Product Description

2/8/200615-19-33...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13419 in Camera & Photo
• Brand: Celestron
• Model: 11041
• Dimensions: 13.20" h x 14.30" w x 20.10" l,

Features

• Ideal telescope for observing and photographing the wonders of space
• Incredible light-gathering and a full degree field of view give you views 189% brighter than a 60mm refractor
• Computerized capabilities like Auto Align, automatic Tour Function, easy-to-use hand control and 4,000+ object database
• Star Pointer is the quickest and easiest way to point your telescope exactly to the desired object in the sky
• 102mm (4 inch) diameter Maksutov-Cassegrain optics

Amazon.com Review
The computerized Celestron NexStar 4GT joins a 4-inch f/13 Maksutov tube assembly to the same "goto" mounting used with Celestron's other small NexStar telescopes (such as the NexStar 80GT refractor and NexStar 114GT Newtonian reflector). Introduced in late 2001, the NexStar 4GT is intended to go head-to-head with Meade Instruments' successful ETX series of small Maksutov telescopes. It comes with 25-mm (53x) and 10-mm (113x) SMA eyepieces, a hand controller, and a StarPointer red-dot finder (which I find far more useful than the tiny finderscope that comes with the Meade ETX90EC.

See a detailed view of the NexStar 4GT's features

Like the Meade, the NexStar 4GT is designed to take the guesswork out of finding sky objects. Setup is very easy. Take the telescope out of the box, install 8 AA-size batteries, plug in the hand controller, attach the StarPointer, and the telescope is ready to use. The one-armed mounting, which is permanently attached to the telescope, can be placed on a flat surface, any sturdy photographic tripod, or Celestron's own tripod/wedge combination.

Once the telescope's computer has been initialized to the sky, any of over 4,000 targets can be selected from the onboard database by using the hand controller. Choose each target by scrolling through menus while reading object names and information from the controller's LCD readout. Large, softly backlit control buttons are easy to see and press, even when wearing gloves on cold nights, although I have found that the brightness of the LCD readout tends to drop off as the temperature approaches freezing.

In practice, the NexStar 4GT's goto system works adequately provided it was properly initialized and has a fresh set of batteries. Although the motors are noisy when slewing from object to object, the selected target is usually within the field of the 25-mm eyepiece. Once in a while, however, the telescope will go into a "death slew," seemingly spinning around aimlessly. To bring the scope back to its senses, press one of the direction keys, then "Enter" to try again. Sometimes, this will happen when the batteries are running out of power, for which the NexStar 4GT has quite an appetite. A fresh set of batteries will be fully drained after only a night's worth of use. To save the expense of new batteries every clear night, buy the optional AC adapter or Celestron's Power Tank, which allows portable operation.

Optically, the NexStar 4GT has its pros and cons. Images are rather dim due to the small aperture, although most that I have examined seem to give reasonably sharp views. The Moon and brighter planets certainly put on a good show. Jupiter shows two or more belts and Saturn's rings display Cassini's Division, although not as clearly as through a 4-inch refractor. Double stars, such as Castor in Gemini, are cleanly split.

Like the Meade ETX telescopes, the NexStar 4GT has a built-in "flip mirror." By turning a small knob, an internal mirror diverts light either up through the star diagonal into the eyepiece or directly through an opening where a camera body can be attached for photography. The NexStar's mounting, however, is really only suitable for short exposures of the Moon or terrestrial scenes.

One reason why longer exposures are not recommended is the accuracy of the motor drive's tracking. While aiming precision is adequate, the telescope does not track the sky as accurately as some other telescopes, including the ETX. Even after the telescope has been initialized precisely, objects tend to drift out of the field of view, requiring users to press the direction buttons on the hand controller to keep up.

Overall, I'd judge the Celestron NexStar 4GT a good second telescope for someone who is looking for a "grab and go" instrument for quick viewing sessions. Although slightly larger than the Meade ETX90EC, its small aperture still limits it to brighter objects only. If money permits, I would recommend the Celestron NexStar 5i or Meade ETX125EC, both of which have better optics and larger apertures. --Phil Harrington, author of Star Ware

Pros:

• Compact, light weight design
• Goto computer control
• Ease of setup

Cons:

• Small aperture
• Short battery life
• Poor tracking precision
• Noisy motors

Customer Reviews

a good scope
...The scope is just great. I am a newbie to astronomy, but this telescope is so easy to use. It takes about 5-10 minutes to setup the telescope. The 4000 objects database it has is great and the alignment is rather good.
I would recommend a good tripod and a more powerful eyepiece if you are interested in serious astronomy.
Overall I rate this telescope rather high (Maybe because this is my first!) and would surely recommend it to anyone interested in astronomy.

Awesome telescope for beginners
I found that this telescope is great for the hopeful to find out more about the heavens. This scope is awesome at capturing light for photographing and is study when you perches the tripod, which is the only down I found with this scope is all the stuff you have to buy on top of getting the scope its self, so be conscience when buying this scope that you need to buy other things to make it fun to use. Other then that this scope is light and durable which makes it user to bring with you on camping trips and hikes. Better then caring around a 50+ pound scope and doing some damage to your back. This is also a good spotting scope if you want to take it out and look at areas that are far enough away in the day light or when observing nature as it is.

Not ready for Prime Time
This scope has great optics for the money and is fairly easy to use. It also falls short with it's tracking abilities, at first I
thought it was user error untill I talked with several dealers and
found that this was a common complaint. If you spend just a little
more for the 5I or the 8I you will be very pleased, its like money in the bank because they hold there value quite well.