Celestron Starsense Explorer LT127 AZ

Unleash the power of your smartphone to take you on a guided tour of the night sky-no telescope experience required.
Award-winning and patented StarSense sky recognition technology uses your smartphone to analyze star patterns overhead and calculate its position in real time.
StarSense Explorer Powered by SkySafari app automatically generates a list of objects currently visible. View planets, brighter nebulae and galaxies, star clusters, and double stars from the city. Or take your telescope to darker skies to view faint, deep sky objects.
Manual altazimuth mount with altitude slow motion adjustment with a sliding rod makes it easy to follow the on-screen arrows to your desired target. When the bullseye turns green, it’s ready to view in the telescope’s eyepiece.
127mm (5″) Newtonian reflector with highly reflective coatings and enough light gathering ability to view all the best celestial objects.
Includes 25mm and 10mm eyepieces, 2x Barlow Lens, StarSense smartphone dock, a red dot finderscope (in case you want to use the telescope without your phone), and a full-height tripod.

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.

Dock, Launch, 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. 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 as you to move the telescope. When the object is ready to view, the bullseye turns green.

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. For a complete compatibility list, click here.

Patented StarSense Sky Recognition Technology

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.

Sturdy Altazimuth Mount

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.

Dazzling Views with High Quality Optics

With a large 127mm (5″) objective lens, this telescope has enough light gathering ability to bring out detail in celestial objects. You can expect sharp, bright views of Jupiter’s four Galilean moons, its cloud bands and Great Red Spot, the rings of Saturn, the trapezium in the Orion Nebula, and beautiful Pleiades Open Star Cluster.

Perfect for the City or Dark Sky Sites

Even if you live in a light polluted city location, StarSense Explorer is advanced enough to be able to pick out Jupiter, Saturn, Venus, the Orion Nebula, double stars, and a few more of the most famous celestial objects.

But if you can take the telescope to an even slightly darker location, more objects will become visible. With this 5″ Newtonian and relatively dark skies, the Andromeda Galaxy, Hercules Open Star Cluster, and so many more are easily within your reach.

The entire telescope kit weighs just 11.4 pounds, so it’s perfectly portable and easy to bring on your next camping trip or to a remote observing site.

Everything You Need to Observe Immediately

When you unbox your new StarSense Explorer LT, you’ll find:

127mm Newtonian reflector optical tube
StarSense dock for your smartphone
Low powered (25mm) and high powered (10mm) eyepiece
2x Barlow lens to double the power of each eyepiece
StarPointer red dot finderscope, perfect for using the telescope during the day or without the StarSense Explorer app
Altazimuth mount with slow motion control rod
Full-height tripod with an accessory tray to keep you organized

Specification

Optical Design: Newtonian Reflector
Aperture: 127mm (5″)
Focal Length: 1000mm (39.3″)
Focal Ratio: f/7.87
Focal Length of Eyepiece 1: 25mm (0.98″)
Magnification of Eyepiece 1: 40x
Focal Length of Eyepiece 2: 10mm (0.39″)
Magnification of Eyepiece 2: 100x
Barlow Lens: 2x (1.25″)
Finderscope: StarPointer red dot finderscope
Optical Tube: Steel
Highest Useful Magnification: 300x
Lowest Useful Magnification: 18x
Limiting Stellar Magnitude: 13
Resolution (Rayleigh): 1.1 arc seconds
Resolution (Dawes): .91 arc seconds
Light Gathering Power (Compared to human eye): 329x
Secondary Mirror Obstruction: 41mm (1.6″)
Secondary Mirror Obstruction by Diameter: 32%
Secondary Mirror Obstruction by Area: 10%
Optical Coatings: Glass mirrors coated with aluminum and SiO
Optical Tube Length: 457.2mm (18″)
Optical Tube Diameter: 165.1mm (6.5″)
Optical Tube Weight: 3.44 kg
Mount Type: Manual Alt-Azimuth
Height adjustment range (includes mount and tripod): Aluminum, 1320.8mm (52″) max height
Tripod Leg Diameter: 31.75mm (1.25″) steel
Accessory Tray: Yes
Tripod Weight: .72 kg
Slew Speeds: Manual
GPS: Uses phone’s GPS
Dovetail Compatibility: None
Power Requirements: None (Recommend PowerTank Glow to keep phone charged while using App)
Alignment Procedures: Use StarSense Explorer App
Software: StarSense Explorer App, SkyPortal App, and Celestron Starry Night Basic Edition Software
Total Kit Weight: 5.17 kg

What’s in the box
Optical tube
Mount and tripod (preassembled)
25mm and 10mm eyepieces
2x Barlow Lens
StarPointer finderscope
Accessory tray
StarSense Explorer phone dock