Celestron StarSense Explorer DX 102AZ App-Enabled Refractor Telescope

It is a perfect telescope for beginners. I saw many stars, and got the perfect pictures for moon, and even spica (the blue star).

Then this is definitely a telescope to check out.Right now, I am primarily reviewing the setup and storage features, since I just got it, and I am still learning all of its features.First off, setup was a breeze, So far, I love the tripod. It collapses and sets up easily and is stabilized by the easily removable tray. (If you usually use a patio or balcony for your star-gazing, this shouldn’t be a steadiness issue. (If you are viewing in rocky or uneven settings, or have lots of floor space, the tray can be, just as easily, fixed in place.)The actual telescope attaches to the tripod, in quite a clever way, to fix it firmly in place when in use, but easy to remove and gingerly store in a padded case, when not in use.So, if you live in a small space, with not much access to wide open viewing spaces, but can still get a good view of the cosmos from your space, this is a good starter.The telescope so far:With probably less than an hour of fidgeting and re-reading the instructions/provided information, I got a good view of a hot air balloon a couple of miles or so away. This is great for me, because I don't live where there is much to be seen on the ground, tall enough to be seen from a mile away, and that is really what you need to get this thing focused, in the daytime, when first using it, as is recommended.A stop sign would be great, because it's red, but the yellow and orange balloon worked a treat. (Something bright in color makes it easy to hone in on something extremely blurry in the distance. Green leaves of tall trees, not so much.)Hint: Do not try to focus on something less than .5 mile (0.804672km) away (like inside your house) or you will think you have a faulty one.Hint: Probably best not to buy this the day before some amazing celestial event, unless you are really proficient with telescopes and the study of the great out there.Sure you can see things far away, but it's not instantaneous or "point and shoot" (unless, see above.)Now to check out the moon at night.First (easily viewable) things, first!(Updates as I become more familiar with it.)5-22-21 Update: Saw Jupiter and 3 of its moons! No definition to Jupiter (yet) but it was exciting all the same.

My son and I LOVE this telescope. The app that you get access to is user friendly and really helps us to find objects in the sky. My son enjoys looking up the objects in the app and then moving the telescope in place to align the scope. We look forward to endless opportunities to star gaze. I just wish it came with a bag or case to protect it in transport. It’s light enough to take with us when we stargaze.

You are definitely paying for the R&D for the app in the cost of this scope. That being said I think it is great for people just getting in to or returning to the hobby. I picked up this scope to get back into the swing of things after about 20 years away from the hobby. The app does an amazing job of finding things the first time, every time. I've been using the scope for a few weeks now and the app hasn't failed me once.The scope is good, not great. At 102mm it gives you enough light for visual astronomy of the planets, clusters and brighter DSO's. One of the big pluses is that the refractor design is maintenance free, no collimation required here. The focuser on mine is a bit gritty and can be hard to get focused when you're really trying to dial in the sharpness. The eyepieces are typical of what you will see in low cost scopes, I upgraded to Celestron X-Cel eyepieces and it was an AMAZING difference.Now for the mount, oh lord the mount.... The base of the tripod is, again, typical of a low cost scope, provides enough stability to get the job done. The single fork design is both the best and worst part of the mount. It is made out of amazingly cheap plastic, the movement and slow motion controls are friction based and tend to be either too tight or too loose, finding the sweet spot has thus far eluded me. The scope shakes badly after focusing or movement and you will have to wait a few seconds for things to calm down. But also on this fork mount is the phone holder/mirror that makes the StarSense app work, and boy oh boy does it work.Celestron also makes these in reflector and dobsonion designs, so whatever your viewing preference they will have you covered, remember you are paying for the app, not the quality of the equipment.So for a beginner or returning hobbyist I think this is a great jumping off point and a gateway into bigger and better scopes down the line. Grab this scope, upgrade those eyepieces, download that app and have hours and hours of fun. I would like to see Celestron come out with a universal StarSense phone mount and then allow you to pay for the app, I would love to have this on my dob, maybe some day.Happy stargazing!!

August 5th, 26 delivery.. Very disappointed, the packing box has been nearly destroyed by Amazon. Was supposed to arrive yesterday but that driver took it back. I'm guessing likely due to the box being all torn up. The parts inside look ok. Won't know if anything is broken till its all opened up. This is a present to our grandkids. We're giving them their present in a torn up nearly destroyed box. Which is very sleezy. I recommend Celestron to ship their box packed inside a unmarked box for protection and to protect from porch pirates. Very very disgusted an expensive item came like this.... We then ordered a replacement on 8/5/26, it arrived on 8/8/26 in excellent condition. It had a prorective shipping box over it.

the OTA is fine for the money, the mount it's ok at best, a bit stiff and a bit shaky at high magnification but the slow motion controls are a nice feature at this price pointwhat really sucks it's that the starsense technology doesn't work at all in light polluted skys, I live in Monterrey, México, an 8 million people city so there's a lot of light at night an the starsense can not locate itself, I've tried everything, pointing it to different parts of the sky and in some rare cases it locates itself but as soon as you point the telescope to a target, it looses itself, so it renders the technology complety useless

Update: Had a lot of trouble trying to get this telescope aligned during the daytime hours. Finally figured out that if I started out the app in night mode then switched night mode off at a certain point, it would work. I also have a lot of trouble with the laser light. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.Now with the starsense app. I hate it. Just hate that app. Nothing connects when I try to use it. Is it my Samsung phone? It shouldn't have anything to do with it. After working and working on aligning and getting things to finally all work. All of a sudden it can't connect and keeps telling me to point it to a clear area in the sky.Someone who works with this company should really spend a few more bucks and get that App working so anyone, who buys their expensive telescope, can use it without being totally frustrated.Assembling this telescope was fairly easy. The hardest thing to do was finding that hex key. Picture doesn't help at all. If you turn the tripod where the slow motion handles are in the back, you can determine what is the front. The hex key is small and painted black so it blends in with the black part it sits in. If you look right above the one bolt on tripod at the top of leg, you'll barely see it. It would have been so much easier if they painted it a bright yellow. Once I found that, the rest was a breeze.Once assembled I downloaded the starsense app. Took it outside and got it aligned.I tried doing the phone part but never got what I was looking at to show on my phone screen. Will have to read up on that part more.Tonight is the first night where the sky should be clear.Hoping everything works good and I see my first star or planet.Will update...

I bought the 102 mm refractor for backyard planet watching. I wanted the larges aperture that I could easily carry out the door, set up, and get on target. I didn't want to have to fuss with collimation, or wait for cool-down, so a refractor seemed like a good choice. I also wanted dual slow motion controllers. This scope fit all of the bills, and I think it was a good choice. One thing to keep in mind that this is a short focal length refractor, so at high magnification bright objects will generate significant chromatic aberration- you'll see purple and yellow halos. Celestron has pretty cleverly provided for this- the lens cap has a central hole of about 50 mm with a second small cap on it. If you want to look at something and are bothered by chromatic aberration, pop the cap on with the center hole open. It will reduce the amount of light coming in (and resolution, a bit) but it nicely tames the chromatic aberration. The red dot finder works extremely well for getting lined up quickly on bright objects. I haven't had time to play with star sense yet, but even without it this is a nice scope and it meets my needs perfectly.Edit: After I got this scope, I tried using the Star Sense cell phone holder. My first time out with it, I dropped it and it broke. I contacted Celestron, and they shipped me another. Great customer service! Now that I've had a chance to use, I have to say it's pretty impressive. It works well, and makes it possible to find things that I couldn't otherwise. All in all this is a great scope and exactly what I wanted.

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It was my dream to own a solid telescope and this checks out all my boxes. Bought it on a deal price too.Great observations and precise. Easy to install and setup and very convenient to carry in a car.

The mount allows a little vibration which takes a few seconds to settle otherwise it’s a great package and I’m discovering many deep space objects with it

Je kan er zelfs met vrij veel lichtpolutie planeten mee zien

Telescopio ottimo,unica pecca la spedizione è arrivata in ritardo