The CPC 800 GPS XLT is the most portable of Celestron's top-of-the-line fork-mounted astronomical telescopes and includes Celestron's premium StarBright XLT coatings. This telescope is at home as a superb visual instrument or, with optional wedge and CCD cameras, as a serious astrophotographer's tool.
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 42 lb., this telescope is portable enough to setup in your backyard or take with you to your favorite dark sky location.
Celestron CPC Telescopes are available in three aperture size choices:
Celestron's new CPC Series with revolutionary SkyAlign Alignment
Technology re-defines everything that amateur astronomers are looking for — quick and simple alignment, GPS, unsurpassed optical quality, ease of set-up and use, ergonomics, enhanced computerization and, most important, affordability.
Internal GPS
The CPC 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 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).
Identify feature tells you what you're looking at, but it can also be a very fun way to tour around the sky. Just point the telescope up somewhere and ask it to identify Messier objects (for instance) and it will show you the 5 nearest Messier objects to your position and let you GOTO them. You can keep doing this for different parts of the sky or for different object types -- it is a lot of fun.
There's also "Solar Sys 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.
Innovative Features
The new CPC Series telescopes, like our acclaimed Advanced Series and premium CGE Series telescopes feature meticulously matched and hand-figured optical systems that are manufactured in our facilities in Torrance, California. In addition, all CPC models are available with StarBright and StarBright XLT High Performance Optical Coatings.
With the introduction of the CPC Series, Celestron has “gone back to the drawing board” and re-designed, re-engineered, and re-invented a telescope family that provides superior quality, unsurpassed ease of use, and incomparable value. All CPC models ship standard with our NexRemote telescope control software.
- 8" diffraction limited Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope
- Celestron's premium StarBright XLT coatings
- Fully computerized dual fork arm altazimuth mount
- 8x50 finderscope to help accurately find objects
- Newly designed heavy-duty tripod makes attaching the telescope so easy you can do it in the dark; also features sturdy 2" steel legs and accessory tray
- Ergonomic design - Comfortably lift and move the telescope from location to location
- Star diagonal provides more comfortable viewing position when observing objects that are high in the sky
- Convenient remote hand control holder - Allows you to view information hands-free while using the scope
- Proven NexStar computer control technology
- 40,000 object database with 400 user-definable objects and expanded information on over 200 objects
- Custom database lists of all the most famous deep-sky objects by name and catalog number; the most beautiful double, triple and quadruple stars; variable star; solar systems; objects and asterisms
- Re-designed drive base and drive mechanics - Quiet operation; large drive gears, quick release clutch
- SkyAlign allows you to align on any three bright celestial objects, making for a fast and easy alignment process
- Flash upgradeable hand control software and motor control units for downloading product updates over the Internet
- Permanent PEC
- Auxiliary port for additional accessories such as an Autoguider
- NexRemote telescope control software and rs-232 cable included for advanced control of your telescope via computer
Astrophotography with the Celestron CPC Telescopes
While astrophotography could not be summed up here in one paragraph, a very common question for the CPC telescopes is how to connect a camera to it. Astrophotography is a hobby of patience and lots of trial and error, and plenty of errors will be had once you get started. But the rewards of good images is well worth it. Let's start first with connecting a DSLR camera - as these have become so popular over the last few years. I will use the example of connecting a Canon EOS Digital SLR Camera. First you will need a T-Adapter for a Schmidt Cassegrain telescope. This will thread onto the back of your Celestron CPC telescope. Next, you will need an appropriate T-Ring for your camera. For a Canon EOS, you would use the T-Ring for Canon EOS Cameras. You will remove the lens from your camera, and replace it with this T-Ring. Now you will be able to thread the camera to the back of the telescope. This is an easy way to begin astrophotography with your CPC telescope. We would however, highly recommend also getting the Celestron Focal Reducer as this will dramatically help with shortening exposure times and help you get better results faster.
