| About Celestron
Based in Torrance, California, Celestron has been a global leader in the design, engineering, manufacturing, and marketing of high quality optical products including a wide variety of computerized and non-computerized telescopes, spotting scopes, binoculars, and microscopes for over 40 years. Celestron is a leader in the sale of performance telescopes worldwide and has very strong brand-name recognition among serious amateur astronomers for superior optics, outstanding design, and innovative technology. Celestron sells its products worldwide through a variety of specialty retail outlets. In June 2002, Celestron became management owned when the company was purchased by three long-time senior managers.
History of Celestron
Celestron began in the 1950s as Valor Electronics, an aerospace electronics firm. Celestron’s founder, Tom Johnson, became interested in telescopes and astronomy when looking for a suitable telescope for his two young sons. Tom decided to build a telescope from scratch. Starting with a 6" reflector, he progressed to building increasingly larger and more sophisticated designs. Tom’s hobby soon grew into a full-time business, offering Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes in 4" to 22" models.
His immediate challenge was to find a way to efficiently produce the Schmidt corrector plate used in our top-of-the-line catadioptric telescopes. Although a corrector plate appears flat, it actually has a “wavy” surface that’s difficult to mass-produce using standard equipment and procedures. Making Schmidt correctors was an expensive and time-consuming process.
In 1970 our designers and engineers announced a revolutionary method of producing Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes at a reasonable cost and in volume. This optical breakthrough was incorporated in the first Celestron C8. The popularity of the C8 in the consumer marketplace led to the C5 and then to larger versions including an 11" and 14" telescope. The Celestron product line still features 5", 8", 11" and 14" models but has been broadened to include a number of refractors, reflectors and a complete line of binoculars and spotting scopes.
Many people still remember Celestron for its orange color C8’s but many more are now familiar with our other product offerings. Major colleges and universities worldwide use our telescopes in their astronomy programs. Throughout the world, Celestron telescopes have always been the “telescope of choice”. Our reputation is so good in the scientific community that Celestron’s C5 telescope has been chosen over all competing models by NASA to be taken on several space shuttle research missions.
Celestron has experienced tremendous growth over the years. Incorporated in 1957 as Valor Electronics, Tom Johnson sold the company in 1980 to Diethelm Ltd. In 1998 the Tasco Corporation, a leading optics company, purchased Celestron. In June of 2002, three members of Celestron’s senior management, Joseph A. Lupica, Jr., Richard Hedrick and co-founder Alan Hale, purchased the company, initiating a whole new era for Celestron. Under the new management, the company plans to expand distribution channels and product offerings to better serve our customers.
We are proud of our over 40 years of history as Celestron. We continue to manufacture approximately half of the products we distribute in our Torrance, California (a suburb of Los Angeles) headquarters. We emphasize the attention to detail that goes into each of our products and the strict quality control standards that are enforced. In all of these products, our mission is to provide the highest quality optical products at a competitive price.
Celestron Firsts
Celestron has not only been a substantial innovator, but has also changed the landscape of amateur astronomy with the introduction of the first commercially available Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope. Below is a list of some innovations introduced by Celestron over the years.
- First to introduce commercially available Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes starting in 1966.
- First to have an entire Schmidt-Cassegrain line of telescopes in 1969, C6, C8, C10, C12, C16, and C22.
- First to offer a commercially available Observatory Class Telescope with the C16 and C22
- First to commercially offer Schmidt Cameras in the late 60’s.
- First to introduce a fully integrated computerized GoTo observatory class telescope in mass production with the Compustar 14 in 1987.
- Popularized the Cold Camera in the early 70‘s.
- Popularized piggyback photography.
- Popularized Maksutov-Cassegrain in astronomy with the introduction of the C90 Astro for $495 in 1979.
- Popularized Maksutov-Cassegrains as spotting scopes with the introduction of the C90 Spotter in 1979.
- Popularized eyepiece projection with the introduction of tele-extenders for Celestron’s line of Schmidt-Cassegrains.
- Popularized off-axis guiders for long exposure photography.
- First to offer a telescope drive system that ran off of 9V batteries.
- First to offer a computerized telescope that ran off of AA batteries in 1996 with the Ultima 2000.
- First to commercially introduce a reducer/corrector for Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes.
- First and presently the only company to offer hand figured Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes. (We don’t mix and match correctors.)
- First to offer enhanced reflectivity and transmission coatings with the introduction of StarBright® coating.
- First to commercially offer an 8” fork mounted Schmidt-Cassegrain for under $1,000 with the introduction of the Celestar.
- First to commercially offer a Schmidt-Cassegrain capable of f/2 CCD imaging with the introduction of the Fastar® in 1997.
- First to commercially offer Carbon Fiber tubes with Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes with the introduction of the NexStar 11 GPS in July of 2001.
- First to commercially offer a fully computerized GoTo telescope with integrated GPS and compass with the introduction of the NexStar 11GPS in July of 2001.
- First to commercially offer a telescope that is GPS compatible with the introduction of the NexStar 5i and 8i in July of 2002.
- First to offer a GPS with an integrated compass designed to work with a GPS compatible computerized telescope in Dec of 2002 with the introduction of the CN16 GPS.
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