Celestron® StarSense Explorer LT 80 Refractor Telescope

Grades 9+

StarSense Explorer is the first telescope to use a smartphone to analyze the night sky and calculate its position in real time. No telescope experience is required — it’s like having your own personal tour guide of space.

Within minutes of setting up the LT 80 Refractor Telescope, you’ll be navigating the sky with confidence. Simply place your phone in the dock and launch the StarSense Explorer app. After aligning your phone to the telescope’s optics (a 2-minute procedure), StarSense Explorer generates a list of celestial objects currently visible. Make your selection and arrows appear onscreen, guiding you as you move the telescope. When the object is ready to view, the bullseye turns green.

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. No other app can accurately tell you when your target is visible in the eyepiece.

Even if you live in a light-polluted 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 a slightly darker location, more objects will become visible.

The entire kit weighs just 9.2 pounds, so it’s perfectly portable and easy to bring to any observation site.

Includes:

• Refractor optical tube with fully coated glass optics
• StarSense dock for your smartphone
• Low-powered and high-powered eyepieces
• Barlow lens to double the power of each eyepiece
• 90° erect image diagonal
• StarPointer™ red dot finderscope
• Altazimuth mount with slow-motion control rod
• Full-height, adjustable tripod with an accessory tray to keep you organized

Specifications:

• Optical design: Refractor
• Aperture: 80 mm (3.1 in.)
• Focal length: 900 mm (35.43 in.)
• Focal ratio: f/11
• Focal length of eyepiece 1: 25 mm (0.98 in.)
• Magnification of eyepiece 1: 36X
• Focal length of eyepiece 2: 10 mm (0.39 in.)
• Magnification of eyepiece 2: 90X
• Barlow lens: 2X
• Finderscope: StarPointer red dot finderscope
• Star diagonal: Erect image 90° (1.25 in.)
• Mount type: Altazimuth
• Tripod: Aluminum
• Highest useful magnification: 189X
• Lowest useful magnification: 11X
• Limiting Stellar Magnitude: 12
• Resolution (Rayleigh): 1.74 arc seconds
• Resolution (Dawes): 1.45 arc seconds
• Light-gathering power (compared to human eye): 131X
• Optical tube length: 965 mm (38 in.)
• 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

Note: Never look directly at the sun with the naked eye or with an optic (unless you have the proper solar filter). Permanent and irreversible eye damage may result. Never use your optic to project an image of the sun onto any surface. Internal heat buildup can damage the optic and any accessories attached to it.