5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic GoTo Telescope

2026-01-29    -Gadget Man

I have owned about 20 to 30 telescopes over the past 40 years, including 4 previous Celestron 8 scopes. I've owned large Dobs (Teleports and Starmasters), Refractors (Tele Vue and Stellarvue) and even a Meade or two. I was intrigued by the Celestron Evolution EdgeHD with Star Sense. I was not disappointed. The GoTo feature is fantastic.The Star Sense really works. It hunts around the sky, takes pictures, recognizes star patters and then tells you it is aligned. The first time you use it, you need to use manual align so that the Star Sense camera aligns itself to the telescope. This is a one time thing and sounds more complicated than it is. The alignment worked well.Once aligned with star sense (using Auto Align), I selected M57 the Ring nebula and the Evolution scope put it right in the center of the eyepiece...amazing. I picked one celestial object after another (Saturn, Andromeda Galaxy, Dumbbell Nebula, Double Double cluster, Epsilon Lyra, etc.) and each time the Evolution scope landed the item in the center of the eyepiece. It never missed. This happened on repeated nights. When you auto align it asks you to first put the optical tube in the horizontal position. You don't have to be exact in this. A close approximation seems to be all that is required. Nice!I'm so satisfied with the Evolution HD scope that I will likely sell my 102mm Stellarvue. The 8 inch diameter definitely gives you a more satisfying view of deep sky objects than the 4 inch diameter of the refactor (at least for me).I updated the firmware in the telescope...be mindful that it updates the motor software, the Star sense and the hand controller firmware. The documents that come with the scope make you think you need a serial cable with a serial to USB converter cable. You don't. The engineers updated the cable ports so what you need is a USB to mini USB cable. What I couldn't figure out is whether you need one cable or two cables to accomplish all the firmware updates. I've read mixed messages on the Internet. I used only the one cable.Lots of things have been well thought out in the Evolution HD...like captive screws in the tripod, centering help to place the telescope in the mount, the built in lithium battery (no more batteries to trip over in the dark), handles on the base and next to the battery to help carry the telescope, a leveling bubble on the base. To properly balance the optical tube note from the picture that most of it sits forward so you can read the entire Evolution logo.The HD optical tube seems to be of very high quality. The optics are great. Even though my scope was shipped from NY to Hawaii, the scope arrived in perfect collimation.Note that if you decide to attach a reducer to the EvolutionHD in order to get a wider field you can't use the old Celestron reducer. You'll need to get the newer .7 celestron reducer which is more expensive. It is also difficult for dealers to get. Not sure why Celestron is not delivering more to the dealers.All in all this scope is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic GoTo Telescope

2026-02-28    -Gadget Man

I have owned about 20 to 30 telescopes over the past 40 years, including 4 previous Celestron 8 scopes. I've owned large Dobs (Teleports and Starmasters), Refractors (Tele Vue and Stellarvue) and even a Meade or two. I was intrigued by the Celestron Evolution EdgeHD with Star Sense. I was not disappointed. The GoTo feature is fantastic.The Star Sense really works. It hunts around the sky, takes pictures, recognizes star patters and then tells you it is aligned. The first time you use it, you need to use manual align so that the Star Sense camera aligns itself to the telescope. This is a one time thing and sounds more complicated than it is. The alignment worked well.Once aligned with star sense (using Auto Align), I selected M57 the Ring nebula and the Evolution scope put it right in the center of the eyepiece...amazing. I picked one celestial object after another (Saturn, Andromeda Galaxy, Dumbbell Nebula, Double Double cluster, Epsilon Lyra, etc.) and each time the Evolution scope landed the item in the center of the eyepiece. It never missed. This happened on repeated nights. When you auto align it asks you to first put the optical tube in the horizontal position. You don't have to be exact in this. A close approximation seems to be all that is required. Nice!I'm so satisfied with the Evolution HD scope that I will likely sell my 102mm Stellarvue. The 8 inch diameter definitely gives you a more satisfying view of deep sky objects than the 4 inch diameter of the refactor (at least for me).I updated the firmware in the telescope...be mindful that it updates the motor software, the Star sense and the hand controller firmware. The documents that come with the scope make you think you need a serial cable with a serial to USB converter cable. You don't. The engineers updated the cable ports so what you need is a USB to mini USB cable. What I couldn't figure out is whether you need one cable or two cables to accomplish all the firmware updates. I've read mixed messages on the Internet. I used only the one cable.Lots of things have been well thought out in the Evolution HD...like captive screws in the tripod, centering help to place the telescope in the mount, the built in lithium battery (no more batteries to trip over in the dark), handles on the base and next to the battery to help carry the telescope, a leveling bubble on the base. To properly balance the optical tube note from the picture that most of it sits forward so you can read the entire Evolution logo.The HD optical tube seems to be of very high quality. The optics are great. Even though my scope was shipped from NY to Hawaii, the scope arrived in perfect collimation.Note that if you decide to attach a reducer to the EvolutionHD in order to get a wider field you can't use the old Celestron reducer. You'll need to get the newer .7 celestron reducer which is more expensive. It is also difficult for dealers to get. Not sure why Celestron is not delivering more to the dealers.All in all this scope is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Fantastic scope....

2026-02-21    -mvat

I had a few problems getting this through Amazon but some amazing customer service fixed the problems in the end.The scope OTA is fantastic and I have always wanted to upgrade (from a 127 MAK) but do not have the time or skill to set up an EQ mount. When the Evolution series came out I was very interested so i finally took the plunge.The wifi ability to run the scope through a tablet is a big draw. But you can also use the handset which comes with it and this is a great back up (make sure you disconnect the handset when using wifi. I had read a bit online so I was aware of a few quirks.Out of the box if you set the scope up as per the instructions.. align the finder etc charge up the battery then you are ready to go. In its two parts it is not too heavy but it is solid as a rock when put together. Useful bumps and notches help you do it easily in the dark (snigger). I was set up in less than 5 minutes on the first clear night. I was a bit dubious of the tablet alignment.. but sure enough.. line up 3 bright stars and the scope knows exactly what you are doing.. all GPS data and time information comes from the tablet... IT IS SO EASY and it works.... the Skyportal software is easy to use but I advise playing with it inside first as it is a bit quirky. The tracking works great as well.The heavy tripod and mount hold the 9.25 very steady even with a DSLR mounted to it.I have been using a nexus 7 to control it. I found it best to disconnect my local wifi.. run a GPS test app and check location before starting the skyportal program.The eyepieces that come with the scope are ok but it is better to upgrade them.Having a visual planetarium in front of you means you see a lot more in one session that you might not have known was even there before... Even as a relative novice it has opened my eyes to what is in the sky. Just have to wait for some clear nights.

5.0 out of 5 stars Telescope was very easy to setup no real need for instructions

2026-01-02    -USArmyMPVet

Telescope was very easy to setup no real need for instructions. Did need to know length of time to charge battery which Celestron failed to mention in instructions (Initial is 4 to 8 hours until light stops blinking had to google it.) Item was double boxed. I was impressed at the ease of alignment( as long as you get each alignment star in middle of eyepiece your good to go), and then how easy it was and how fast it aligned to what you wanted to look at with the iphone app, was a joy to use. Looked at Orion nebula using the supplied optics and it was beautiful so the quality is there. Took about 8 to 10 minutes to set up then align the scope that is pretty darn fast. My first scope was a goto meade DS-114 was a disaster. The quality was just horrible. Goto the trash was more like it lol. I will suggest anyone buying this scope buy the http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0069VXRLS/ref=cm_cr_ryp_prd_ttl_sol_2. these are a great set of eyepieces at a great price and gives you a good selection with colored filters add in the 2 celestron eye pieces that come with this scope and that is 6 eyepieces plus the 2 x barlow. None of them will be the same mm size either. I tried them all last night great quality plossl. You won't be disappointed, at this price I wasn't. I wanted a good telescope to show my grandkids and my wife and kids the stars and I believe with this telescope I can finally do just that.

1.0 out of 5 stars I'd love to be able to write a positive review for ...

2026-03-05    -Amazon Customer

I'd love to be able to write a positive review for this scope, but I haven't had the chance to use it. It arrived a little over two weeks ago and I was very excited to take it for a spin until I found out that one of the tripod screws for the mount was misaligned. Threading is perfectly fine, just doesn't line up with the holes on the mount. I contacted Celestron support and was very pleased to receive a reply email within 48hrs, but am still waiting for the RMA label to send it back for a replacement. This appears to be a good scope and the tripod and mount are quite substantial. Right now, however, it's a very large and expensive paper weight.

Easy to use and very accurate

2025-12-29    -M P Cook

The 8" SCT is great - better than a Meade 8" I had several years ago. However the star of the show is the mount - very stable, very accurate goto and really easy to set up - just point at 3 bright objects, centre in the eyepiece (using controls on your Ipad) and everything is synced. A word of advice - buy the Skysafari Pro app rather than use the free Celestron - it is so much better and and there are many more objects to view.I've had many different scopes and mounts and this is by far the best - really can't fault it. By the way you might feel a little play in the alt bearing - this is not a problem, just make sure your scope is slightly back heavy (by moving it in the dovetail until it tilts back slightly) and goto is absolutely spot on. Oh and buy a illuminated reticule eyepiece for your goto set up.

Çok başarılı bir teleskop

2026-03-02    -Fatih Sipahi

Tüm astronomik uygulamalar için kesinlikle ideal bir ürün. Astronomide maalesef üst sınır diye birşey yok. Ne kadar masraf edilse de hep daha üst birşeyler karşınıza çıkar ve acaba daha üstünü mü almalıyım diye düşünürsünüz. Ne alırsanız alın James Webb karşısında daima çaresiz kalacaksınız. Dolayısıyla alışlarınıza maddi bir sınır koymanız gerekir. Bu model yıllarca bir çok gözlem ihtiyacınıza hizmet edecektir. Tabiki devamında çeşitli göz mercekleri, filtreler, fotoğraflama aksesuarları vs.almanız gerekecek. Bir yerden başlamanız gerektiğine göre bu modeli şiddetle tavsiye ederim.

Fantastic scope....

2026-02-18    -mvat

I had a few problems getting this through Amazon but some amazing customer service fixed the problems in the end.The scope OTA is fantastic and I have always wanted to upgrade (from a 127 MAK) but do not have the time or skill to set up an EQ mount. When the Evolution series came out I was very interested so i finally took the plunge.The wifi ability to run the scope through a tablet is a big draw. But you can also use the handset which comes with it and this is a great back up (make sure you disconnect the handset when using wifi. I had read a bit online so I was aware of a few quirks.Out of the box if you set the scope up as per the instructions.. align the finder etc charge up the battery then you are ready to go. In its two parts it is not too heavy but it is solid as a rock when put together. Useful bumps and notches help you do it easily in the dark (snigger). I was set up in less than 5 minutes on the first clear night. I was a bit dubious of the tablet alignment.. but sure enough.. line up 3 bright stars and the scope knows exactly what you are doing.. all GPS data and time information comes from the tablet... IT IS SO EASY and it works.... the Skyportal software is easy to use but I advise playing with it inside first as it is a bit quirky. The tracking works great as well.The heavy tripod and mount hold the 9.25 very steady even with a DSLR mounted to it.I have been using a nexus 7 to control it. I found it best to disconnect my local wifi.. run a GPS test app and check location before starting the skyportal program.The eyepieces that come with the scope are ok but it is better to upgrade them.Having a visual planetarium in front of you means you see a lot more in one session that you might not have known was even there before... Even as a relative novice it has opened my eyes to what is in the sky. Just have to wait for some clear nights.

Çok başarılı bir teleskop

2026-01-25    -Fatih Sipahi

Tüm astronomik uygulamalar için kesinlikle ideal bir ürün. Astronomide maalesef üst sınır diye birşey yok. Ne kadar masraf edilse de hep daha üst birşeyler karşınıza çıkar ve acaba daha üstünü mü almalıyım diye düşünürsünüz. Ne alırsanız alın James Webb karşısında daima çaresiz kalacaksınız. Dolayısıyla alışlarınıza maddi bir sınır koymanız gerekir. Bu model yıllarca bir çok gözlem ihtiyacınıza hizmet edecektir. Tabiki devamında çeşitli göz mercekleri, filtreler, fotoğraflama aksesuarları vs.almanız gerekecek. Bir yerden başlamanız gerektiğine göre bu modeli şiddetle tavsiye ederim.

1.0 out of 5 stars I'd love to be able to write a positive review for ...

2026-01-30    -Amazon Customer

I'd love to be able to write a positive review for this scope, but I haven't had the chance to use it. It arrived a little over two weeks ago and I was very excited to take it for a spin until I found out that one of the tripod screws for the mount was misaligned. Threading is perfectly fine, just doesn't line up with the holes on the mount. I contacted Celestron support and was very pleased to receive a reply email within 48hrs, but am still waiting for the RMA label to send it back for a replacement. This appears to be a good scope and the tripod and mount are quite substantial. Right now, however, it's a very large and expensive paper weight.