Best Celestron Telescopes: How to Weed Out the Bad Ones

Celestron is well-known for its quality telescope offerings – along with, unfortunately, a whole host of horrible instruments designed to cash in on the brand’s reputation. Differentiating between the two can definitely be a challenge, especially if you’re new to astronomy or not familiar with present-day brands and offerings. However, we’ve picked out a few that are sure to not only be a safe bet but indeed a delightful option whether you’re getting your first telescope or upgrading from another one. 

We would recommend steering clear of Celestron’s low-budget product lines, such as the PowerSeeker, AstroMaster, LCM, NexStar SLT, and StarSense Explorer LT telescopes. These instruments offer lousy optical quality, wobbly mounts, poor quality accessories and are often undersized or otherwise a poor choice for the price they are typically offered at. You may want to investigate other brands; in particular, stay away from anything advertising magnifying power or other outlandish features as well as anything on a tripod at the under-$300 price range; tabletop and larger free-standing Dobsonian telescopes are generally the best options for a beginner on a budget, and the latter also make up our top picks from Celestron themselves.

Almost all of the selections on this list are computerized or computer-aided in some form. Computerized telescopes certainly aren’t for everyone, as they drive up the price of a scope for a given aperture and can make for a more complex, bulky, or even frustrating instrument, especially for beginners. However, several of our top picks have a middle ground in the form of Celestron’s StarSense Explorer technology, which functions as more of an optional night sky GPS to help aid your telescope, and all of the fully motorized GoTo telescopes offered by Celestron today are either WiFi-enabled or can easily be upgraded with a dongle to allow for wireless, simple operation via your smart device and one of several available astronomy apps.

Our Top 5 Picks

#1. Celestron StarSense Explorer 10” Dobsonian – Best Overall

The Celestron StarSense Explorer 10” Dobsonian is an ideal telescope for both novice and experienced stargazers. The StarSense Explorer 10” Dobsonian is the largest telescope of the StarSense Explorer lineup, which includes an 8” Dobsonian and various tripod-mounted models. A Dobsonian telescope is an ideal choice for visual observation, especially for beginners. The Dobsonian telescope is a Newtonian reflector mounted atop a simple Dobsonian base, easily the most cost-effective and simple configuration for larger telescope sizes. With its large aperture and stable mount, a good Dobsonian of this size can take in far more light than smaller telescopes, making it perfect for viewing faint deep sky objects such as galaxies and providing additional resolving power for fine lunar and planetary detail. The 10” size offers significantly better views of celestial objects compared to an 8” but is essentially the same physical size when transported and stored. 

The simple alt-azimuth mounting system of the Dobsonian design allows even novice users to quickly find their desired targets without having extensive knowledge about celestial navigation or astronomy—making it incredibly user-friendly. Combined with the Celestron StarSense Explorer technology, it’s a breeze with this scope to locate deep-sky objects such as galaxies and without having to invest in expensive motorized GoTo systems or spend time on complicated setup procedures. You can be observing in minutes. The StarSense Explorer 10” Dobsonian’s lightweight construction makes it much easier to transport from place to place compared to heavier GoTo or equatorial mounts and is exceptionally lightweight and well-designed compared to most other 10” Dobsonians on the market.

#2. Celestron StarSense Explorer 8” Dobsonian – Best Value

The Celestron StarSense Explorer 8” Dobsonian offers the same great features of the larger 10” model, with its simple and lightweight Dobsonian mount combining with the StarSense Explorer technology to make for an extremely beginner-friendly and quickly assembled instrument. An 8” scope is still capable of showing you a lot, especially compared to typical 3-6” beginner instruments; however the 10” model is negligibly heavier and the tube/base are essentially the same length/height. 

The StarSense Explorer 8” is a fantastic instrument if you don’t have the room in your budget to get the 10” model and properly equip it with a few eyepieces, and is slightly more lenient when it comes to cheap eyepieces and collimation tolerances thanks to its slower f/6 focal ratio versus the 10” model at f/4.7. The views of the Solar System and deep-sky objects alike with the StarSense Explorer 8” Dobsonian are simply fantastic, and locating targets is a breeze with the easy-to-aim Dobsonian mount and the extremely simple StarSense Explorer technology, which is much faster to set up and use than a fully computerized GoTo telescope.

#3. Celestron NexStar Evolution 8 – Most Features

Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescopes (SCTs) like the Celestron NexStar Evolution 8 were a sensation when they first appeared in the 1970s, becoming popular among both novice and experienced users alike. Even now, these telescopes remain prevalent within midsize amateur and research observatories as well as at astronomy clubs and star parties. A combination of two mirrors – one concave and one convex – along with a thin and uniquely curved Schmidt corrector is used to ensure sharp images. The corrector has an appearance similar to that of a flat window pane but is in fact an intricate optical surface that can be difficult to replace should it become damaged. The NexStar Evolution 8 is the newest version of the classic fork-mounted C8 telescope that made Celestron a known brand among amateur and professional astronomers when it was introduced in the 1970s, and far more sturdy and cost-effective than the wobbly 8SE or bulky CPC 800 units.

The NexStar Evolution 8 is a great choice for users of any experience level – with motorized GoTo and tracking functions that work well, and an easy app-based interface to make it extremely simple to operate. You can operate it either with the provided hand controller or via an app on your smartphone/tablet connected to its built-in WiFi network. An added bonus is its built-in rechargeable battery for plug-and-play convenience. In terms of size, the 8” model gives you better performance than the 6” without adding too much bulk; unfortunately, we find that there are some drawbacks to the 9.25” model which make it ill-suited for first-time telescope users. The Evolution 8 is available in a deluxe package which adds EdgeHD optics and the StarSense AutoAlign system onto the scope, but the base package is just as outstanding.

#4. Celestron NexStar 6SE – Most Compact

The Celestron NexStar 6SE is another Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope like the Evolution 8, using the smaller C6 XLT optical tube. The 6SE doesn’t feature the built-in WiFi or battery of its Evolution counterpart, but the former is easily added and the scope is otherwise identical in performance and portability, albeit at a much lower price. The Celestron NexStar 6SE is a decent telescope for viewing the moon, planets, and a selection of deep-sky objects; it stands out among its peers in the NexStar SE Schmidt-Cassegrain family as it strikes a great balance of aperture to match the mount’s capabilities; the smaller 4SE and 5SE are poorly suited for much besides lunar and planetary viewing while the 8SE is simply too unsteady to be worth recommending. 

The NexStar 6SE is compact and rugged enough that it is fairly easy to transport in a backpack or by air in a suitably lined container, and offers some astrophotography capabilities thanks to its GoTo and motorized tracking. You can use it with the provided hand controller fairly easily or install an aftermarket WiFi dongle to control it with your smartphone or tablet, and it accepts various Celestron accessories for both the telescope and mount.

#5. Celestron Astro Fi 130 – Lowest Price

The Celestron Astro Fi 130 is an excellent choice for beginning stargazers, as it offers enough aperture to view a good selection of celestial objects with the help of its GoTo technology. A Newtonian reflector, the Astro Fi 130 is fairly easy to collimate and provides sharp views without the annoyance of chromatic aberration or the narrow field of a Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope. The wide field of view made possible thanks to this scope’s short 650mm focal length and 2” focuser allows you to take in even the largest deep sky sights, and the scope is light enough to be rock-steady on the AstroFi mount and tripod – considerably superior in stiffness to the cheap and wobbly NexStar 130SLT. While a Dobsonian telescope may provide better views and is less complex to set up, the Astro-Fi 130 is still surprisingly capable and offers great views of the Moon, planets, and brighter deep-sky objects. 

As with the NexStar Evolution telescopes, you control the Astro Fi 130 with your smartphone or tablet and an app like SkySafari Pro or the free Celestron SkyPortal app, which helps you with a relatively simple alignment process of pointing the scope at a few bright stars, after which the mount will automatically locate and track anything in the apps’ internal database at the tap of a button.

Runner Ups

Celestron NexStar Evolution 6

The Celestron NexStar Evolution 6 offers the same great features as the larger Evolution 8 but utilizes the smaller, 6” aperture C6 XLT optical tube. It’s a great scope, but you don’t get a lot of extra features compared to the NexStar 6SE, apart from the built-in battery, WiFi adapter, and the inclusion of an extra eyepiece – which are of course easily interchangeable between brands and not that expensive to buy separately, at least not for a Plossl like what’s provided.

Celestron StarSense Explorer DX 130AZ Reflector

The Celestron StarSense Explorer DX 130AZ uses the same optics as the Astro Fi 130 atop a simple, manual alt-azimuth mount and tripod with a bracket for the Celestron StarSense Explorer adapter, using your smartphone to aid in navigating the night sky, albeit not pointing or tracking for you. While it’s certainly a nice scope, the Astro Fi 130 is just a little bit extra, offering fully motorized GoTo and tracking and the same excellent views at the eyepiece.

A simple, all-manual refracting telescope, the Celestron Omni XLT 102AZ offers excellent views of the brightest deep-sky objects, as well as the Moon and planets, though the latter are spoiled by the scope’s chromatic aberration (inevitable with a fast refractor such as this unit), and in any case, the mere 4” aperture of the Omni XLT 102AZ meant that the little scope is easily outperformed by a larger reflecting telescope available at a similar price. However, the Omni XLT 102 is still an excellent, lightweight, and affordable option for those looking for a simple and cheap introduction to astronomy or a complementary instrument for a larger and bulkier scope.

Celestron StarSense Explorer DX 102AZ Refractor

The StarSense Explorer DX 102AZ Refractor uses the same optical tube as the aforementioned Omni XLT 102AZ, and the same mount as the StarSense Explorer DX130AZ (similar to the Omni’s apart from the addition of the StarSense Explorer technology). It comes with many of the benefits and drawbacks of both of these telescopes, offering superb low-power views but meager aperture and with chromatic aberration marring views of the Moon and planets. It is priced similarly to the DX 130AZ, so the choice between the two is yours – or stick with the cheaper and simpler Omni XLT 102AZ instead.

Celestron CPC 1100 GPS – Best Performance

The CPC 1100 GPS is a monster telescope – in price, capabilities, aperture, and physical bulk. This scope certainly isn’t for everyone – the massive tube/fork combination can be outright difficult to carry around or fit in a storage space/vehicle, the long 2800mm focal length can be claustrophobic for deep-sky viewing, and the price is of course high. However, the superb GoTo and tracking of the CPC mount along with its rock-steady tripod, are an ideal platform for the C11 XLT optical tube, which provides big, bold, sharp, and bright views of the Moon, planets, and deep-sky objects thanks to its high-quality optics and big 11” aperture.