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Celestron is pleased to team up with ScienceForCitizens.net, a new website that connects people to research projects and hobbies they can do.

The Scientist and Discover Magazine.com call it the Match.com and Amazon of science! The site's Project Finder offers ongoing activities in a wide range of interest areas, including astronomy, birds, climate, environment, insects, nature, and the ocean. You can also search based on personal preferences, including locations, how much time you want to spend, whether you want to work outdoors, how difficult or easy the activity is, and whether the project is appropriate for students.

Membership is free and easy and all members are invited to upload images and write blog posts about their citizen science exploits.

The site highlights member contributions on the home page. If you want to participate in a scientific study or share your citizen science experiences with thousands of others, consider this website.

Celestron will be participating in future contests and promotions with ScienceForCitizens.net, so be sure to check the site out often in the upcoming months for your chance to win some of our great optical products!

Usually once a year, an e-mail gets circulated around claiming that on the night of August 27th, the planet Mars will appear in the sky as large as the Full Moon. Before you know it, "Mars Mania" becomes the talk of the town and everyone begins flooding the internet for more information about this once in a lifetime event. However, the truth must be revealed – it's a flat out hoax!

Mars will never come close enough to Earth in its orbit around the Sun to be viewed as large as the Full Moon from our vantage point. So how did "August 27" get chosen? Back on August 27, 2003, Mars did make a historical close pass by of Earth at about 34.6 million miles, but even back then, Mars appeared as a very bright reddish "star" and didn’t look at all like our own Full Moon in terms of size. The Mars hoax has been circulating ever since.

Mars is currently visible in the western sky at dusk as a faint star and sets about 90 minutes after the Sun. Nearby you’ll find a very brilliant "star" which is actually the planet Venus. If you’re interested in viewing Mars or Venus, Celestron offers a variety of different telescope models to choose from, including the LCM, AstroMaster and PowerSeeker series. Why not have a look at our closest celestial neighbors in the solar system and see for yourself tonight?

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Article by Kevin Kawai 

Throughout the year, Jeff Swick, Vice-President of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (Saskatoon Centre), kept leaving off-the-wall comments on Celestron's Flickr Photo Albums hinting that Celestron should come out and visit a different part of Canada and experience the Saskatchewan Summer Star Party firsthand. For example, Jeff wrote "Come on....just a little more cable and we'll be able to plug into the Saskatchewan Summer Star Party." Well, after reading a comment like that, I conducted my own investigation and decided to read more about the SSSP, now in its 14th year. The SSSP is held yearly at Cypress Hills Inter-provincial Park, where its high elevation is filled with forests of pine and spruce trees along with abundant wildlife such as moose, elk and deer. At night, the magnitude 7 sky is filled with stars and is probably one of the darkest sites to observe from in all of Canada - a perfect place to hold this yearly gathering of astronomy enthusiasts - mainly from the Alberta and Saskatchewan provinces.

Celestron's Firmware Engineer, Derik DeVecchio, accompanied me on Celestron's first ever trip to the SSSP. After arriving in Calgary, we took at nice 4.5 hour scenic drive along the Trans-Canada Highway to Maple Creek and then on to Cypress Hills. We arrived on site as light drizzle began to fall, which soon turned to a steady downpour. The roads became muddy, and the grounds saturated with water, yet campers and RVs were still entering the Meadows to claim their campsite. We were immediately greeted and welcomed to the star party by our hosts - Ken From and Wade Williamson, of All-Star Telescopes; Jeff Swick, our initial contact person; Rick Huziak, Registrar & Registration and Les Dickson, Resort and Speaker Coordinator. Eventually, the rain subsided enough for us to set up a temporary table at the All-Star Telescope tent to meet and greet star party participants, but soon after, the rains returned, and we hurriedly took cover. That evening, a BBQ took place at the Recreation Hall (originally scheduled for the outdoor amphitheater). With good food and conversations, the BBQ dinner was a great place to mingle about, make new friendships and stay dry. Noted Canadian Astronomer and Author, Alan Dyer, introduced himself to us, and how great it was to finally got to meet the man behind one of our favorite astronomy books - "The Backyard Astronomer's Guide." I must say, the Canadian folks really went out of their way to make us feel welcomed!

Rain and foggy conditions continued to plague the Cypress Hills area into the next day with no letup in sight. Even though, everyone made the best out of the situation and congregated at the Cypress Hills Resort, located just around the corner from the Meadows, to talk astronomy and telescopes. Derik and I took a drive around the park to check out the local wildlife and scenic points before our afternoon meeting with Les. We eventually found our way back to the Meadows, but it was rather sad to see a field void of any telescopes. However, good news began circulating that the Clear Sky Chart pointed to clearing skies for Saturday night. Everyone remained optimistic and had their fingers crossed. After dinner, people started to gather downstairs in the huge Wapiti Room for the casual 5 - 15 minutes Friday Evening Talks. Scheduled presenters included Vance Petriew - Regina Centre's 100th Anniversary; Brian Richards - Kamloops Club Dome & Star Party; Chris Beckett - RASC Observing Certificate Program and Richard Huziak, The Grasslands Dark Sky Preserve.

Saturday morning started off with rain but soon became intermittent enough for people to return back to their campsites. All-Star Telescopes, with a fully erected tent, opened for business selling the must-have telescope essentials, while Derik and I interacted with attendees and answered questions. We also spent some time walking the Meadows to meet up with Celestron telescope owners to give them tips on how to better enhance their equipment's operations, which went over very well with everyone.

After lunch, nearly everyone drove back to the Cypress Hills Resort for the much anticipated "Saturday Talks" in the Wapiti Room, which Derik and I, along with Alan Dyer and Stan Shadick, were scheduled to speak. About 250 plus people were in the audience as Alan began the talks by delivering his presentation of "Latest and Greatest Images of Neat Things in the Sky." Alan's provided stunning astrophotography works from Chile and incredible time lapsed videos of the night sky. In addition, Alan shared his "unlucky" 13th eclipse expedition images from Tahiti. His previous 12 eclipse adventures had been all clear.

Derik and I were up next, and we divided our talks into two parts - Marketing and Engineering presentations. My presentation was titled "Celestron on-the-go and its 50th Anniversary." I spoke about my 10 years with the company, and my first meeting with Celestron's Founder, Tom Johnson, when I was a young boy. I went on to speak about the many star parties and school outreach programs Celestron have been involved with this year, and I highlighted Celestron's 50th Anniversary, and how Tom got started in developing a passion of building large aperture, affordable, high quality telescopes. I also discussed our 50th Anniversary Mini-Site on Celestron's Homepage, and at the conclusion, I played the trailer from our Documentary film "The Path of Light," which received a loud applause from the audience. Derik spoke next and gave a humorous yet serious presentation on "Getting the most out of your Celestron Go-To Telescope." He informed the audience how most customers usually skip over reading the instruction manual and therefore, miss out on many key handcontrol features which would greatly enhance their viewing experience. Throughout his presentation, Derik constantly reminded the audience to "read the manual" which generated much laughter from the audience and became the theme of the entire presentation. I rejoined Derik for 10 minutes of questions and answers immediately following his presentation. We answered as many questions as we could until Les crossed his arms to signal that our time was up. After the presentation, both Derik and I held our own impromptu workshops to give advices on handcontrol features and SCT collimation tips.

Stan gave the final talk of the afternoon with his very informative presentation of "Investigating Exoplanets with Small Telescopes." He covered what scientist have learned about the properties of exoplanets in over 380 planetary systems, and even how amateurs may be able to contribute to finding additional exoplanets. What a great afternoon of talks.

After the presentations concluded, the Awards Ceremony took place followed by the Door Prize Draw. Awards were given in various categories including the 10th Anniversary Awards for those who have attended at least 10 of the last 14 SSSPs. One winner was 9 year old Emily Petriew, daughter of Vance Petriew, who had discovered comet P/2001 Q2 Petriew at the 2001 SSSP! Emily had attended her first ever SSSP even before her first birthday! Other awards categories included the Finest NGC Awards and the Astro Photo & Sketch Contest Awards. A Volunteer Prize Draw was held, where winners were picked beforehand, including our own Derik DeVecchio, who won a green laser pointer from a competitor of all things! Finally, the grand Door Prize Draw took place. Darrel Chatfield, door prize coordinator, called up Ken (All-Star Telescopes) along with Derik and me to the front to draw winners of the SkyMaster 25x70 binocular, a NexStar 127SLT and a 114LCM. Each of us took turns drawing and announced the winning numbers. Below are some of the lucky winners.

A group photo was taken outside followed by the delicious Dinner Banquet back in the Wapiti Room. By this time, the sky was filled with white puffy clouds and lots of blue skies! Being higher up in latitude also meant longer summer days here, even during the dinner hour. The Clear Sky Chart correctly predicted the weather outlook as everyone was eager to finish dinner and get back to the Meadows to salvage one last clear night of observing. When darkness fell, the night sky definitely lived up to everyone's expectation. The Milky Way soon arched its way across the dark filled starry sky, and we gasped at seeing the myriad of stars from one of the best sites on the planet. Every now and then, bright meteors from the Perseids Meteor Shower lit up the sky to a chorus of "oohs!" Just a short walk away, a public star party took place at the tennis courts, where park visitors, comprised mostly of families, converged to listen to an expert guide who provided beginners with a tour of the summer constellations. To look up and see M13, M31, the Sagittarius Star Cloud and more with the naked eyes, we knew this place was very special.

The next morning, we stopped at the Meadows one last time to say our goodbyes to all the new friends we made at the SSSP. To leave all this wonderful nature behind, especially with clearer days ahead was hard to do, but we reminded ourselves that there will always be a "next time." We would like to say a big "thank you" to the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada (Saskatoon Centre), Barb Wright, Jeff Swick, Rick Huziak, Les and Ellen Dickson, Alan Dyer, Darrel Chatfield, Kathleen Houston, Chris Beckett, Regina Centre, Ken From and Wade Williamson of All-Star Telescopes and many other dedicated volunteers that put on a wonderful 2010 SSSP and welcomed us (Celestron) to this great annual event. Hopefully, we'll be invited back for a future SSSP, but until then, just remember Derik's famous quotation - "read the manual."

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Article by Kevin Kawai 

This summer, AES Seaside Cinema, Redondo Beach, California, hosted a series of free movie nights for the community to enjoy, and the best part was that these events may have been the first outdoor solar-powered movie event ever held. Imagine watching movies on the grass and sand knowing that the projector consisted only of "green technology" using energy supplied by our own Sun! For four consecutive Friday evenings, family oriented movies such as "Back to the Future" (July 23rd), "Surf's Up" (July 30th), "The Sandlot" (August 6th) and "School of Rock" (August 13th), played to hundreds and hundreds of excited families and especially to the kids.

Earlier this spring, Scott Williams and Tom Kearney, the men behind AES Seaside Cinema and Seaside Ice, asked if Celestron would be interested to become involved in this special project and conduct a star party for guests at the August 6th movie screening. Celestron already had a great working relationship with their organziation from a successful outdoor ice skating/star party last winter, so after checking the schedule and finding enough resources, Celestron quickly came on board. In addition, Celestron donated an Anniversary FirstScope and a computerized 114LCM telescope for the raffle prizes. Tickets for the special prizes were sold at each movie night for $10 per ticket with all proceeds benefiting the Redondo Beach Education Foundation, with AES matching all ticket sales revenues.

Celestron Repair Technicians, Hector Antuna and Flavio Dominguez, accompanied me to Seaside Cinema for the movie and star party. We brought along several telescopes and products for guests to enjoy including a CPC 800, a NexStar 6SE, AstroMaster 70AZ and a SkyScout to demonstrate. We also distributed telescope catalogs, pens and posters at our booth, which the kids really enjoyed. Prior to the start of the movie, Tom informed the audience of the raffle drawings and star party. Both Hector and I were introduced to the crowds as we took turns on the microphone and discussed the various celestial objects that would be visible that evening. The Redondo Beach Education Foundation then drew the luck winner for the Anniversary FirstScope. The 114LCM would be drawn one week later. Even before the raffle drawing concluded, Southern California's notorious marine layer roared into the coastal city and blanketed the area in a blink of an eye. With many disappointed guests so eager to view Saturn (ourselves included), we could only do the next best thing and use the telescopes as spotting scopes to view the Palos Verdes coastline and various terrestrial targets. Of course, it was also fun to demonstrate how the computerized telescopes worked and let the kids "drive" the telescopes with the hand controls.

AES Seaside Cinema Nights proved to be a fun filled way for the community to spend quality time with friends and family while watching cool movies and learning something new about science and space under the stars or in our case, clouds. Even though, money was raised for a great cause. We'll see what other cool events both Scott and Tom can come up with during this holiday season.

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Article by Kevin Kawai 

August has certainly been a busy month for the Celestron-on-the-go team. The first weekend of August saw at least 4 separate star parties and trade show events which took place all around the same time! One of the many events scheduled included the Ocean Institute Star Party held on August 7, 2010 at the Lazy W Ranch, a United Methodist Church Camp, located east of San Juan Capistrano, California, in the Cleveland National Forest. The Ocean Institute is well known nationally for its hands-on approach for students and adults to learn more about marine sciences, environmental education and maritime history. According to its website, more than 110,000 K-12 students and 6,000 teachers annually participate in the Institute's 61 award-winning, immersion style programs and recently, a stargazing program has been added to its list of events.

Art Director/Senior Graphics Designer, Scott Rivedal and I, drove up to the Lazy W Ranch and along the way, we noticed how desolate the road and scenery was becoming. We instantly started thinking of the dark skies that we'd be encountering that night! Once we arrived at the ranch, we met up with Ocean Institute's Kristel Arnott and Rudy Serna, along other staff members, local amateur astronomers and JPL Scientist, Dr. Ron Bunning. Guests began arriving a short time later and were directed to the mess hall to listen in on Dr. Bunning's talk on "what's in the sky tonight?" Dr. Bunning also presented images taken from JPL's WISE spacecraft. Meanwhile, all of the star party volunteers began setting up their telescopes (of all different makes and models) at the "Fire Safe" area. Scott and I brought along a CPC 800 and a NexStar 6SE and found a nice flat area on the bottom of a "dirt bowl" to set up.

As dusk approached, the nearby hills began taking on a colorful reddish color and a sense of chill was in the air (literally). A staff member yelled out "oh wow, everyone come here and check this out" and we all ran over to see what was going on. It turned out that a huge, hairy tarantula had left its burrow and was scurrying along the grounds near our star party observing site. I've heard of other folks encountering deer, moose, skunks or opossums on rural stargazing trips but never a tarantula. Mark this as a first for us! After taking a few photos of our unexpected "friend," the large arachnid was on its way, and we had a lot of stories to share with everyone later.

The evening started out with a clear sky with the "parade of planets" - Venus, Mars and Saturn forming somewhat of a triangle in the western sky and with no Moon out. I quickly aligned our CPC 800 and NexStar 6SE and also shared alignment tips with Rudy, who recently began using his older NexStar 8 GPS again. Scott brought out his DSLR camera and began taking wide angle Milky Way astrophotos. From our location, the sky was relatively dark with the Milky Way easily visible streaming from the Sagittarius/Scorpius region through Cygnus and beyond. Dr. Bunning's presentation had just concluded and guests began arriving to the observing field. Each telescope pointed at various targets and knowledgeable telescope operators described the views. Guests viewed planets, various double stars, open and globular star clusters, planetary and emission nebulaes. Guests were really "wowed" by the crisp views of the Lagoon Nebula (M8) and the Great Hercules Cluster (M13). As the night progressed, low level clouds suddenly appeared and began creeping over the hillside and marched down into our area. Yes, it was a bit disappointing but at least everyone had the opportunity to see some of the best celestial objects of the summer sky before there was nothing left to be seen.

Celestron would like to say "thank you" to both Kristel and Rudy of the Ocean Institute for inviting Celestron to take part in your stargazing event. We look forward to participating again at a future program, and who knows what mysterious two, four, six or eight legged creatures we'll run into next time! Ah, the joys of being at summer camp - there's nothing quite like it!

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Article by Kevin Kawai 

The LeRoy Haynes Center, located in La Verne, CA, has been helping children with special needs relating to specialized treatments for emotional and behavioral development, learning disabilities, pervasive developmental disabilities, autism, and more since 1946. The Center is one of the largest nonprofit organizations of its kind in the State of California and includes a State Certified Non-Public School with the goal of providing its students with the necessary skills to make a smooth transition into mainstream life. With a wide variety of enrichment filled courses revolving around the arts, community service, computers, drama, music, team sports, and even science, the students are provided with the education, guidance, support and structure in order to help them achieve their goals and reach their full potentials in life.

Recently, the Center's Science class, under the guidance of teacher, Paula Menger, acquired an older Celestron Celestar telescope which was kindly donated from an outside source. Unfortunately, the telescope came with a few missing components which rendered the scope inoperable, to the disappointment of the class. Upon hearing this news, Celestron decided to exchange the telescope for a modern, fully computerized NexStar 6SE. The older model telescope would be returned to Celestron, cleaned up and put on display. Paula invited Celestron to visit the Center to present the telescope to one of the school's top administrators and provide a telescope demonstration for her class.

Upon my arrival to the LeRoy Haynes Center, I met up with Paula and together, we found a nice open spot in a grassy field to set up and conduct the demonstration and presentation. I brought along several types of telescopes including a refractor, reflector and a catadioptric. Although the weather was quite hot, the class didn't seem to mind too much, as most of the students were very eager to learn more about the telescopes. During the demonstration, I spoke about the different characteristics and features of each telescope design. For nearly all the class, this was their first opportunity to ever look through and use telescopes, so the demonstration provided a very educational, yet fun "hands on" learning experience for them. The students eagerly took turns using the manually controlled telescopes to scan the school grounds to spy on their fellow classmates (much to their amusement) and view the neighboring hillsides. Many were quite amazed to find cactus growing amongst the shrubbery and discovered a cell phone tower disguised as a tree. Through the NexStar 6SE, the class viewed the Sun (with a solar filter) and the inner planets Mercury and Venus. I already knew these planets were far enough in their respective orbits from the Sun, so spotting them through the telescope in the bright mid-morning sky was relatively easy. Everyone seemed quite amazed how the NexStar was "smart" enough to find these planets in broad daylight and a few students quickly learned how to operate the hand control just by watching. At the conclusion of the demonstration, I then presented the NexStar 6SE to LeRoy Haynes' Corporate and Foundation Relations Officer, Jane Woods, who along with Paula Menger, graciously accepted on behalf of the Center. We then posed for a few photos, and I was then given a tour of the Science and Autism buildings. A delicious hamburger lunch was on the menu that day inside the Center's cafeteria.

Talks are already underway for possibly conducting a star party that will include the entire school district perhaps later during the year. Paula said "I feel the star party is a great idea that the students would really enjoy and the staff as well." Until then, the Center will be able to spend time and get better acquainted with their new telescope to explore and open up new worlds all around them.

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 Themed Presentations Offer Mix of Art and Science for Interactive Viewing Experience

TRUCKEE, Calif. – May 3, 2010 – This summer, Northstar-at-Tahoe™ Resort will again host a series of Tahoe Star Tours, led by star guide and poet Tony Berendsen, president of the Northern Nevada Science Coalition. A unique experience offering a breathtaking view into the heavens, Tahoe Star Tours will for the eighth season, offer the premiere star tours experience in Lake Tahoe and an educational evening for guests of all ages. And, new this summer, four of the 18 tour dates will include performances by Reno-based string quartet, Accent Nevada.

“Tahoe Star Tours is a very unique experience in the Sierra. We host visitors from all over the world – many live in large metropolitan areas that are severely light polluted. Many have never seen the Milky Way or even understand what they are seeing when they look out at the stars,” said Berendsen. “People coming to Northstar® Resort in the summer to participate in Tahoe Star Tours learn to open their imaginations and look into space with curiosity.”

Every tour is as different as the sky above, but all include a poetry reading, a fun space quiz with prizes, a laser tour of the stars and constellations, and a telescopic viewing with equipment provided by Celestron, the world’s leading telescope maker. Tours are highly interactive and allow guests to have a hands-on experience at amateur astronomy.

Tahoe Star Tours take place from 8:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. and meet at the top of the Highlands Gondola at the Ritz-Carlton Destination Club. From there, guests are escorted to the viewing location on the deck of the Big Springs Day Lodge, located mid-mountain at Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort. Proper walking footwear is recommended.

Summer 2010 Tahoe Star Tour Schedule
June
11, 12 – Mars Meets It’s Rival
18 – Saturn’s Moon
19 – Saturn’s Moon (performance by Accent Nevada)

July
2, 3 – War & Love Meet in the Sky
9, 10 – Hercules on High
16 – Crescent Moon on the Rise
17 – Crescent Moon on the Rise (performance by Accent Nevada)
30 – Dark Sky Wonders

August
1 – Dark Sky Wonders
13 – The Milky Way & Perseid Meteor Shower (performance by Accent Nevada)
14 – The Milky Way & Perseid Meteor Shower

September
3, 4 – Jupiter
10 – Tribute to Carl Sagan
11 – Tribute to Carl Sagan (performance by Accent Nevada)

The cost to participate is $30 for adults and $15 for children ages 12 and under. Tours that include performances by Accent Nevada are $75 for adults, $50 for ages 18 and under and also include hot cocoa, coffee, and the chance to win a pair of binoculars. All tours include a commemorative flashlight. For more information or reservations, visit http://www.northstarattahoe.com/.

About Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort
One of the finest year-round mountain resorts in North America, Northstar Resort is host to a new base area village featuring 35 unique shops and restaurants, a conference center, 9,000 square foot skating rink, on-site lodging, special events and more. A winter sport enthusiast’s paradise, Northstar Resort offers 92 ski trails spread across 3,000 acres, award-winning terrain parks and snow sports including alpine and Telemark skiing, snowboarding, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing and tubing. Summer activities include mountain biking, golfing, scenic lift rides for sightseeing and hiking, horseback riding, fly-fishing and more.

Northstar-at-Tahoe Resort is located on Highway 267, just six miles north of Lake Tahoe and six miles south of downtown Truckee. For more information, call 1.800.GO.NORTH (1.800.466.6784) or visit http://www.northstarattahoe.com/.

Press Contacts:
Jessica VanPernis, 530.562.3866, jvanpernis@boothcreek.com
Kirstin Cattell, 530.543.3132, kcattell.st@boothcreek.com
Kristin Yantis, 720.532.0211, mailto:kmettler@malenandmettler.com

TELESCOPE PIONEER MARKS MILESTONE, CONTINUES TO LEAD IN PROVIDING INNOVATIVE OPTICAL PRODUCTS

TORRANCE, CA – (January 4, 2010) – Celestron is celebrating 50 years of successful telescope innovation throughout 2010. The company, founded in 1960 by electronics engineer, Tom Johnson, started as an astro-optical division of Mr. Johnson’s aerospace electronics firm, Valor Electronics. While searching for a suitable telescope for his two young sons, Tom decided to build a telescope from scratch. Starting with a 6-inch reflector, he progressed to building increasingly larger and more sophisticated designs. Tom’s hobby soon grew into a full-time business, offering Celestron Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes in 4-inch to 22-inch models.

Tom’s vision of building an affordable Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope system has evolved into an undisputed industry leading company in the telescope arena. Today, Celestron has grown to enjoy worldwide brand name recognition and a reputation for innovative, reliable optical equipment. “Celestron’s 50th anniversary is a great milestone. When you sit down and consider what Tom Johnson accomplished, you can’t help but be proud and impressed at his vision, leadership and innovation.” said Joseph A. Lupica Jr., president and CEO of Celestron “Today, Celestron employees carry on Tom’s forward-thinking legacy.”

Throughout the world, Celestron telescopes have become the “telescope of choice” for the consumer that can differentiate between brands. Major observatories, planetariums, colleges and universities worldwide use Celestron telescopes in their astronomy programs. Moreover, its solid and esteemed reputation in the scientific community has reached NASA, who selected Celestron’s C5 telescope as the telescope to be taken on several space shuttle research missions. During the 2009 International Year of Astronomy, the White House held the first documented star party on the White House lawn. President Barak Obama and first lady, Michelle Obama, viewed celestial objects through a Celestron CPC 800.

Throughout 2010, Celestron invites you to visit our special 50th anniversary website where you will find an interactive timeline on Celestron’s history and other notable events in the astronomical community. The website will also feature limited edition 50th anniversary products and apparel, as well as contests and giveaways to celebrate this special milestone. Celestron will also be releasing a 6 part documentary during 2010 entitled “The Path of Light”. This documentary will give you a look back at Celestron’s beginnings and move you forward through 50 years of Celestron’s notable achievements in products, outreach and the astronomical community.

With 50 years under their belt, Celestron is looking toward the future, confident in continuing to focus on engineering innovation and design excellence in all of our product offerings. “We’ve been fortunate in our success over the past 50 years, and would sincerely like to thank our dedicated customers, dealers and employees for putting their trust in Celestron. We couldn’t have done this without you.” said Joseph A. Lupica Jr. “We have many plans ahead to show our support to the astronomical community, continue our dedication to grow astronomy and to engineer products that will be enjoyed for many years to come. It’s going to be a very exciting year!”

Help us celebrate by visiting Celestron’s 50th Anniversary Website www.celestron.com/50 and signing our guest book!

About Celestron
Since designing its first telescope in 1960, Celestron has grown to become the world’s leading telescope maker, and enjoys brand name recognition for superior optics, outstanding design, and innovative technology. For five decades, Celestron has been recognized as a leading designer, manufacturer and importer of high-quality optical products including computerized and non-computerized telescopes, binoculars, spotting scopes, microscopes and related accessories. Celestron’s innovative products continue to receive numerous industry and consumer media accolades, adding to an already impressive list that includes awards for product innovation from Reader’s Digest, Popular Science, PC Magazine, Popular Mechanics, Sky & Telescope, the Consumer Electronics Association and more. Celestron sells and markets its products worldwide through a variety of specialty retail outlets and international distributors. Celestron is a privately held company with corporate offices and manufacturing facilities, in Torrance, CA. For more information about Celestron please visit http://www.celestron.com.

Celestron’s EdgeHD, LCD Deluxe Digital Microscope and Digital Handheld LCD Microscope Are Selected Innovations Honoree’s In Personal Electronics

TORRANCE, CA – (January 1, 2010) – Celestron, the world’s leading designer and manufacturer of telescopes, binoculars, spotting scopes, microscopes and related accessories, has done it again. This time taking home three honoree awards in Innovations 2010 Design and Engineering in the Personal Electronics product category by the Consumer Electronics Association. The awards went to the EdgeHD 800 Optical Tube Assembly, LCD Deluxe Digital Microscope and the Handheld LCD Digital Microscope.

Celestron’s EdgeHD is the newest flagship line of aplanatic Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes, specially designed for photographing celestial objects. What sets EdgeHD apart from the others is that this optical system is designed with a coma-free flat focal plane all the way to the edge of the field of view. The result is a visibly sharper photograph that guarantees you visibly sharp stars across some of the largest CCD chips available today. With the growing interest in astrophotography, Celestron has made it easier and more affordable for consumers to take amazing photos of the night sky!

With the huge success of touch screen technology, Celestron has incorporated this feature into one of their newest microscopes; the LCD Deluxe Digital Microscope. The LCD Deluxe Digital Microscope is the first of its class with a touch screen and rotatable 180° panel for view sharing, a built-in digital camera for images and video, flash memory of 512MB for storage, and an SD card slot to upload your images to your computer.

Another new Celestron microscope Honoree winner, the Handheld Digital LCD Microscope is just as unique. This sleek, ready-to-go, palm size microscope is battery operated with a 2.4” LCD screen to view objects. Equipped with camera and video features, as well as an SD card slot for extra storage, this microscope is fun to take anywhere. With the LCD Deluxe Digital Microscope and Handheld LCD Digital Microscope, you no longer have to be limited by looking through the eyepiece of a microscope!

“We are thankful to the CEA and the Innovations judges for honoring our company with these awards. We are proud to know that our optical products have captured the engineering award in two categories; telescopes and microscopes. Celestrons’ EdgeHD optical system is the most versatile, affordable imaging telescope available today”, said Joseph A. Lupica Jr., president and CEO of Celestron. “Our two new microscopes, the Deluxe Digital LCD Microscope and Handheld Digital LCD Microscope showcase that Celestron is dedicated to staying on the cutting edge of technology in the microscope industry. All three honorees are unique in their own way, but all have one thing in common, to keep users captivated as the physical world is revealed like never before.”

All three Celestron Award Honoree winners will be displayed during the 2010 International CES, January 7-10, 2010 in Las Vegas, NV at Celestron booth #7912, and Innovations Design and Engineering Showcase in the Grand Lobby at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

For a list of dealer locations and updates, please go to http://www.celestron.com.

About Celestron
Since designing its first telescope in 1960, Celestron has grown to become the world’s leading telescope maker, and enjoys brand name recognition for superior optics, outstanding design, and innovative technology. For five decades, Celestron has been recognized as a leading designer, manufacturer and importer of high-quality optical products including computerized and non-computerized telescopes, binoculars, spotting scopes, microscopes and related accessories. Celestron’s innovative products continue to receive numerous industry and consumer media accolades, adding to an already impressive list that includes awards for product innovation from Reader’s Digest, Popular Science, PC Magazine, Popular Mechanics, Sky & Telescope, the Consumer Electronics Association and more. Celestron sells and markets its products worldwide through a variety of specialty retail outlets and international distributors. Celestron is a privately held company with corporate offices and manufacturing facilities, in Torrance, CA. For more information about Celestron please visit http://www.celestron.com.

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TORRANCE, CA – (October 13, 2009) – Celestron® the world’s leading telescope maker and global sponsor of the International Year of Astronomy 2009, applauds the White House and President Barack Obama for their support of astronomy and science education. On Wednesday, October 8, 2009, President Barack Obama and the first lady Michelle Obama hosted what is believed to be the first star party ever to be held at the White House.

President Obama kicked-off the event with a brief address that was streamed live on the whitehouse.gov website. The program at the White House included more than 20 telescopes set up on the White House lawn focused on Jupiter, the Moon and select stars. President Obama, under the direction of his science advisor John Holdren, viewed a double-star in the constellation Lyra through a Celestron CPC 800 computerized telescope. “Celestron commends President Obama for his commitment to science education and support of astronomy. It is imperative that we all work together to bring awareness to our next generation about our place in the universe and the contributions that amateur astronomers can make to modern astronomy.” said Joseph A. Lupica Jr, President and CEO of Celestron.

This star party was held to mark the International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009), which celebrates the 400th anniversary of Galileo's first use of a telescope. "What will your great discovery be?" Obama asked the students before viewing through the telescope. "Galileo changed the world when he pointed his telescope to the sky. Now it's your turn. We need your restless curiosity," the president said. Obama, his wife Michelle, and a group of 150 local middle-school students attended. Also in attendance were two 15-year-old amateur astronomers, Caroline Moore, who at age 14 became the youngest person to discover a supernova, and Lucas Bolyard, who discovered a rare type of ultra-dense star known as a pulsar. Former astronauts Buzz Aldrin, Sally Ride and Mae Jemison, and current astronaut John Grunsfeld joined the historical event as well.

Visit the websites below for information on other notable IYA events happening in 2009:

• October 9-23 -- Great World Wide Star Count www.starcount.org
• October 19-25 -- Fall Astronomy Week, including Fall Astronomy Day on Saturday, October 24, with the Astronomical League www.astroleague.org
• October 22-24 -- IYA Galilean Nights global star party www.galileannights.org
• November 10-30 -- NASA’s Image Unveiling hubblesource.stsci.edu/events/iyafinale
• IAU International Year of Astronomy website: www.astronomy2009.org

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