Celestron 11049 NexStar 4 SE Computerised Telescope
Celestron 11049 NexStar 4 SE Computerised Telescope
Fast Setup with SkyAlign
Celestron’s proprietary SkyAlign procedure has you ready to observe in minutes. Centre any three bright objects in the eyepiece and NexStar SE aligns to the night sky, ready to locate thousands of stars, galaxies, and more.
Astroimaging Made Easy
Budding astroimagers can use the built-in wedge to polar align NexStar SE. Using simple, inexpensive adapters, connect your DSLR or astronomical camera & capture your own images of celestial objects.
A Lifetime of Astronomy
Compatible with all Celestron’s most popular accessories, including StarSense AutoAlign and SkyPortal WiFi Module, the NexStar SE can grow with you.
 |  |  |  | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Optical Design | Maksutov-Cassegrain | Schmidt-Cassegrain | Schmidt-Cassegrain | Schmidt-Cassegrain |
| Aperture | 102mm (4.02”) | 125mm (4.92”) | 150mm (5.91″) | 203.2mm (8”) |
| Focal Length | 1325mm (52”) | 1250mm (49”) | 1500mm (59”) | 2032mm (80”) |
| Focal Ratio | f/13 | f/10 | f/10 | f/10 |
| Magnification (with included eyepieces) | 53x | 50x | 60x | 81x |
| Limiting Magnitude | 12.5 | 13 | 13.4 | 14 |
| Lowest Useful Magnification | 15x | 18x | 21x | 29x |
| Highest Theoretical Magnification | 241x | 295x | 354x | 480x |
| Assembled Weight | 21 lbs | 27.6 lbs | 30 lbs | 33 lbs |
| Weight: | 30 Pounds |
| Dimensions: | 82.3 x 69.1 x 34 centimetres |
| Brand: | Celestron |
| Model: | 11049 |
| Part: | 11049 |
| Colour: | Orange |
| Batteries Included: | 8 AA batteries required. |
| Dimensions: | 82.3 x 69.1 x 34 centimetres |
The night sky is more better visible with naked eyes rather than watching through the lens of the telescope that is provided.
All in all iss good , maybe a bit frustrating that you cannot use the mount without powering it up . Skywatcher have two small az mounts that can both be moved without powering up. Celestron take note ! The scope is lovely . What I mean by that is it looks great and works great ( as long as you realise it’s limitations ) it’s great when viewing the moon and the brighter planets … but for dso’s , well, forget it . That’s why people have more than one scope … no one scope does everything well !
The good thing about the 4″Mak is that due to the long focal length you don’t need to push the magnification.
All in all a fine combination of scope and mount , with a few caveats .
Package delivered with no damage, but a couple of bits were loose inside the boxes. Overall good scope with quick setup if you are familiar with scopes. Definitely recommend an adapter instead of battery supply. Not too heavy to move around.
You do need a good knowledge of the stars to setup this up.
That’s he moan out the way.
This is the best telescope I’ve ever had the pleasure to own.
Yes it’s not straight forward to setup but once done the night’s stargazing is an absolute pleasure.
That power and clarity of the optics is outstanding.
Looking through the telescope for the first time was as if I’d opened my eye for the first time.
I could not believe what I was seeing the brightness was incredible.
It is not the cheapest of telescope and only get the one lens but I do feel it would be money well spent.
The mount is well made and quite sturdy.
Easy to fit the goto arm and the telescope is simple to fit too.
Take about 5 minutes there’s a few options to align the telescope once done your good to go.
The finder scope that come with this I’d don’t rate at all I can’t get on with it and will be replacing it as soon as possible.
Everything else about the telescope is great there’s a little lens holder that fits on the mount and help keep everything sturdy.
For mobility it’s a good size not to bulky the case for this is 300 up but I do feel with a little effort you use some of the packaging and away you go.
I’d recommend this telescope every day of the week
Excellent work Celestron this Nexstar 8se is fantastic.
Then once you have enough to start using the telescope, you’ll start wanting to sort out the foibles. Its focuser is too coarse for most purposes and causes a lot of wobble. Add 250 for a motorised focuser. Then there’s that wobble… add a camera and WiFi, that’s another 400, or a pillar to mount it on for another 500.
Size and weight – it’s pretty big and it’s heavy. With the stainless steel tripod it must be close to 20kg.
Scope and eyepiece – the telescope has a maximum magnification of 354x but that doesn’t mean you’re going to be able to use it at it’s full capability off the bat (as I eventually discovered). The eyepiece it comes with gives you 60x magnification and in order to increase this, you’ll need to invest in other eyepieces. Mars, Saturn and Jupiter are visible with the naked eye where I live but the eyepiece available isn’t powerful enough to make out any of the distinct features on these planets – except you can just about make out Saturn’s rings. The scope also comes with a red dot finder and it is vital that this is aligned perfectly with the scope. I suggest using the moon as a target to help you do this as it worked for me.
Handset and power – the handset is a very useful feature of the telescope. After entering basic details like location, time and date the database will present you with celestial sights which are available to see from where you are. The handset also enables you to control the scope, moving it in any direction as needed.
To power the telescope you need either 8AA batteries or a power adapter (fortunately I had one lying around at home, which works).
Conclusion – overall this is a good telescope which I am still learning about but it has the features and capabilities for some great long term observing.
Setup is very quick and easy, though there’s no power supply in the box, and it’ll eat through AA batteries, so either get a power supply (and extension lead), or get a “powertank” or shares in Duracell.
Once physically setup the alignment is normally very quick and easy. Tell it where you are in the world and what the time is (or buy the gps add in), and then point it at 3 bright stars…. and it’ll magically work out both where it’s pointing and where everything is. It’s proper magic.
From there you can ask the handset to take you to almost any planet, star or galaxy, and the scope will turn to it, and even better track it, keeping it centred for you to view.
The kit includes a red dot finder (do calibrate that before starting), but mine had given up the ghost already (only a few uses), and many others on the internet appear to have had problems too. I’d get a replacement or alternative as soon as possible.
All in all it makes looking at stars very simple, and there are a world of plug ins and add ins to make things better, in certain situations.
Finally got a scope that aligned, so was no longer a door stop.
If you are a beginner, this is a great scope, but, not on its own.
I was totally confused at aligning it using sight to 3 stars I didnt have a clue what and where.
I bought the starsense and this aids alignment.
So, on its own its not easy unless you have some idea what is in the sky.
I also got the GPS so it knows where it is and what time it is.
Once you have the kit, everything connected and communicating, get aligned, now you can ‘go to’ and view what you wish.
You will need to buy some different lens and you can research this online with youtube etc.
For photography, you can attach an SLR but really, forget it, webcams are the way to go.
All in all a great scope but there is a lot to learn to know how to use it, it is not as simple to set up as would be indicated, also for the UK get a dew guard.
Great starter scope, had a few issues with auto three star align, best to use auto two star align. Put in your long and lat location rather than closest city and it is much more reliable.
In addition I have the Celestron power supply and dew shield, Telrad finder, and wide screen eyepiece.
I used the Auto Two Star Align which took a couple of minutes to set up, asked it to find M31 and straight away the Andromeda Galaxy was there. Unbelievable, just enter what you want to see and if its above the horizon this thing will find it. I have other stuff and am impressed with the optics, which gave a clear view of Mars.
All I need now are the fingerless gloves I’ve just ordered, coldest night of the year!
This is a big beast. 3 large boxes and the build quality is evident from first opening. I was worried about how shipping delicate optics would be, however shouldn’t have worried as the shipping boxes have bespoke foam inserts that I can see me using for some time.
So far it’s been pretty cloudy. I’ve read a lot and learnt some of the nuances of setup. First things first the best advice I read was to practise setup in the day time, getting comfortable with the weight and size. Then point it at a distant chimney pot or similar instead of aligning automatically. Once happy and focussed (left for infinity, right for close up) take a look at the spotter scope and align the red dot using the 2 knobs. Worked a treat and my alignment was so much better.
Second best tip was to use 2 star align rather than the full on sky align. Results are comparable but often sky align fails.
I’ll build on my review as I learn more but with a great Black Friday saving I’m so happy I waited and saved up for a scope that is truly awe inspiring.
Update after a couple of months.. Lots of cloud apparent, but some good viewing so far. My only addons so far have been a dew shield and an 8mm-25mm Celestron zoom eyepiece that is great value for money.. Next comes AstroPhotography
The sky in UK these days is often too overcast, but nevertheless I managed to use it a couple of times.
Unfortunately once you start, an hour later you still enjoying the views before realising it. With this, time just fly!
I didn’t manage to look at planets yet as these were mostly below the horizon… But If looked at stars and the details were so impressive as I could even look at stars which I couldn’t see with the naked eye!
All these just from my back garden, and I was undisturbed by any of the lights pollution around here!
I just wish I bought this much earlier!!
Firstly there’s no doubt this is a quality telescope. The tripod itself would set you back a couple of hundred Im sure if you just wanted a good one for professional level photography or a replacement. Perhaps a pro photographer would disagree but without doubt it’s a strong and sturdy set up. The tripod also comes with an equatorial alignment wedge. Now at this stage I don’t know very much about what that is, but on reading many other reviews related to the other Nexstar SE series telescopes, it’s clear that the others don’t appear to have that option oddly. (Im sure someone will correct me if Im wrong). But at least it is there as and when you need it.
The telescope itself is fairly impressive, particularly if you are not accustomed to telescopes as a rule. It comes with the basics you need to get going (also bought a lens & filter kit to compliment further). There are a number of tutorial videos for this telescope available online to assist you in setting it up and to be honest we found it quite a doddle to get the whole thing erected.
Using the GoTo computer attachment for the alignment process was another experience however. I quickly realised that the software needed to be updated as the alignment process did ask me for global co-ordinates. I know these are easily obtained from most smartphones, but I had noticed on a couple of aforementioned tutorial videos that this wasn’t requested by the handset, instead simply asking you to select your country and city.
So the first issue in updating the software was of course connecting it to your PC. Trouble is it comes with an RS-232 (serial adapter) and not a USB. Who uses those anymore? This prompted me to think: how long as this product been around? I haven’t used a serial adapter since I last owned a dial-up modem over 10 years ago. So I purchased a separate adapter and after a bit of fiddling about with serial port issues, finally managed to update the software.
It took us a couple of frustrating evenings getting the telescope aligned properly, but this was of course due to our inexperience and the required learning curve, but was eventually rewarded with amazing views of the Moon, Jupiter & Saturn on the same evening. (if you do buy this I advise you to get a 2x Barlow lens as well. It really makes a huge difference when coupled with the 25mm Plossl lens that comes with the telescope as standard. More experienced stargazers will no doubt offer better advice but I at least discovered that was the case very quickly).
Once you get the hang of the alignment process you’re off. The GoTo computer and auto alignment motor does all the hard work from there.
Overall I think this is a great telescope, and especially for beginners. The price might make some people think twice for a first scope, however there are a number of other viable options if you take your time and some advice from experienced stargazers.
So far I’m very happy. I would have given this the full five stars had it come with a USB connection option.
With 8 fresh quality AA batteries the GoTo is pretty accurate when setup properly (it uses American dating system), easily placing objects within the field of view of a 25, 32 or 40mm Plossl eyepiece. Downside is it eats through batteries as it only works at it’s best with fresh batteries, if you observe a lot and for long periods a Celestron or Skywatcher 7ah or 17ah power tank is required.
The focuser seems to work well with not much in the way of the vibration after focusing, the tripod is nice and stable when extended but don’t go bumping into it. The accessory tray can easily hold 4 1.25″ eyepieces and a Barlow Lens which I’ve found is all I need for observing with this scope.
The optics are high quality producing good views of the moon, planets and double stars, and open clusters though these don’t tend to fit in the whole view even when it’s only had a short time to cool down. But if you’re more interested in faint deep sky objects this telescope will have too small an aperture to satisfy you, and you’d be better off with the 8SE or a dobsonian.
It is highly portable, I carry it from a living room through a hallway and two rooms in one piece fully assembled with tripod legs up and with eyepieces+barlow lens in their accessory tray, it’d be a good choice for someone living in a high flat.
Last couple things is if you do get this scope or another of the SE series I highly reccomend purchasing the Celestron SkyQLink 1 or 2 either work with Android or iOS and using Skyportal app or Sky Safari 4 Plus or Pro to control the telescope, it’s a lot better than using the handcontrol. You will also want a a Celestron or Skywatcher powertank to provide a steady power supply to keep the GoTo accurate for hours on end.
I had always found Amazon a good source of products, and reading the reviews pointed me towards the Celestron Nexstar 8SE. Hearing from a retailer that they flew off the shelves as soon as they came in confirmed that impression. Amazon delivered right away, which the retailer couldn’t.
The telescope worked straight away after assembling, though I had to buy 8 AA batteries. The instruction book needs a bit of updating – it alleged that the telescope is delivered pre-assembled, which it wasn’t. Fortunately it was fairly obvious. The delivery packaging can be reinforced with Duck tape for use as storage.
The only significant problem I’ve had was when the hand controller screen froze into the “Transmit Data” mode. The Celestron website advised switching on and off repeatedly, which didn’t work, and then said download new software, which was fairly easy and did work.
I think this telescope will suit me for quite a long time.
Although this telescope doesn’t come cheap it really is worth every penny so if you have a genuine love of the night sky and want to see the universe in great detail then this is an investment.
I purchased this around 3 months ago and the only frustrating thing has been cloudy skies. Weather hasn’t been too great up north but on the good few occasions it’s been clear it has been worth freezing your socks off in the garden to see the beauty of the night sky !
The moon is spectacular through this scope, also Jupiter and it’s moons have been exhilarating ! I’ve also tried to get my children in on this and it’s well worth seeing your kids gasp at the sights you can see through this telescope that are clearly invisible to the naked eye.
It’s well worth every penny and I’m sure it will last years as this is a sturdy telescope.
In agreement with other reviews the only real slight flaw I can give is the vibration of the tripod at times but it’s not a big deal and later down the line there are other tripods that can replace it.
It is worth investing in other products for instance get a good set of eye pieces and I also purchased the skywatcher power pack as batteries are unreliable.
I just hope the overcast skies disappear soon so I can take this out more. After 3 trips to the lakes I found it was a waste of time travelling there as it was so overcast but despite the extra room it takes up in the car, I’ve decided that this telescope will come with me wherever I go!
Highly recommend this piece of fabulous kit!!!!!
The three deciding factors at the end were: quality of the instrument, portability and price.
So far the telescope has not disappointed me.
It is a beautiful instrument, excellent build quality and the computerized star finder is a great tool.
If anything I would have liked Celestron to have included an additional eyepiece in the kit as standard.
The included 25 mm eyepiece gives a 52 times magnification, which is excellent for viewing the moon, but too low to clearly resolve the planets.
Being a 4″ device, the magnification can realisticly go up to 240 times, so inlcuding a 12 mm eyepiece or a 2X Barlow lens would have made it a totally perfect experience out of the box.