Celestron Transforms The Night Sky Into A "Backyard Blackboard" With Interactive SkyTour Cards For Use With Its Award-Winning SkyScout Personal Planetarium

AVAILABLE SUMMER 2007, THE INNOVATIVE SKYTOUR CARDS UTILIZE SKYSCOUT’S AWARD-WINNING GPS-ENABLED TECHNOLOGY TO TURN EVERY BACKYARD INTO AN INTERACTIVE CLASSROOM FOR FAMILIES, STUDENTS AND ASTRONOMERS ALIKE

Torrance, CA (January 6, 2007) – Celestron, one of the world’s leading designers and manufacturers of telescopes, binoculars, spotting scopes, microscopes and related accessories, officially announced today at 2007 International CES, the Summer 2007 availability of SkyTour cards for use with its award-winning Celestron SkyScout. Utilizing the SkyScout’s built-in technology to identify and locate celestial objects in the night sky, Celestron’s Astronomy for Beginners and The Sky Explorer SkyTour cards fit easily into SkyScout’s built-in SD slot and take stargazers on a ‘real time’ interactive cosmic journey of exploration and discovery that includes in-depth information on specific astronomy topics and more than 6,000 viewable celestial objects.

Celestron’s Astronomy for Beginners SkyTour card, uses the SkyScout to guide users through an interactive tour of the night sky with lessons that address an array of astronomical topics including: a detailed tutorial and tour of the planets, stars, galaxies, clusters, nebulae, constellations, asterisms that are easily viewed in the night sky; a guide to astronomical distances between celestial objects; lessons in star-hopping and navigation; an in-depth look at the colors and types of stars; a study of celestial movement and the phases of the moon.

The Sky Explorer SkyTour card uses the SkyScout to guide users through a more detailed tour of the night sky with a focus on the Zodiacal constellations. The Sky Explorer SkyTour card takes users on a tour of the brightest and most interesting stars in each constellation, provides mythological and historical information pertaining to the origins of each constellation and demonstrates the easiest ways for users to learn and remember the position of the most popular constellations. The lessons conclude with an in-depth tour of the ‘best’ non-stellar objects (Planets, Nebulae, Galaxies and more).

“The interactive SkyTour cards are designed to equip budding backyard astronomers with the skills and desire to learn more about our Universe, satisfying the natural curiosity to explore new frontiers, and creating the thirst for knowledge that will inspire the next generation of explorers and scientists,” said Joseph A. Lupica Jr., president and CEO of Celestron. “Together, the SkyScout and SkyTour cards transform the night sky into a personal planetarium, providing instant access to a universe of knowledge and adventure, and placing the ‘joystick of exploration’ in the hands of astronomy buffs and stargazers of all ages and experience levels.”

In addition to new audio and text on celestial content, each SkyTour card includes additional graphics for display on SkyScout’s backlit LCD screen, turning SkyScout into the ultimate reality teaching, and learning tool for kids, parents, teachers and students alike.

The Celestron’s SkyTour cards for SkyScout have a suggested retail price of $19, and are slated to be available beginning Summer of 2007.

In addition to more information on the release of Celestron’s SkyTour Cards, Celestron will be showcasing its VistaPix IS70 Digital Spotting Scope (2007 Innovation’s Honoree) and the NexStar SE series of computerized telescopes at Celestron’s booth #70422, in the Sands Expo from January 8 – 11, 2007.