Optical Tube Assembly
The Celestron 11-inch optical tube houses a 280/2800 Schmidt-Cassegrain optical system. We recommend this optical tube to dedicated amateur astronomers looking for the highest-performing yet still portable optical system.
A key feature is the company’s proprietary StarBright XLT coating, which improves the light-gathering capability of the telescope. The corrector plate provides up to 98% light transmission, while the primary and secondary mirrors achieve 95% reflectivity. It also enhances image contrast. The standard package includes a prism diagonal, a 9x50 finderscope and a 40 mm Plössl eyepiece, providing 70x magnification.
The optics of Celestron optical tubes are finished by hand (hand-figuring) and hand-matched, consistently surpassing the optical quality of competing SCT optical tubes according to independent tests.
Advanced XV mount
Celestron’s flagship Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes are now available on a truly advanced mount optimized for astrophotography. The Advanced VX mount offers the features of Celestron’s most advanced German equatorial mounts at a significantly lower price.
The new AVX mount was developed specifically for medium-sized astrophotography telescopes. This gives owners of smaller telescopes access to the features of premium mounts, such as All-Star polar alignment and autoguider support. Guiding during long-exposure imaging is greatly aided by permanently programmable periodic error correction. With the AVX mount, you can image across the meridian without having to perform a meridian flip. This allows you to photograph celestial objects when their visibility is at its best. Compared to previous solutions, the AVX offers significantly increased stability. Its improved motors deliver greater torque and track the telescope accurately even when slightly unbalanced.
Compared to large, observatory-class mounts, the AVX series also stands out among equatorial mounts for its portability. If you are just beginning to explore the intricacies of astrophotography, the AVX series can be an excellent choice thanks to its ease of use and the possibilities offered by its advanced technology. The Celestron AVX series fully meets the needs of amateur astronomers interested in both astrophotography and visual observing.
The mount includes three 5.44 kg counterweights as standard, while the complete setup weighs 44.67 kg.
