This is the this is the Celestron StarSense Explorer dob. An eight inch visual telescope
with an Innovative smartphone app to help you locate objects in the night sky. This telescope
has enough power to not only see the planets up close but also distant deep-sky objects such as
galaxies and nebulae. In this video, I'll show you how the StarSense Explorer dob works and explain
why I think it's a great option for beginners that are looking for a little help in locating
objects in the night sky. Oh, and yes, you can do astrophotography with a manual dobsonian
telescope like this, just on a very simple level of the brightest objects. Plus your phone is
actually kind of already in use but I'll explain everything, just keep watching. Celestron sent me
a demo version of their 8-inch model, a full two inches smaller than the version they sent Ed Ting
- probably for the best he really knows his stuff. The timing of this video is okay, there's
about three to four hours of forecasted clear sky time tonight, the problem is it's also going to be
minus 11 degrees Celsius with snow on the ground. So I hope that when you get a chance to use this
telescope it's a little nicer outside. Unlike a lot of the astrophotography I typically do on this
channel where I am sitting at a computer screen, a telescope like this is meant to be enjoyed outside
at the eyepiece. An 8-inch dobsonian telescope is arguably the best first telescope for those new
to astronomy. It has enough aperture to provide some great views, they're easy to use and they're
affordable. There's a big mirror in there a full eight inches of aperture. By comparison an 8-inch
mirror provides 78 percent more light than a six inch. Which means more deep-sky objects
like galaxies and nebulae are available to you in the night sky, and not just the planets in the
moon. This is considered to be a push-to telescope because everything is done manually, you do all the
pointing. But this one gives you do some help - using the innovative StarSense plate solving technology
you have an advantage over the old school star hoppers. There are two main components to this
package, the 8-inch dobsonian telescope itself and then the StarSense Explorer docking system
and smartphone app. You can of course just use this telescope on its own without the app, it's a great
scope, and then start using that StarSense system when you're ready. The telescope itself is nothing
too special, it's an 8-inch Newtonian reflector sitting on a dobsonian base. As I said this is
the 8-inch version, which provides a native focal length of 1200 mm at F 5.9. That's enough
reach to get a good look at Saturn's rings or Jupiter's moons using a high powered eyepiece.
Speaking of eyepieces, this package includes an inch and a quarter 25 mm plossl Celestron
omni eyepiece. This is a perfect mid-range, all-purpose eyepiece but you can of course
use your existing inch and a quarter,, or two inch eyepieces on this scope. I'm told that the 10 inch
model has some balancing issues, particularly when using a heavy eyepiece at the front of the scope.
As you can see it's a non-issue on the eight inch model but that's probably because I like
to really stiffen the tension knobs on my dobs. I don't want it moving anywhere in the wind and
this is very very secure. The front of the tube is also where you install the included Red Dot
finder. You know what, in the past, I've said that red dot finders suck but they actually don't. Yeah
it's a lot more fun to look through a quality 8x50 finder scope, but these things do their
job. They're all function, no frill - even though I have never, not once, ever remembered to turn the
Red Dot finder off when I'm done with it. The 8 inch version is probably the best fit for most
people as it's more manageable than the larger, 10 inch model. If you want even more light gathering
power, by all means go for the 10, but that one is a heavy beast. The one you see here is about 50
pounds in total, so for most people it's best to carry it in two parts when transporting it
around. Not me however, the whole kit and caboodle at once. If you're like me and treat your back
like a piece of industrial farm equipment, you'll appreciate the big handles on it to get the job
done, You have to put together the big dobsonian base yourself - the rocker box. This process takes
about 30 minutes to an hour. All the tools that you need are provided but it's probably the least fun
part of the entire experience. Trust me, I've built four of these things now. While you're putting the
base together, you should download the Celestron StarSense Explore app on your phone. It's a big
download and when it's done you'll need to enter the unique code that Celestron sends you along
with the scope. The optical tube itself comes fully assembled so all you need to do there is place it
into the rocker box. The StarSense system involves an odd looking bracket mounted to the scope where
you would normally see a finderscope, only this one has an angled mirror. There's a big plastic
cover that comes onto the dock which is probably a good idea to put back on when you're done, to
avoid getting too much dust on that mirror. At first I didn't know what I was looking at but
this is where you will place your phone looking into that mirror to take pictures and analyze the
telescope's location in the night sky. If you've used a smartphone adapter to take pictures through
your telescope before, like I have, this setup might look a little confusing. Yes there's a smartphone
adapter there but it is not looking through the eyepiece. So, if you want to take pictures through
your smartphone from the eyepiece while using the StarSense Explorer app on your phone, you'll need
a second smartphone adapter and a second phone. Okay let's talk about the StarSense system and
how it works. Place your phone on the StarSense dock and then use the intuitive controls on the
adapter to line up the camera lens on your phone with that mirror. There's a setup wizard in the
app that walks you through the entire process. And remember this isn't really a a live view but short
exposure pictures, so there's a bit of a delay and when you turn that on to when you'll see the
first image. The mirror in the bracket reflects the direction your telescope is pointed into
the camera lens on your phone. It's not looking through the telescope at all, just wide out in
the open. You need to point the telescope towards a distant object, like a telephone pole or a tree,
and then use the crosshairs in the app to make sure it's centered with the same object you're
seeing through your eyepiece. Yep, you're you're just pinching and zooming to get that crosshair
aligned on the same target. This felt really weird because, as you know, a traditional finderscope
you actually have to move the scope around, but not this time just the crosshairs the software
knows. Once it gets dark out it will use this pointing information to plate solve star patterns in the
night sky, and determine your telescope's exact position. Getting all of this set up, in terms of
the smartphone app and my phone, was relatively easy to do at dusk. That's when I recommend you
do it. Some of you will find this process kind of cool and exciting like I did, others I think
will face some trial and error but you'll get it eventually trust me. The biggest adjustment I had
to make here, and and this is something to consider, is that you now need to leave your smartphone in
this position in the StarSense dock for the entire imaging session you can no longer use your phone
for anything else because it has to stay there. Yeah so that's not actually true, you can still
swap between apps on your phone. I actually ran my imaging session on my ASI air while the phone was
still docked, it's not ideal but you can still use your phone. Actually I even took the phone
out of the dock, used it for a few things put it back in carefully and it retained its plate
solving capabilities in its original position and alignment, so good to know. The Celestron StarSense
app can really drain your battery doing all that plate solving computation in there, so it's best
to have it plugged into a portable battery pack if possible to keep the phone going all night.
Celestron sent me their little flashlight/ battery charger along with this setup and that's
an ideal accessory for a setup like this. Okay, now that the telescope and the StarSense system
are aligned and ready to go, we can start enjoying the guided experience it provides. The on-screen
star map is really slick and it's a lot of fun to move the telescope towards your object. The arrows
tell you which way you need to move the telescope and when you've finally reached your target the
crosshair will turn green. I was pretty impressed with how well the system works, and that the object
I wanted to see was right there in the eyepiece - first try. There's a reason that Celestron decided
to expand the StarSense system into their line of Dobs, it's because it's a proven system that
works and it's a lot of fun. Beginners can now bang off dozens of objects in the night sky on a single
observing session, thanks to this simple system that uses a device they already own - their phone.
Okay now for astrophotography, seeing as how this is a fully manual, non-tracking dobsonian telescope
mount, long exposure deep-sky astrophotography is completely out of the question. However, the
big aperture of this telescope means a bright image at the eyepiece. This will make taking
pictures of the moon and the brightest planets possible. For the best results use a smartphone
adapter that can hold your phone securely up against that eyepiece. Even then it will be
really tricky because essentially, you're pointed at a moving target. However, that's not to say that
it just can't be done. You've probably heard people say, you just can't do astrophotography
with a dobsonian telescope. But, I don't know, taking your first shot of the moon or the planet Saturn
through the eyepiece of your dobsonian telescope is still astrophotography - it's just the starting
point. My first image of the Orion Nebula was taken through a manual dobsonian telescope
and, well, you know the way the rest of that story goes. There have been numerous attempts by these
astronomy manufacturers to add a go-to or hybrid functionality to a manual dobsonian telescope in
the past. Tools to help you avoid the I have no idea how to find anything scenario. Some of them
took off others didn't. The difference this time is the StarSense system uses your own phone as
the technology component, saving you the cost of bolting on an additional piece of hardware with
the computing power. If you're a visual observing purist, I doubt you'll want to employ a system
that has you looking at your phone for long periods of time. Yes the app has a night mode
to preserve your night vision, but a completely screen free observing session is an entirely
different experience. However, those of you that it have your heart set on astrophotography in the
future, I doubt that this element of tech will deter you from using it. And you'll even get a
sneak peek into the amazing power of plate solving, something I personally didn't explore for way too
long. If you're in the market for a beginner telescope that nearly guarantees a positive
first experience, an 8-inch dobsonian telescope continues to be one of the best options available.
If adding an additional layer of guidance via your smartphone is worth it to you, then the
StarSense Explorer dob is an incredible value. This telescope makes astronomy more approachable to
beginners and gets them to that first point of victory sooner, and that's a special thing. Okay -
that's all I've got. Thank you guys so much for watching and until next time clear skies!
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