Celestron 8" StarSense Explorer Dobsonian Telescope - 22470 -

Celestron 8" StarSense Explorer Dobsonian Telescope

A Dobsonian is one of our favorite telescopes due to its ease of use and major bang for the buck!  If you compare the price of an 8" Dob with an 8" SCT, you will see what we mean!   However, while the Dob is the most economical telescope per inch of aperture, it doesn't have all the fancy electronics that a telescope on a GoTo style mount does, and that fact goes a long way towards explaining why someone might want to spend more money.  After all, it is super fun and rewarding to have your telescope find celestial objects for you.  It is also much faster, allowing you to view many objects in a few hours.  

Celestron has thrown a stick into the spokes of that argument, though, with the announcement of their StarSense Explorer Dobsonian Series!  This "push-to" system foregoes all of the motors and drives required for a GoTo system and instead, uses the power of your Smartphone, their free StarSense Explorer app, a special StarSense holder and a classic Dobsonian!  Just like Celestron's revolutionary StarSense Explorer refractors and Newtonians, the StarSense Explorer Dobsonian will show the Universe.  All you have to do is follow the arrows pointing to your chosen celestial object on your app-enabled smartphone.  The arrows will help guide you all the way to the bullseye, and then you simply look in the eyepiece!

The 8" StarSense Dob features XLT reflective coatings, a thin-vein secondary for minimal diffraction effects, a 2” Crayford focuser with 1.25” adapter, metal focus knobs, and a 2” extension tube that can be removed for more inward focus travel.  The optical tube features a carry handle to make transport easy, and a panning knob to smoothly scan the night sky.  Additional accessories include a 25mm Omni Plossl, StarPointer red dot finder, collimation cap, and – of course – the StarSense Explorer dock and unlock code for the app!

The Celestron-engineered Dobsonian base features large 6” diameter altitude bearings to provide smooth up-and-down motion, an integrated altitude “brake” system allows variable tensioning of altitude axis motion for smooth movement even with slight imbalances of attached accessories, Teflon azimuth bearings, side panel braces for added rigidity, removeable eyepiece rack, and a carry handle for easy transport.

Dock, Launch, and begin to Explore: Leave complicated star charts, imprecise planetarium apps, and computerized mounts behind. With StarSense Explorer, locating objects has never been easier, faster, or more accurate. Within minutes of setting up the telescope, you’ll be navigating the sky with confidence. Simply place your phone in the unique StarSense dock and launch the StarSense Explorer app. Your phone's camera looks at the sky via a mirror in the cradle. Patent-pending StarSense sky recognition technology uses your smartphone's camera to analyze star patterns overhead and calculate its position in real time.

After aligning your phone to the telescope’s optics (a quick, 2-minute procedure), StarSense Explorer generates a list of celestial objects currently visible. Make your selection and arrows appear onscreen, guiding you and showing you which way to move the telescope. When the object is ready to view, the bullseye turns green. Now, observe the object with the Celestron StarSense Explorer 8" Smartphone App-Enabled Dobsonian Telescope.

Smartphone Compatibility: StarSense Explorer works with most modern smartphones, including iPhone 6 and up and most devices running Android 7.1.2 or later manufactured since 2016.

StarSense Explorer uses patent-pending 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 re-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.

NOTE: Some photos show a smartphone attached to the scope for illustration purposes only. This product does NOT include a smartphone.

Visiting or  in the Toronto area?  We invite you to drop by our showroom to see th
NEW Starsense Explorer on Display! 

Customers picking up locally: For a $75 fee Khan Scope can assemble the telescope for you, ready to use. 3 days minimum notice required.