Can I take astrophotos with the NexStar 8SE?

Yes, the optical tube is Fastar-compatible for wide-field imaging, and Celestron sells compatible planetary cameras separately, but a camera, adapter, and (for longer exposures) an equatorial wedge are additional purchases beyond the base telescope.

What eyepieces are included?

The base kit typically ships with one eyepiece and a red-dot or optical finder; several Amazon bundle listings add extra Plossl eyepieces, a Barlow lens, and filters, so check the specific listing's included-items list before ordering.

Celestron NexStar 8SE Computerized Telescope – Schmidt-Cassegrain | Fully Automated GoTo Mount with SkyAlign, Large 8" SCT Optics, Visual & Astroimaging Ready, Deep-Sky & Planets, 40k+ Objects

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Best all-around GoTo telescope

Celestron NexStar 8SE Computerized Telescope – Schmidt-Cassegrain | Fully Automated GoTo Mount with SkyAlign, Large 8" SCT Optics, Visual & Astroimaging Ready, Deep-Sky & Planets, 40k+ Objects

By Celestron

9.8Excellent matchFeature and use-case score

The NexStar 8SE pairs Celestron's compact Schmidt-Cassegrain optics with a fully automated GoTo mount, so it's the pick for anyone who wants a telescope that finds 40,000-plus objects instead of one you aim by hand.

8-inch (203mm) Schmidt-Cassegrain optics at f/10 for a 2032mm focal length
SkyAlign lets you align on any three bright objects without identifying them by name
NexStar+ hand control with a database of 40,000+ objects

See Price at the store →Price, delivery, and configuration can change at the retailer.

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Product overview

Celestron NexStar 8SE: What to Know

At the core of the NexStar 8SE is an 8-inch (203.2mm) Schmidt-Cassegrain optical tube with a folded light path, which is why a telescope with a long 2032mm focal length (f/10) fits into a tube barely longer than a large coffee can. That folded design is a real tradeoff: it makes the scope unusually portable for its aperture, but Schmidt-Cassegrains also need time to reach outdoor air temperature before the view sharpens up, typically 30 to 45 minutes.

The mount is the other half of the story. It's a computerized, single fork-arm altazimuth mount driven by Celestron's NexStar+ hand control, with a database of more than 40,000 stored objects. Celestron's SkyAlign routine lets you point at any three bright stars or planets, even without knowing their names, and the mount calculates its own position from there; after that it slews to and tracks whatever you select.

Celestron and various retailers sell the NexStar 8SE optical tube and mount as several different Amazon bundles, base kit, plus a WiFi SkyPortal module, plus an eyepiece and filter accessory kit, and so on, all under very similar listing titles. It's worth double-checking exactly which bundle you're looking at before buying, since the core telescope is the same across them but the included accessories differ.

Total kit weight runs about 32 lb split across the optical tube (roughly 12 lb), the mount head (about 11 lb), and the tripod (about 9 lb), per Celestron's own spec sheet, so it's a two-trip carry for most people rather than a true grab-and-go scope. It also needs 8 AA batteries or Celestron's optional AC adapter to run the motors and hand control.

On capability: an 8-inch mirror at f/10 delivers genuinely sharp, high-magnification views of the Moon and planets, and enough light-gathering to pick out brighter deep-sky targets like globular clusters and the larger galaxies. From a light-polluted backyard, though, fainter nebulae will still show up as dim gray patches at the eyepiece rather than the color you'd see in a photograph; that's a limitation of visual observing through any optical telescope, not something specific to this model.