The RASA Family

Capturing impressive deep-sky astroimages is easier than ever with Celestron’s Rowe-Ackermann Schmidt Astrograph (RASA) family. The RASA is a perfect companion to today’s top DSLR or astronomical CCD cameras. It's fast, wide-field f/2.2 system offers two huge advantages over traditional f/10 astroimaging: better apparent tracking and shorter exposures. That means you’ll create better-looking astroimages in a fraction of the time, even without the use of an autoguider.

Don't feel like you need to always take your RASA out to dark skies to get the best images, due to the fast, wide-field system, the RASA makes urban imaging a possibility. Team Celestron member, Grant Regen, who lives in Los Angeles, CA, took a RASA 8 just outside of the city and shares the benefits of the RASA being at f/2 for faster imaging.  

The RASA 36 is the largest RASA Celestron manufactures and is a cost-effective optical system for space surveillance, Space Situational Awareness (SSA), other scientific applications, and advanced wide field astroimaging. It offers unprecedented value in aperture, speed, field of view, and optical performance.  Unlike most telescopes, which only focus visible light (400-700 nm), the RASA 36 cm focuses an extended spectral range (400-900 nm), allowing a brighter signal to be detected by a camera sensor. 

Team Celestron member, Dylan O'Donnell, reviews the Celestron RASA 11 which he uses day-in and day-out for astroimaging. Learn more about the RASA 11 and determine if this telescope is right for you.

To see images taken with a RASA optical tube, click here