Ultimate Observer Package

Ultimate Observer Package

#1.  Large aperture:  The 11" aperture on this telescope brings in incredible amounts of light which make your views of deep sky objects such as galaxies, nebulas and star clusters bright and clear in the eyepiece.  Celestron's XLT coatings provide the highest amount of light transmission.   When light from the 500 billion stars of the Andromeda galaxy ends its 2.4 million year journey in your backyard, you will soak in almost twice as much light as an 8 inch telescope.  You will never loose a sense of awe as you probe the wonders of our universe.

#2.   Sharp Optics:   With a focal length of almost three meters, the Celestron CPC1100 offers sharp, crisp views of stars right out to the edge of the field of view.  

#3.  Portability:   While the CPC1100 is a large telescope, the Schmidt-Cassegrain design, and two piece construction allows one person to set up or take down the telescope in 10 minutes or less. With the JMI travel case, you can also load the telescope for transport to another site - perhaps a dark sky area or to your camping spot or favorite vacation area.  While there are larger telescopes available, the CPC1100 is the largest telescope that can be quickly set up and easily transported.  

#4.  Ease of Use:   With a bulit-in GPS, the telescope is able to quickly identify its position on the planet as well as know the date and time.   Based on the time, date and location, it then knows exactly what is visible in the sky.   You perform a simple alignment and the telescope does the rest - taking you to any of the 40,000 objects in the database that you select.  (Only about 30% of the objects will be visible at any one time.) 

#5.  Affordable: While the CPC1100 along with accessories is a significant investment, it is considerably less expensive than many other hobbies and is a hobby that can be shared with people from age 4 to 84.  Your connection to the cosmos will enrich your life beyond your imagination.  The price of a CPC1100 dropped $700 from 2006 to 2007.

To make the most of your Celestron CPC1100 telescope, we recommend a number of accessories.   Terence Dickinson and Alan Dyer in The BackYard Astronomer's Guide say, "Upgrading to a better class of eyepieces is the best improvement a new owner can make to a starter scope....Even owners of more expensive telescopes need to buy eyepieces, as upscale scopes rarely come with more than one eyepiece." p. 64  There are several types of eyepieces such as Plossl, Kellner and Orthoscopic.  A fairly general concensus in the astronomy community is that TeleVue make the best eyepieces on the market.   The Backyard Astronomer's Guide comments, "The ultimate premium eyepiece is the six-element, 31mm Nagler Type 5 .   Its long focal length coupled with a wide 82-degree apparent field of view produce a panoramic picture-window view unmatched by any other eyepiece."  p. 74 

2" SCT Diagonal:  In order to use the recommended eyepieces, a 2" diagonal is required.  We recommend the Celestron 2" SCT diagonal with XLT coatings which offer the best light transmission similar to the XLT mirror coatings.

 

Celestron PowerTank 17 :   The Celestron CPC1100 runs on 12 volt power.  You can run a cord to your vehicle's auxillary power outlet or use a rechargeable 12 volt battery pack.   We recommend the PowerTank 17 to operate your telescope all night long before it needs recharging. 

Lens Shade:    The compact design of a Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope would be spoiled if the manufacturer added an extra 12 inches to the telescope with a lens shade.   The flexible and removeable Celestron Lens Shade will protect the telescope from dew, dust and stray light.  It seems so necessary that it should be required with every CPC.

Filters: Different filters are used for different purposes.   A moon filter also known as a Neutral Density filter cuts the brightness of the moon to allow prolonged viewing.  Without a moon filter, your view of a moon at first quarter is equivalent of someone shining a flashlight into one eye.  Two other filters are recommended for viewing nebulas.   A nebula filter blocks certain wavelengths of light while allowing other wavelength - those of the nebula - to pass through.   The result is a high contrast, black sky background, view of the nebula.  An O111 (oxygen 3) filter is useful on the Veil and Ring nebula while the UHC/LPR filter is useful on most other nebulas.  Color filters are inexpensive and  often used for viewing planets.  Backyard Astronomer's Guide says, "If you are going to choose one filter, a UHC-class narrowband filter is the most useful for all telescopes....If you get hooked on nebulas, add an O-111 filter later...."  P. 85

SkyLight Filter:   We put this in a separate category because this filter performs a different function from those above.   Use a SkyLight filter on the back of your optical tube before adding the diagonal or visual back.   It makes the optical tube a completely sealed unit.  It protects the scope in a similar way that skylight filters protect a camera lens.  

Observer Chair:   The best enjoyment in astronomy comes after the original thrill of seeing so many spectacular objects.  You begin to take the time to really observe a star cluster or galaxy - noting a lot of detail, contrast and even color that you missed in your initial tour.  Due to changing sky conditions you will also notice that detail comes into view and can also disappear.   You are taking time to observe, analyse, sketch and discover more about each celestial object.   In order to do this properly a good observering chair with an adjustable height seat and footrest is essential.    Mark Townsend owns a Celestron CPC and makes these comments: 

Solar Filter :   Would you like to do astronomy during the daytime?   Watch the daily march of sunspots, plages, and other surface detail. (Plages are bright cloud-like features found around sunspots that represent regions of higher temperature and density within the chromosphere.) This full-aperture glass solar filter will protect your vision.

Starry Night Pro Software:   This software package will help you plan an observing night by showing what the night sky will look like from anywhere on the planet on any night or from  anywhere in the solar system.   Starry Night Pro also can be paired with your CPC for full operation of the scope - especially useful for astrophotogaphy.  Also includes informative video.

Celestron Star Pointer:   This simple red-dot finder can be added to the telescope and works well in conjunction with the finderscope.   During the alignment procedure, the red dot allows you to see exactly where the telescope is pointing as you slew across the sky to an alignment star.  When you are "star hopping" you can also use the star pointer to direct the scope to a visible object or to an area of the sky where you might then use the finderscope for closer direction of the telescope.   It is perhaps one of the most useful and least expensive accessories to assist in your viewing experience.

Scope Cloak:   If you are able to leave your telescope unattended, the scope cloak offers protection from the elements - sun, dew and rain.   This is especially useful when you can leave your CPC set up for several days, such as at Star Parties or at a secure site.  

  Ultimate Package Pricing - CPC1100
Prices subject to change - check online catalogue listing to confirm pricing.  Eyepiece selection may vary from below and significantly alter total pricing.

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