Explorer Dobsonian is easy thanks to the ergonomic carry handles located at the balance point of the tube and base. Dust covers are also included for the front of the tube and the focuser. Patented, award-winning StarSense sky recognition technology uses your smartphone to analyze star patterns overhead and calculate the telescope’s position in real-time. Unleash the power of your smartphone to take you on a guided tour of the night sky, even if you’ve never used a telescope before.

StarSense Explorer uses image data captured by the smartphone’s camera to determine its pointing position. The app captures an image of the night sky and then matches the star patterns within the image to its internal database in a process like fingerprint matching or facial recognition. Essentially, StarSense Explorer uses the smartphone’s camera as its “eye” and the smartphone’s processing power as its “brain.” The camera looks out at the night sky, and then the processor figures out where the telescope is pointing based upon the calculated center coordinates of the captured image. XLT reflective coatings with silicon dioxide and tantalum pentoxide protective overcoatings for primary and secondary mirrors While other astronomy apps may claim that they can help you find objects, they rely exclusively on the phone’s gyros and accelerometers, which aren’t as accurate as LISA technology. No other app can accurately tell you when your target is visible in the eyepiece.

We moved to a variety of different objects from galaxies to nebulas, all of which were located without a problem with the StarSense Explorer DX 130AZ and always within the low power field of view.

StarSense Explorer uses patented technology and your smartphone to determine exactly where the telescope is pointed in the night sky. A Lost in Space Algorithm (LISA), like the ones satellites use in orbit to correctly orient themselves, helps the app match star patterns it detects overhead to its internal database. While other astronomy apps may claim that they can help you find objects, they rely exclusively on the phone's gyros and accelerometers, which aren't as accurate as LISA technology. No other app can accurately tell you when your target is visible in the eyepiece.Once you select an object, the app displays pointing arrows onscreen. These indicate where to move the telescope to find it. Follow the arrows until the bullseye appears centered on target. When the bullseye turns green, the object is visible in the telescope’s lower powered eyepiece. A typical system able to plate solve would require several pieces or expensive equipment, such as a sensitive imaging camera, camera lens, external computer, and specialized astronomical software. Using a smartphone to independently do astronomical plate solving is a significant step forward in the progression of amateur astronomy and astronomy apps. StarSense Explorer technology transforms your smartphone into the perfect telescope observing assistant. In doing so, it allows StarSense Explorer telescopes to provide an upgraded astronomical observing experience without the cost associated with more expensive computerized systems. The StarSense facility instructs you to move in a specific direction with the telescope and as you push the tube, drawing closer to the object, the app slowly zooms in — that's your cue to start using the slow-motion controls. Once centered in the bullseye graphic, you are ready to view the target object through the eyepiece. We were impressed to see Mars dazzling near the center of the field of view during our observations. While other astronomy apps may claim that they can help you find objects, they rely exclusively on the phone's gyros and accelerometers, which aren't as accurate as LISA technology. No other app can accurately tell you when your target is visible in the eyepiece.