This 6" SCT optical tube has advanced Starbright XLT multicoatings for Celestron's brightest images ever.
The Celestron C8 was the first Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope available to amateur astronomers. This 6" f/10 Celestron optical tube is the direct, but much improved, descendent of that original astronomical triumph. For many people, the 6" aperture of this optical tube is a little like Goldilocks and the Three Bears - it's not too big, it's not too small, it's just right! The rugged aluminum optical tube is only 16" long and weighs only 9 lbs., making it easy to transport and set up. An optional focal reducer (#8325) is available to bring the focal ratio down to a fast f/6.3 for CCD and 35mm photography.
Advanced StarBright XLT multicoatings are standard equipment. This coatings package includes high reflectivity multilayer aluminum mirrors enhanced with titanium dioxide for high reflectivity, plus a unique combination of magnesium fluoride and hafnium dioxide antireflection coatings on both sides of the Schmidt corrector lens. The corrector lens itself is made of high transmission water white float glass instead of conventional soda lime glass (which has 3.5% lower transmission) used in other telescopes.
StarBright XLT multicoatings visibly increase the contrast on subtle lunar, planetary, and nebula details when compared with a scope with standard multicoatings. They also give you higher light transmission for brighter deep space images and shorter exposure times during CCD and 35mm photography. Across the total visual/photographic spectrum from 400nm to 750nm, independent laboratory tests show the new Starbright XLT coatings are 16% brighter overall than even the original industry-standard Starbright multicoatings.
The optical tube comes with a 6 x 30mm straight-through achromatic finderscope and mounting bracket. The finder has a wide 7° field of view. It focuses by loosening the trim ring behind the objective lens cell, screwing the lens cell in or out to focus, and tightening the trim ring to lock in the correct focus. Also included is a removable 1.25" visual back that holds visual and photographic accessories such as a star diagonal, tele-extender, etc. A 1.25" prism type star diagonal is also standard, as is a 1.25" 25mm Plössl eyepiece. This eyepiece provides a magnification of 60x, with a 0.83° field that's two-thirds wider than the full Moon.
A 1.75" wide dovetail slide bar runs the length of the tube for mounting the optical tube on a Celestron AVX or any German equatorial mount that has a Vixen style saddle plate. Optional split mounting rings are also available to put the tube on another mount of the buyer's choosing. Dust covers for the optics complete the supplied accessories.
