The CGE Pro 1400 FASTAR Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope is part of Celestron's "Top-of-the-Line" German Equatorial mounted astronomical telescopes. With over three times the light gathering power of an 8" telescope, this observatory-class instrument is Celestron's largest optical system in its class.

This model features Celestron's premium StarBright XLT coatings and is FASTAR compatible for f/2 wide field imaging. This telescope is especially at home as a solid platform for long exposure astrophotography with optional CCD cameras or photographic equipment; it is a serious scientific research tool. German Equatorial mounts are recognized as being the superior choice for astrophotography because of their rock-solid stability, simple balancing and easy accessibility for attaching equipment. With sophisticated software features like Hibernate function, the CGE Pro can maintain its star alignment night after night without needing to be re-aligned, making it an ideal instrument for a permanent observatory facility.

The CGE Pro 1400 takes full advantage of its vast database of thousands of NGC and Abell galaxies as well as delivering a new level of detail to all your favorite deep sky objects. Turn this scope to the planets and see amazing detail on Jupiter; see Cassini's Division in the rings of Saturn, and resolve details on the surface of Mars. Even the distant Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are within your reach.

In addition to being fully computerized with a database of over 40,000 celestial objects, the CGE Pro German Equatorial mount has been completely redesigned to offer numerous design advantages.

• Increased Payload Capacity - With a maximum payload of 90lbs the CGE Pro mount is able to hold the 14" telescope more securely even when fully loaded with all your imaging gear.
• All-Star Polar Alignment - Choose any bright alignment star for a software assisted alignment of the mounts polar axis that will have you ready for imaging even if you can't see the North Star.
• No-Tool polar alignment - Larger hand knobs for both Altitude and Azimuth adjustments.
• Meridian Tracking - Extended tracking past the Meridian of up to 20 degrees of uninterrupted imaging through the best part of the sky.
• Faster slew speed - Improved gearing and motors provide faster slew speeds than ever before with a maximum slew rate of over 5 degrees per second.
• Accuracy - The hallmark of any telescope mount is its ability to find, center, and track celestial objects with the highest degree of accuracy.
• Pointing - With just a standard hand control alignment, CGE Pro has the ability to center a star in your eyepiece or ccd chip to within 5 arc minutes. Using NexStar's advanced pointing features such as Calibration Stars, Sync and Precise GoTo, further improves the pointing accuracy to as low as 1 arc minute in the desired region of the sky.
• Tracking - With larger .75" pitch diameter worm, precision made cut-steel gears in gearboxes, and seven slot skewed armature motors the CGE Pro delivers typical tracking performance of +/-9 arc seconds, which can be further reduced with the mounts permanent periodic error correction (PPEC).

In addition to these improvements, the Celestron line of German Equatorial mounts has long been recognized for features preferred by visual observers and astrophotographer alike. Among them include:

• Portability - Set up and transportation of the CGE Pro telescopes is made easy by separating the mount into smaller, easy-to-carry components.
• Stability - Recognized for superior stability, German Equatorial mounts place the center of gravity directly over the tripod legs and can be easily polar aligned without the use of an optional equatorial wedge. This proven design reduces the "tuning fork" vibration that can be associated with undersized fork mounts. An improved Super HD Tripod supports the CGE Pro mount. This fully extendable tripod is made from the finest 2.75" stainless steel and can be raised to a height of 55". The tripod uses a dual leg support for maximum rigidity with an upper leg brace to provide an outward preload and a lower leg brace providing inward tension.
• Balance - CGE Pro equatorial mounts can easily be balanced in both axes. Simply sliding the counterweight for Right Ascension and moving the optical tube along its dovetail mounting for Declination accomplish balancing the weight of camera equipment and other visual accessories. This means that no additional weight needs to be added to balance the telescope when additional accessories are added.
• Clearance - CGE Pro mounts support their tubes at a single contact point allowing the tube to move freely around its polar axis without making contact with the telescope's mount. Software features allow the user to set the mounts slew limits to guaranty safe motion. This is particularly useful when adding photographic and CCD instruments that extend from the rear of the telescopes.
• FASTAR compatible - Equipped with a removable secondary mirror for fast f/2 CCD imaging. Not only does imaging in the FASTAR configuration allow for exposure times that are 25 times faster than at f/11, but also yields a field of view five times wider. Perfect combination for imaging your favorite wide field objects in a fraction of the time. (FASTAR imaging requires a third party lens assembly in place of the secondary mirror).

This product is serviced and supported by its manufacturer according to the terms and conditions included in the packaged product. Orion's limited warranty does not apply. Please contact the manufacturer directly for technical support.

Please note this product was not designed or intended by the manufacturer for use by a child 12 years of age or younger.