Celestron StarSense Explorer 114LT - Ultimate Review 

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I just got this telescope this Christmas and you’ve already blown my mind by how much I didn’t know about my telescope

I'm brand spanking new to telescopes - this was by far the best video I've seen! You've clearly demonstrated how to use the scope in addition to verbally explaining how to use it. I just bought the DX 130, you've confirmed it was a good value purchase. Can't wait to go look at those rings of Saturn and then on to explore other beautiful things in the night sky!

Thanks for the video! Just gave this to my daughter this morning. She wanted a telescope for her birthday and she was jumping up and down on her bed when she saw what it was. She just turned 11 today. Can't wait to take it out tonight and explore the sky with her. :)

The single best telescope / astronomy / star-gazing RU-vidr on this planet...period. Incredible content, as always! Massive fan of your channel here in Ireland!

We got this telescope for our 5yr old for Christmas this year. He loves astronomy and we live way out in the country with no light pollution. I've always wanted a telescope and your review made me feel confident in this purchase.

Big fan of your videos. I have 2 of your books as well. I bought myself the 130DX for Christmas. It was easy to setup and configure the app. With the app I felt like I was finding objects in the sky pretty quickly, which was a big boost of confidence for a beginner. I bought the 130 partially because it was all I could find to buy at the time (hard to even buy a telescope these days), but I think I'm going to be pretty happy with it. Can't wait for some warmer weather to work my way through the books. I'm obviously not as willing to go out in the cold as the Canadians lol. ;)

I bought the LT yesterday and paid $400 Aussie dollars, second hand. Works great , not too complicated. Feel I paid a little more than I should’ve. Oh well. The moon looked great through it last night. The Cell phone App was brilliant assist.

Thank you very much! I just got this telescope and I will be watching this video over and over until I graduate to a larger one.

I got this scope yesterday, 80 bucks used on offerup. I thought id just look up a tutorial because im kind of clueless. I feel like this is the best video i could of clicked!! Edit: i have astigmatism so its hard with the laser, it just looks like a big star instesd of a dot 😅

I bought a Celestron 114 AZ-SR at Kohls on sale for $125, but there was a 40% off coupon so after taxes it was $82 for an F5.2 ratio 600mm focal length, 4 1/2" scope. It came with 9.7mm and 26mm Plossel lenses and I bought a 32mm Svbony and a 15mm wide angle long eye relief lens. Then I got a very highly rated GSO 2x Barlow where the lens can be removed and screwed directly onto the eye pieces giving 1.5x magnification. So I can have 2x or 1.5x of the 15mm and the Orion Nebula was awesome last night on 7.5mm@80x. Living in Southern New Mexico and minutes away from very dark sky makes it easier to see deep sky objects. I found the scope to be solid as well as the tripod, but the mount leaves something to be desired (still looks to be more solid than that one you've got though) and it cannot be mounted to anything else because of the side screw mounting style. Being a retired engineer I do believe I'll make it so it takes a vixen mount and get a decent EQ mount and attach it to the tripod. Just in lenses my $82 telescope is up to $180+. LOL Make that $215 with the collimator I have coming.

Hi John, I’m back watching this video because, as usual, I am advocating for StarSense Explorer. Our club does public and school outreach. I would like our organization to obtain a small fleet of the new table top SSE scopes…114, 130 or 150mm aperture Newtonian models with proper parabolic mirrors and appropriate accessories included. The only issue with table top sized instruments is raising them to a useful height if you don’t have table handy. The 114 LT SSE in this video is the model I’m least likely to recommend. I’m glad you got results out of yours! The individual segments of this video are excellent. When buying a SSE second hand the previous owner may have used up one or more of the total of five devices (phones) you can unlock.

Thank you for showing me that collimation method, so simple this is great.

Thank you so much ! I have been searching for this telescope series but I couldn’t find any videos that I actually trust. Again, thank you so much for making this video. I subscribed to your channel around a few months ago and really enjoyed your contents.

I took a picture of the pollux star yesterday with my phone and it let me to wanting a telescope, weird way to come here but it was worth my time

I just got one of these as an amateur stargazer and your video was spot on. I neded another perspective and how to use this dang thing and you did a great job thank you.

excellent! clear and concise. Thanks for walking us through how to use this telescope.

Just got this telescope can’t wait to use it and love your videos keep up the good work

If i had to buy one of these as a first scope, i'd get the 102dx refractor. Great all around scope, easy to use (no collimation), very portable. I have a an 8" f5 reflector on eq5 mount. But use the celestron omni az 102 refractor most of the time. It's more fun.

Hi John. I was on the Hamilton Amateur Astronomer's meeting when you were the guest speaker. We talked about the SSE and hacking it onto other scopes. (As in your subsequent video) I'm with Bluewater Astronomical Society in Ontario...recently I've hacked the SSE onto a Webster C28 Dobsonian. Good news is they've added tons of NGC and IC catalog items to the SSE menus! Not comets, asteroids or Pluto though! We are nailing push tos with the 31 Nagler at x93 and 3/4 degree FOV. Located Panstars K2 using SS7 and star hopping to numbered stars in Ophiucus... BTW I made the bracket to mount the cellphone cradle out of flat aluminum stock and use large binder clips to attach it...simple simple simple!

I like my cheap 90mm Bressler refractor. Yes, fringing but great planetary and deepsky photos with cellphone. Light, one handed carrying even with tripod and no colimation required.

Nice video! Beginner here and tried the 102 DX from starsense. I gotta say, not bad at all. I had issues aligning it at first. But when it did, the app really does point out correctly. And to my shock, the bright object I always see near the moon at my place, which I thought was a satellite was actually Jupiter! Also saw Vega, Altair, albireo, deneb, mizar and much more! Unfortunately last night the moon was so bright and my starsense had trouble seeing Jupiter. Next top is using a phone camera to take images. If I can find a spare phone! And figure out how to set up the moon filter and try some barlow's.

You got a Bird Jones, I for one like these field flatting scopes but is listed as the most hated even though they are super easy to collimate. Hint its one unit remove by hand

Thank you for showing how to improve a photo 😄

Really liked this video and I love how well you did the review. Thanks for sharing so much knowledge that we could use with any telescope. Subbed.

Would like to see how the moon and planets look trough this scope - these targets are what it was made for. Thank you.

Great channel! I just got this scope a few weeks ago and finally checked out the moon tonite. Found your channel after trying to figure out why my 10mm lens was blurry and "mehh" (especially with barlow lens) compared to the crispy 25mm and 25mm w/ barlow. Gonna follow your advice on how to test the collimation and fix accordingly if needed. I had no idea about the middle piece in the main scope cap that pops out to help with moon brightness. Quite cool. Its chilly af in NY so ive only been limited to what i can point the scope to out my windows lol. Cant wait for warmer nights. Thank you for your vids! Subscribed :)

Thanks ! Just bought the same telescope. Though It wasn't clear to me how you took the video from the telescope!

Nice work! Very helpful information from start to finish.

13:38 now I think the ET cluster kind of reminds me of the Pilates star cluster because of it similar shape and grouping in the center

a very helpful and comprehensive review! thank you.

WOW! Take a video of star clusters and put them in PIPP to center so they can go into DSS for processing. Genius ("Brilliant" in the UK) idea!

New sub, really thinking about buying a telescope for the first time, and I wanted something more modern but for beginners like this is. I would really like to watch and take pictures of Jupiter and it's moons.

I have a similar celestron telescope with a corrector, the only thing I can say is that it is good for deep space

I'm getting this for $50 new. Can't wait

2 pieces of 95% reflective mylar with the shiniest sides facing out, makes a nice solar filter if taped to inside of lens cap center hole!.

Hi John, thanks for another useful video! Starsense is one I'm considering, but not much variety at the moment as telescopes are very popular in UK. I have your book! Keen to use it when we have clearer skies here. Best wishes,

Nice, I'm going to get the exact same one

The correcting lens at the bottom of the focuser tube makes this a Bird-Jones design. The primary mirror is spherical, not parabolic, and the B-J corrector corrects the spherical aberration introduced by the primary. The principal appeal of this design is the compact form factor for the effective focal length. From a manufacturing standpoint, the spherical primary and the doublet corrector lens is still cheaper to fabricate than a parabolic primary. If one didn't mind the longer tube, a better--and commonly available--scope is one built around an f/9 spherical primary--the spherical aberration would be essentially a non issue, and it would be far easier to collimate, and the secondary obstruction is smaller. An unfortunate aspect of these inexpensive Bird-Jones scopes is that many are not well made. I've seen them with awful spherical aberration and astigmatism. And yes, there are some that perform reasonably. But they are all prone to internal reflections that lower contrast. Again, an f/9 spherical primary Newt is far more likely to perform better. When stating that a longer f/ratio dims objects, you must be careful to qualify this! For one thing, it does not by itself apply for visual observing. The exit pupil produced by the eyepiece is the arbiter here. For instance, an f/4 scope operating at 50X delivers the same image as does an f/8 scope at the 50X. This is because both scopes are providing the same exit pupil. The dimming you mention occurs for subjects that are clearly not point-like, and thus have a perceived area. For them, it's the *surface brightness* which is impacted. Through the eyepiece, as power increases and the exit pupil decreases, extended objects like the Moon, planets, nebulae, galaxies, and the sky glow itself, are made dimmer. But point sources like stars remain at their full brightness. And in the way the eyepiece exit pupil controls subject brightness, so too does the scope's f/ratio for prime focus imaging. A slower f/ratio dims extended objects, but for given aperture point source brightness is independent of the f/ratio. I know it can be a juggling act to judge what's appropriate to communicate to beginners. But it's best to properly inform from the outset, for early misperceptions can lead to long term misunderstanding, which in turn can be passed down to the next generation. Many are the otherwise experienced amateurs I've encountered who carry with them a quaint lacking in the basics of optics and how it interfaces with our visual system. About that central hole in the front cover. It's a far from ideal means of throttling image brightness, such as for Moon gazing. The reduced aperture now has the central obstruction becoming relatively HUGE, thus introducing wicked diffraction that significantly compromises higher power resolution. Far better to thread a Moon filter into the eyepiece. Cheers from Ottawa!

I have the lt127. If I align the scope well. It’s great. Alignment on a star every now and then helps a lot. Need to make sure that the tripod screws tops just below mount are tight for stability

What are you suggestion for other comparable telescopes in same price range for better viewing of deep sky objects ?

These things are fantastic for outreach.

Night vision mode is fine...you have to be aware of the text prompts to know if the app wants to take an image. When you get on target the circle gets corners so you don't need to see the red yellow and green...colours don't show in night mode!

What about the starsense 130 dx for beginners?

Knowledgeable video 🎁🎁🎉🎉🎉 thank you for sharing 🙏❤️🎉🎉🎉💖💖💖

Ur the best ! Can u plz make more videos of cheap and good telescope s😊

Excellente vidéo, surtout la partie collimation. Merci

Can you see Jupiter / Saturn and it’s rings on this telescope? I’m a amateur and that’s all I really care about right now

Another great one! Thanks so much!

Here are all the starsense explorers Celestron starsense lt 70az Celestron starsense lt 80az Celestron starsense lt 127az Celestron starsense lt 114az Popular science Celestron starsense DX 100az Celestron starsense DX 102az Celestron starsense DX 130az Celestron starsense DX 5 SCT Celestron starsense DX 6 SCT Celestron starsense 8 Dobsonian Celestron starsense 10 Dobsonian Celestron starsense 12 Dobsonian Celestron starsense 114mm tabletop Dobsonian Celestron starsense 130mm tabletop Dobsonian Celestron starsense 150mm tabletop Dobsonian

if i were to choose in between this telescope or the astromaster 70 which should i pick?

You rock! This is so useful

im a newb; can i attach a real camera some how (dslr or sony a7iii) to take pics of the sky?

Что делать если код от телескопа был потерян? Я не могу подключиться к телескопу через приложение😢

Hi, is the 114 LT Star sense Explorer good to seeing Crater on the moon and then taking photo of them through the telescope. And if so which of the eye pieces it come with would be best for that? Thanks.

Hi. One question. When the iphone is in the cradle and in use is there an aperture for the phone to be connected to a power source whilst in use?

What telescopes would you recommend for myself who is absolutely new to astronomy and wants to see beautiful things and take pictures?

I have this an I think it’s a great starter scope but there’s only so much you can see, I wish I got an 8in version or 10in first because you can see a few deep skye objects then the rest are just out of your reach

Thanks for this..purchased one 😅

Excellent tutorial, thank you

For calumniation... is there a reason to drill a hole in the eye-piece cover rather than poking a hold in some tin foil or construction paper?

Super helpful! Thank you

Great video! Thank you.

SUPER VIDEO. Thank you so much.

right now is the time to start thinking about upgrading, as during the pandemic they sold the hell out of telescopes and now a year later they are finding all their warehouses full of inventory thats no longer selling so prices will be dropping. also keep an eye out for drop shippers who are selling them at big discounts!. 07/25/2021

This is going for $239 at Best Buy. Worth it? Any recommendations for a better one under $400?

VERY INFORMATIVE! THANKS

thanks for the video.

Do you need a second cell phone to take your photos, or can you remove the phone being used for StarSense to take the pics?

Thank you for the very informative video. I'm considering a telescope with StarSense, but I'm looking at the 10" Dobsonian. I just can't decide if I'm ready to spend that much on my first telescope.

Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 114AZ Can I use celestron 4MM eyepiece to view saturn and other planets ?

i want to see jupiter in detail, is this the right telescope for this? I'm a beginner, so far i only have 12x50 binoculars to see the moon

Do I NEED night mode for the telescope? My samsung doesn't support night mode for its camera somehow...

Good morning! Great video. Hey, I’m thinking of recommending the 130DX to my brother - but you mentioned a secondary mirror affecting collimating - is that a Bird Jones design? I had a Celestron 127EQ which was that design, and it was a pain to calibrate and had to be done a lot. I’d rather not set my brother up with that, if indeed the case. Great production, content, amd presentation, sir!! Always look forward to your videos.

Im new in astronomy. From your expertise, would you go for StarSense Explorer LT114AZ or STARSENSE EXPLORER DX 102AZ? Im more interested to see planets, galaxy, milky way etc.

that is awesome. A quick question - so you bought an additional phone holder to make pictures ( attached to an eye piece), have you tries a Bluetooth ones?

Is the 130 dx good for deep sky objects from a bortle level 4 sky (green)

Help! When looking at trees & earthly objects my celestron StarSense explorer works perfectly! But not when I tried to see Jupiter 💔! I used the app/ phone mirror AND red dot finder 😞. I live in the country & the skies were clear! Idk what I’m doing wrong

What a great video! Thanks a lot, it helped me in my very first steps with my telescope!

Just bought this and was trying to look at Jupiter. I thought I might be able to see detail of the planet but it's really just a Brite spot still is there a special way to focus this telescope enough to see detail of a planet like Jupiter?

Sir I commend you, I have been wanting to buy a telescope but could not find anywhere to get the info I needed.

What telescope should I get my budget is $300 , I want to see planets and possibly nebula

Thank's for the video.One thing i did not understand is..Is it possible to modify any teleskope for star sense by just adding a phone holder and downloading the app?I have a skywatch 130,and seems dum to buy a new telescope just to get the star sense..

Great review!! Unfortunately, a new one costs 780 dollars in Brasil, we pay a ton of taxes because our politicians don't like to steal little.

So here is a problem, when ever I look at Jupiter or Saturn. It always appears as a bright star. How do I fix that?

Hi there. Im super novice to Star Gazing. I figured out how to focus lens etc. But Im struggling to see the planets clearly. Could you pls advise which lens (ie 50mm) to buy so I can see a bit of Venus? Thank you!!

Just curious, on the smartphone mount, does the mirror go into the telescope? like, if i were to put it on the mount, would it show the same view as the eyepeice?

Just be sure to get a cell phone that will support the app. I bought a new phone after getting the telescope and it is not compatible.

How long of a video did you shoot since obviously this scope doesn’t track?

I been thinking of the DX130 as my first telescope, it looks to be right in the point of not too expensive but also not too small Offcause the 10" StarSense DOB would be cool, but it seems to be too heavy for me at this point and not very mobile.

Hello. Does this Celestron have good optics?

What would you say is the best beginner telescope. I want to see moon, planets, galaxies. Also I like in the city so want to be able to transport to state parks and places with less light like the mountains on vacation. Thanks for any tips. Also loved the video.

So another question, I had to replace my finder scope battery but after I replaced it, the finder scope would not go back on to its mount. How do I fix this?

Does your phone have to have a gyro feature to work with this telescope? Or does it just work off the camera? I want to buy one but my phone is an old android and doesnt have a gyro :/

I,m use this telescope. This is good low budget telescope for beginner. And this telescope apps is very useful for see many NGC Object. This telescope mirror not a parabolic! But mirror is very clear. When i seen moon look like a full HD Quality image+no chromatic abberation. I can see for use this telescope Andromeda, Jupiter Cloud belt, Saturn Ring+ big moon titan, mars (look like red ball). But this telescope field view is poor!(after purchase 40MM eyepiece i feel perfect field view). Including Eyepiece and Barlow quality not good. So after market i,m purchase 40MM Eyepiece For big field of view. And 7-21 mm SV bony zoom Eyepiece + 3X Barlow lens . Telescope price + shipping in Bangladesh my total cost was approximately 310$.

Like the video and great channel.. I am planning to buy either starsense 80az or 114 az. Please suggest which of these two has an advantage and good to see plants and deep sky object.

Great video! In your photo portion of the clip, you're using an app called NightCap Camera. Seems this is an iOS product. I have a Google Pixel smartphone and NightCap will not work with Android phones. Do you have another camera app that would be a good substitute? Thank you..

no matter how hard I try I can't get it to work. It always looks better in the movies.

Hola compré el celestron starsense Explorer 127 mm , aún no lo he usado. Me gustaría saber si hay que comprar un erector de imagen para usarlo en observaciones terrestres. Mi otra pregunta es: Que opinión le das a mi telescopio? Gracias

What size drill bit did you use to the drill the hole? Probably a stupid question 😅 new to this!