CPC Deluxe 800 HD Computerized Telescope

The CPC Deluxe 800 HD combines Celestron's newly designed fork mount with its new EdgeHD optical system and is the most portable of Celestron's top-of-the-line fork-mounted astronomical telescopes. This telescope is at home as a superb visual instrument or with optional Pro Wedge and CCD cameras, as a serious astro imager's tool. With over 8 inches of aperture and our premium StarBright XLT coatings, the CPC Deluxe 800 HD gives you over 800 times the light gathering power than the unaided eye.  Turn this scope to planets and see amazing detail on the surface of Jupiter; see Cassini's Division in the rings of Saturn, and resolve details on the surface of Mars. Even the distant Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are within your reach. Although large in aperture, with its conveniently located carrying handles and an instrument weight of only 43 lbs, this telescope is portable enough to set up in your backyard or take with you to your favorite dark sky location.

New Optical Design

The EdgeHD optical system combines all of the compact power popularized by the SCT with an improved high definition optical system for wide field, astrograph quality images.  As a visual instrument, EdgeHD optics deliver pinpoint images even with your widest field eyepiece.  You can search for all of the Messier Catalog objects, and see hundreds of other NGC, IC and Caldwell objects with amazing clarity.  For astro imaging, EdgeHD optics produce aberration-free images across your favorite CCD or DSLR camera.  All EdgeHD optics are designed to produce an extremely flat focal plane precise enough to match the strict tolerances of the largest commercial CCD detectors, allowing stars to be in tight focus to the very edge of the chip. Learn more about the benefits and features of this new optical system by going to the EdgeHD web page.

The Celestron Product Development team has released a whitepaper outlining the technology behind EdgeHD. This paper describes the development goals, design decisions, optical performance, and their practical realization in 8-, 9.25-, 11-, and 14-inch apertures. We include cross-sections of the EdgeHD series, comparative spot diagrams for the EdgeHD and competing “coma-free” Schmidt-Cassegrain designs, a table with specifications for visual and imaging, graphics showing how to place sensors at the optimum back-focus distance, and details on the construction and testing of the EdgeHD telescope series.

Click here to download the whitepaper.

Internal GPS The CPC Deluxe HD Series' internal GPS receiver automatically downloads the date and time from orbiting satellites and pinpoints its exact location on Earth. This eliminates the need for you to manually enter the date, time, longitude and latitude.

Celestron's Revolutionary SkyAlign Once the CPC's internal GPS has established the telescope's position, aligning the telescope is as easy as 1-2-3! Simply locate and use the hand control to manually point (slew) the telescope to three bright celestial objects. You do not need to know the names of the stars. You may even pick the Moon or bright planets! Celestron's NexStar™ software technology will model the night sky to determine the position of every star, planet and celestial object above the horizon. Once aligned, the remote hand control allows direct access to each of the celestial catalogs in its user-friendly database.

Celestial Object Database The CPC database contains over 40,000 celestial objects including Messier objects, the Caldwell Catalog, as well as NGC Galaxies, nebulae and planets. User-definable filter limits make navigating through this expansive database quicker and easier. Filter Limits let you filter out objects that are outside of your local horizon (ie, if trees or mountains were in the way). There's also "Solar System Align" that lets you align on the Sun or Moon for daytime observing – it is easy to use this to see planets or bright stars in the day.

Fastar Versatility All EdgeHD optical tubes are equipped with a removable secondary mirror for fast f/2 CCD imaging.  Not only does imaging in the FASTAR configuration allow for exposure times that are 25 times faster than at f/10, but also yields a field of view five times wider.  A perfect combination for imaging your favorite wide field objects in a fraction of the time. (FASTAR imaging requires a third party lens assembly in place of the secondary mirror).

Innovative Features

• Design - With the introduction of the CPC Deluxe HD series, Celestron has gone back to the drawing board and re-designed and re-engineered the drive train with a larger 6 inch, 180 tooth brass gear and .75" stainless steel worm gear and unique roller bearing design with both Steel and Nylon ball bearings rotating around a wide 9.8 track designed for smoother tracking accuracy for long exposure astrophotography.
• Innovation - The CPC Deluxe HD series uses the innovative All-Star™ Polar alignment procedure. Coupled with Celestron's optional Pro Wedge, All-Star allows users to choose any bright star, while the software calculates and assists with polar alignment.  Another great feature of the CPC, sure to please astro imagers, is the Permanent Periodic Error Correction (PEC), which allows users to train out the worm gears periodic errors, while the mount retains the PEC recordings.
• Power Management - Redesigned electronics deliver constant regulated power to the motors making them capable of driving the telescope, even when not perfectly balanced, without sacrificing smooth tracking motion and pointing accuracy across the entire sky.
• Performance - For objects near the Meridian (imaginary line passing from North to South), the CPC will track continuously through the Meridian for uninterrupted imaging through the most ideal part of the sky.