Celestron CGE Pro 14 Inch Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope

Description

The CGE Pro 1400 Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope is part of Celestron's "Top-of-the-Line" German Equatorial mounted astronomical telescopes. With over three times the light gathering power of an 8" telescope, this observatory-class instrument is Celestron's largest optical system in its class. This model features our premium StarBright XLT coatings.

This model also features our premium StarBright XLT coatings and is FASTAR compatible for F/2 wide field imaging. This telescope is especially at home as a solid platform for long exposure photography with optional CCD cameras or photographic equipment; it is a serious scientific research tool. German Equatorial mounts are recognized as being the superior choice for astrophotography because of their rock solid stability, simple balancing and easy accessibility for attaching equipment. With sophisticated software features like Hibernate function, the CGE Pro can maintain its star alignment night after night without needing to be re-aligned, making it an ideal instrument for a permanent observatory facility.

The CGE Pro 1400 takes full advantage of its vast database of thousands of NGC and Abell galaxies as well as delivering a new level of detail to all your favorite deep sky objects. Turn this scope to the 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.

Fastar Compatible  - 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/11, but also yields a field of view five times wider. Perfect combination for imaging your favorite wide field objects in a fraction of the time. (FASTAR imaging require a third party lens assembly in place of the secondary mirror).

This telescope is especially at home as a solid platform for long exposure photography with optional CCD cameras or photographic equipment; it is a serious scientific research tool that comes with Celestron's premium StarBright XLT coatings.

For astrophotography, the German Equatorial mount offers easier balancing, unlimited space at the rear of the telescope tube to mount a camera, and whole sky access. Now you can enjoy all of the NexStar software and database features with the extra stability and portability of a German Equatorial mount.

In addition to being fully computerized with a database of over 40,000 celestial objects, the CGE Pro German Equatorial mount has been completely redesigned to offer numerous design advantages:

Increased Payload Capacity – With a maximum payload of 90lbs the CGE Pro mount is able to hold the 14" telescope more securely even when fully loaded with all your imaging gear.
 
All-Star Polar Alignment – Choose any bright alignment star for a software assisted alignment of the mounts polar axis that will have you ready for imaging even if you can't see the North Star.
 
No-Tool polar alignment – Larger hand knobs for both Altitude and Azimuth adjustments.
 
Meridian Tracking – Extended tracking pass the Meridian of up to 20 degrees of uninterrupted imaging through the best part of the sky.
 
Faster slew speed – Improved gearing and motors provide faster slew speeds than ever before with a maximum slew rate of over 5°/per second.

In addition to these improvements, the Celestron line of German Equatorial mounts has long been recognized for features preferred by visual observers and astrophotographer alike. Among them include:

Portability – Set up and transportation of the CGE Pro telescopes is made easy by separating the mount into smaller, easy-to-carry components. Unlike fork arm mounted telescopes, the CGE's optical tubes can be quickly removed from their mounts making even the CGE Pro1400 easily assembled in minutes.
 
Stability – Recognized for superior stability, German Equatorial mounts place the center of gravity directly over the tripod legs and can be easily polar aligned without the use of an optional equatorial wedge. This proven design reduces the “tuning fork” vibration that can be associated with undersized fork mounts. An improved Super HD Tripod supports the CGE Pro mount. This fully extendable tripod is made from the finest 2.75" stainless steel and can be raised to a height of 55". The tripod uses a dual leg support for maximum rigidity with an upper leg brace to provide an outward preload and a lower leg brace providing inward tension.
 
Balance – CGE Pro equatorial mounts can easily be balanced in both axes. Simply sliding the counterweight for Right Ascension and moving the optical tube along its dovetail mounting for Declination accomplish balancing the weight of camera equipment and other visual accessories. This means that no additional weight needs to be added to balance the telescope when additional accessories are added. Clearance – CGE Pro mounts support their tubes at a single contact point allowing the tube to move freely around its polar axis without making contact with the telescope's mount. Software features allow the user to set the mounts slew limits to guaranty safe motion. This is particularly useful when adding photographic and CCD instruments that extend from the rear of the telescopes.
 
Clearance – CGE Pro mounts support their tubes at a single contact point allowing the tube to move freely around its polar axis without making contact with the telescope's mount. Software features allow the user to set the mounts slew limits to guaranty safe motion.  This is particularly useful when adding photographic and CCD instruments that extend from the rear of the telescopes.

Combine the GPS and built-in real time clock and these telescopes will keep track and remember their exact location and time without having to enter the information into the hand control.

FEATURES

• 14" Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope
• Fastar compatible
• Celestron premium StarBright XLT coatings
• CGE PRO computerized Equatorial mount
• Schmidt-Cassegrain mechanism that moves the primary mirror to adjust focus is supported by two pre-loaded ball bearings, minimizing the "mirror flop" typical of bushing focus mechanisms
• Heavy duty stainless steel tripod adjustable from 38 - 55"
• 6x30 finderscope to help accurately find objects
• Star diagonal provides more comfortable viewing position when observing objects that are high in the sky
• Proven NexStar computer control technology
• 40,000 object database with 400 user-definable objects and expanded information on over 200 objects
• New All-Star Polar Alignment routine for both Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
• Software Features include: Database Filter Limits, Hibernate, five alignment methods and user-defined slew limits.
• Flash upgradeable hand control software and motor control units for downloading product updates over the Internet
• Double line, 16-character Liquid Crystal Display Hand Control with backlit LED buttons for easy operation of goto features
• 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
• 12VDC Servo Motors with integrated optical encoders
• Permanent programmable periodic error correction (PEC) - corrects for periodic tracking errors inherent to all worm drives
• Drive Motors - High quality motors with seven slot skewed armature to minimize magnetic cogging for quiet operation and long life. Precision made cut-steel gears in gearbox for Improve tracking precision.
• Bearing and Shaft - Main shafts are made from 1.57" diameter steel tubing with .40" wall thickness with two preloaded 2.68" O.D. tapered roller bearings on each axes
• Precision worm drive system - .75" pitch dia. precision made steel worm preloaded with two .87" OD ball bearings to minimize run-out (a source of periodic error). 255 tooth 6" pitch dia. precision made worm wheel with enveloping brass teeth
• Spring loaded DEC worm to minimize backlash and makes guiding easy.
• 4 point RA and DEC clutch system for no-slip pointing precision
• Autoguide port, PC port and auxiliary ports located on the electronic pier for long exposure astrophotography
• Latitude range: 10º to 65º northern or southern hemispheres
• RS-232 communication port on hand control to control the telescope via a personal computer
• Includes NexRemote telescope control software, for advanced control of your telescope via computer