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01
ABOUT CELESTRON
TABLE OF CONTENTS
C14 • Rosette Nebula • Image courtesy of Richard Hedrick
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The history of Celestron dates
back to 1957 when it was
founded and incorporated as
Valor Electronics by Mr.Tom
Johnson, an electrical engineer
and avid amateur astronomer.
Mr. Johnson’s passion for
telescope making became the
basis for the future of his company. The name of the company was soon
changed to Celestron. In 1980, Celestron was acquired by the Swiss firm
Diethelm Ltd. In 1998 Tasco International, a large global marketer and
distributor of telescopes binoculars and other
sport optics products, purchased Celestron
from Diethelm. In June of 2002, Tasco Intl.
ceased operations and as a result three
members of Celestron’s senior management
purchased Celestron. This acquisition initiated
a new era for Celestron and began the
implementation and realization of long-term
goals of designing, manufacturing, and
marketing a new generation of telescope, binocular, and sport optics products
to an ever-increasing market. Under its new management, Celestron has
expanded its channels of distribution and increased its product selection in
order to better serve its customers.
Celestron is a U.S.-based company with manufacturing and corporate offices
located in Torrance, California and a new and extensive warehouse and
distribution center located in nearby Carson, California. Celestron’s Schmidt-
Cassegrain optical systems are manufactured entirely in the Torrance facility.
All of Celestron’s products are designed and manufactured to meet the highest
production and quality standards. This commitment to quality and value has
always been the foundation for Celestron and the products we offer to our
customers. We emphasize the attention to detail that goes into each of
our products and the strict quality control standards that are enforced.
In all of these products, our mission is to provide the highest quality optical
products at a competitive price.
Celestron takes pride in its reputation for innovation.These
innovations, which have changed the landscape of amateur
astronomy, began with the introduction of the first commercially
available Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope. Below are some of the
notable innovations Celestron has introduced over the years*.
• 1966 — Introduced the first commercially available
Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes.
• 1969 — First to have an entire line of Schmidt-Cassegrain
telescopes; the now famous C6, C8, C10, C12, C16,
and C22.
• First to offer commercially available Observatory Class Telescopes,
the C16 and C22.
• First to offer commercially available Schmidt Cameras
in the late 1960’s.
• Popularized the Cold Camera in the early 1970’s.
• Popularized piggyback photography.
• 1979 — Popularized the Maksutov-Cassegrain optical design
in astronomy with the introduction of the C90 Astro
for $495.
• 1979 — Popularized Maksutov-Cassegrains as spotting scopes
with the introduction of the C90 Spotter.
• Popularized eyepiece projection with the introduction of tele-
extenders for Celestron’s line of Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes.
• Popularized off-axis guiders for long exposure photography.
• 1983 — First to offer enhanced reflectivity and transmission
coatings with the introduction of StarBright
®
coatings.
• First to offer a telescope drive system that utilized 9V batteries.
• 1987 — First to introduce the Compustar 14, a mass-produced
fully-integrated computerized GoTo observatory class
telescope.
• 1996 — First to offer the Ultima 2000, a computerized telescope
that utilized AA batteries as a power source.
• First to introduce a commercially available reducer/corrector
for Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes.
• First and currently the only commercial telescope manufacturer
to offer true hand-figured and matched optics in Schmidt-
Cassegrain telescopes.
• First to offer a commercially available 8” fork mounted Schmidt-
Cassegrain for under $1,000 with the introduction of the Celestar.
• 1997 — First to offer a commercially available Schmidt-Cassegrain
telescope capable of f/2 CCD imaging with the
introduction of the Fastar
®
System.
• 2001 — Introduced the first commercially available
Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope with carbon fiber
optical tube, the NexStar 11 GPS.
• 2001 — First to offer a commercially available fully computerized
GoTo telescope with integrated GPS and compass with
the introduction of the NexStar 11GPS.
• 2002 — Introduced the NexStar 5i and 8i, the first commercially
available telescopes to be GPS compatible.
• 2002 — Introduced the CN16 GPS, a commercially available
GPS accessory with an integrated compass that provides
GPS functions to Celestron GPS-compatible computerized
telescopes.
*For information on Celestron’s latest telescope innovations, see pg. 2
CONTENTS
History of Celestron...........................................................................................1
New Telescope Technologies .............................................................................2
Telescope Basics ...........................................................................................3-5
FirstScope Series...........................................................................................7-8
StarHopper Series........................................................................................9-10
NexStar SLT Series ....................................................................................11-12
Advanced Series........................................................................................13-16
CPC Series.................................................................................................17-18
CGE Series.................................................................................................19-20
C20 Astrograph..........................................................................................21-22
Optical Tube Assemblies..................................................................................23
Mounts, Tripods & Accessories...................................................................24-25
Detailed Product Specifications..................................................................26-34
Celestron. Over 40 Years Of Telescope History
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