Optical Tube Assembly
The Celestron 11-inch optical tube features a 280/2800 Schmidt-Cassegrain optical system. This tube is recommended for dedicated amateur astronomers looking for the highest-performing yet still portable optical system.
The standard package includes the company’s proprietary StarBright XLT coating, which increases the telescope’s light-gathering efficiency. With this coating, the corrector plate achieves 98% light transmission, while the primary and secondary mirrors provide 95% reflectivity. It also enhances image contrast. The package further includes a prism diagonal, a 9x50 finderscope, and a 40 mm Plössl eyepiece, providing 70x magnification.
The optics of Celestron optical tubes are hand-finished (hand-figuring) and hand-matched, which, according to various tests, consistently results in superior optical quality compared to competing SC optical tubes.
Advanced VX Mount
Celestron’s flagship Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes are now available on a truly advanced mount optimised 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 specifically designed for medium-sized astrophotography telescopes. This allows owners of smaller telescopes to access the capabilities of premium mounts (such as All-Star polar alignment and autoguider support). Guiding during long-exposure imaging is greatly assisted by permanently programmable periodic error correction. With the AVX mount, you can image past the meridian without having to perform a meridian flip. This allows you to photograph celestial objects when they are at their best visibility. Compared to previous solutions, the AVX offers significantly increased stability. The improved motors deliver higher torque and guide the telescope accurately even with minor imbalance.
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 astrophotography, the AVX series is 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 observation.
The mount includes 3 x 5.44 kg counterweights as standard, and the complete setup weighs 44.67 kg.
