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My New Scope - A Celestron Edge HD 1100

By Warren Bracewell

I have used a 10" Newtonian telescope for the past 30 years to do all of my sky viewing. Learning the sky, and hunting and finding objects, is part of the thrill of astronomy. There is nothing like the satisfaction of finding a deep sky object under a jet black sky for the first time.

As such, I always wanted to purchase a good equatorial scope and mount. I looked at all of the options and considered weight, ease of transportation and set-up, and price. Of course aperture fever set in, and I finally purchased the Celestron EdgeHD 1100 telescope with a CGX-L mount and tripod.

Specifications

The telescope has a 280mm (11") primary and a focal length of 2800mm, which gives it an F ratio of F-10. It has a 23mm - 2" Celestron Luminos eyepiece that has an 82 degree field of view and a 2" diagonal with a 1.25" adapter. It also came with a 9X50 finder scope. The scope has the Edge HD optics, which reduces coma and gives an ultra-flat field out to the edge of the mirror.

Optics

The optics also have a Starbright XLT coating that gives a 97.4% transmission. The secondary mirror has a 3.75" obstruction, which I figure gives it about the same light gathering ability as my 10" Newtonian.

Mount

The CGX-L mount can carry a payload of 75#. It has 4 auxiliary ports and an auto-guide port mounted on the stationary for better wire management. It has no polar alignment scope built in, but comes with a program called All-Star Polar Alignment, which can use other stars to polar align when Polaris is obstructed. It also comes with a database of over 40,000 stars.

Setting up at outreach event

Future Plans

I have not been able to use the scope as much as I wished due to all of the inclement weather, but when I have used the scope, I was pleased with the performance. The next step is to get it set up for taking some astrophotography. I plan on purchasing the proper equipment for that soon. I guess the real trial by fire will be the Texas Star Party this spring.

Wish me luck.

Celestron Telescope with Edge HD Optics

Celestron Telescope Mount

Celestron Telescope Go-To Capabilities