The brand Celestron is known for its high-quality Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes. These compact telescopes have a special glass plate on the front end which is exposed to the air and, therefore, is relatively susceptible to dewing up.

Celestron now offers a newly-developed range of accessories to solve this problem:

Aluminium dew cap with practical clip to secure to the telescope tube

These sturdy caps have an internal velvet surround to protect against pesky scattered light as well as dew. As every cap comes with a compatible dust cap, they can also stay on the telescope tube once you have finished observing for the night. This is a big advantage for observatory telescopes.

The dew caps are available in all Celestron SC telescope sizes. You can find the entire range here in our shop.

Heating rings for installation on the Schmidt plate

This new solution to the issue of dew is especially innovative. With just a few flicks of the wrist, you can separate the holding ring from the plate and replace it with a new ring with integrated heating. Thanks to the integrated sensor, the temperature of the Schmidt plate is kept just below the dew point and, therefore, remains dry.

If you are purchasing a new Celestron telescope, we can complete the installation for you prior to despatch. You can find all models here in the shop.

Dew cap smart controls

A set of controls is required to supply power to the heating ring. This not only provides the required energy, but also keeps the heating element’s other sensors operating optimally. This saves energy and prevents the heating creating negative optical effects. You only heat as much as you need to!

Both the 2x dew cap smart controls and the 4x dew cap smart controls can also control heating elements produced by other manufacturers. Additionally, they function as a hub for additional accessories. This prevents there being a tangle of cables and allows your set-up to be powered and controlled by one device and one software.

All of Celestron’s dew prevention options can be found here in our shop.

 The Celestron Lithium Powertank has quickly proven itself and is already used as a power supply for countless astronomical telescopes. Celestron has now also packed two LiFePO4 elements into one battery to give twice the power with its Lithium Pro Powertank!

Some special features:

• Up to 17 hours of power for your telescope!
• Multiple devices can be powered simultaneously.
• Socket for vehicle power plug (cigarette lighter cable). This cable is included with most telescopic mounts as an accessory.
• High shelf life – unlike other power tanks, this battery does not need to be used regularly in order to maintain its performance.
• Long operating life – up to 2,000 charging cycles, which only take about 3 hours.

Like its little brother, the larger Powertank also employs Celestron’s well thought-out design – it can be attached to the tripod with the loop and Velcro fastener provided. The torch has a red light function and the lid with the connections can be closed to protect against dust and moisture.

Thanks to its cigarette lighter connection, the Lithium Pro Powertank can be used with almost any mount. A powerful portable power supply such as this is highly recommended for slightly larger mounts, such as the Celestron CGX or the Skywatcher EQ6-R.

People who already have a Celestron mount know about the StarSense AutoAlign module for the automatic alignment of the mount. However, Celestron also offers this technology for Skywatcher mounts: The Celestron StarSense AutoAlign module for Skywatcher.

Why is this accessory useful?

Mounts with integrated computer control (“GoTo”) enable the search for sky objects from a database, simply by pressing a button. For this to work correctly, the computer needs some information, like date, time, observation location and alignment of the telescope right at the beginning. You can only use the GoTo control, after having completed the alignment procedure. The StarSense AutoAlign module is a convenient helper who will do most of the work involved.

For this purpose, the module is mounted to the optical tube and not to the finder scope. An integrated camera scans the night sky and runs the alignment automatically. If you are using an azimuthal mount with GPS (e.g. a Celestron CPC) the initialisation and alignment of the telescope will run fully automatically. You only need to switch the telescope on, and wait for approx. three minutes, until it is ready for star gazing!

When using an equatorial mount, you must also align the polar axis with the polar star. Also in this case, the StarSense AutoAlign module will help you: The hand controller of the module will assist you in the polar alignment, so that you don’t need a pole finder. Once the polar axis has been aligned, any further alignment will be automatically performed by the camera, just as with an azimuthal mount.

Use the possibilities of the StarSense AutoAlign for Skywatcher or Celestron for even more fun with your hobby!