The traditional way of finding and identifying objects in the sky is with a printed hand-held star chart.

Key Specs: Schmidt-Cassegrain optical design, 150mm/5.91" aperture, focal length of 1499mm/59", focal ratio of f/10, included eyepiece has a focal length of 25mm/60x, single-arm fork, alt-azimuth mount type, total kit weight of 21lbs/9.53kg. Here's how it went for me. Maybe there are some lessons there for you to learn and avoid the mistakes I've made. Consensus: This is a seriously powerful telescope, great for beginners and experts alike, although its typically high price point makes it a little out of reach for newcomers. At this price, though, it's worth considering for everyone: you won't be disappointed with its quality, and its alignment technology is absolutely unrivalled. We also measure the Power with our systems which is essentially the error from the reference sphere to the test optic. The reference sphere we use on our system is a very high quality sphere so the closer to zero the Power, the less error between the 2 elements thus ensuring a higher quality optical surface.Celestron's signature orange-tube telescope combines advanced features and excellent optics in one easy-to-use system, the NexStar 6SE. Its the perfect choice for your first serious telescope, offering striking views at an economical price. SkyPortal WiFi Module – allows you to control the telescope remotely from your smartphone or tablet. For planetary imaging, pair your Celestron NexStar 6SE with Altair GPCAM cameras and Altair Premium Flat Field Barlow lenses. Choose Altair SCT Diagonals for the ultimate in sharpness and contrast with your chosen eyepiece. From your first observing session and for years to come, the NexStar SE is your trusted companion. For example, I once centered an object, left and returned three hours later to find it centered in precisely the same place. With gas giant Jupiter also at a good position in the sky and a few degrees away from the moon, the NexStar made short work of locating the planet and its four largest satellites: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. Jupiter was visible in the field of view as a bright disk, with Ganymede and Europa appearing as sharp points of white light flanking the giant’s left limb, while Io and Callisto could be found relatively near to the planet’s right.Faint brown and cream bands were visible across Jupiter's surface.

Setting up and using the Celestron NexStar 6SE is relatively easy – once you know how. The secret sauce is Celestron’s SkyAlign tech that automatically aligns the Celestron NexStar 6SE using any three bright objects. With most similar systems you need to know the stars – at least the bright stars – and point at two or three of them in turn. With SkyAlign you just point the telescope, using the hand controller to control the motor, at any bright star, being careful to consult the eyepiece to ensure the star is entered. Repeat that process three times and the Celestron NexStar 6SE mostly succeeds with its alignment. My train of thought was to use the 6SE OTA and build from there, and well it was logical after buying a mount. The AVX is cheaply made as well, the circuit is bad welded and components inside are bad assembled, I have opened the mount several times to make it better or make it work, now these days is working like a champ after many bad nights, wasted the best nights of the year struggling with it.Here are some other features that I have been thoroughly impressed with: Variable and High Magnification A lot of my friends mention how this is a major downside to their other brands of omputerized telescopes – that they take ages to align. I have a 6SE and use it for imaging. It really is a capable scope and I've been happy with its performance. I see by your comment that you are interested in pursuing deep sky images so I will offer you my 2 cents for what it's worth. Trust me in the fact that my experience encompasses just about every mistake a beginner can make. The Celestron NexStar 6SE is an excellent telescope for observing virtually anything in the night sky. Once you’ve leveled it, aligned it, focused it, and got to know its GoTo system the Celestron NexStar 6SE delivers hit after hit.