The NexStar 4 SE

The NexStar 4 SE delivers great views of the Moon, the planets, and bright deep space objects. The standard equipment 25mm E-Lux plossl eyepiece gives a magnification of 53X, enough to see the Lunar disk, Saturn’s rings and the major cloud bands on Jupiter. It’s easy to add optional eyepieces to zoom in for more detail. Using a 12.5mm X-Cel eyepiece for 106X magnification I can see several cloud bands on Jupiter and I can even pick out the small dark shadow as one of Jupiter’s moons passes in front of the planet. On a good night I can push the magnification up to 230X with a 6mm plossl eyepiece while viewing the Moon and planets.
The NexStar 4 SE package also includes a sturdy adjustable tripod, a motorized alt-azimuth mount, and the NexStar hand held computer controller. I don’t need star charts or a GPS reciever to operate this telescope. Celestron’s patented SkyAlign procedure is easy to use, and experienced users will like the two-star align and solar-system align options because they are even quicker to set up. The steel tripod and alt-azimuth mount provide a solid base for the NexStar 4 SE. Vibration is not a problem, even while focusing at high power. The computerized tracking is also very good, easily keeping planets in the field of a high power eyepiece. The disadvantage of a computerized scope, of course, is battery consumption. I find that rechargeable NiMH batteries work very well in the NexStar 4SE; a set of batteries lasts all evening and I don’t need to worry about electrical cords getting tangled in the dark.
The NexStar 4 SE is a great portable telescope, just right for visual observing or for taking short exposure pictures of the Moon and planets. It’s only fair to warn you that a small telescope has its drawbacks, however; there are thousands of objects in the NexStar database that are simply too dim to see with a four inch telescope.