Representing the largest aperture in the series and drawing in more light to see deeper into space than smaller versions, Celestron's NexStar 8SE 203mm f/10 Schmidt-Cassegrain GoTo Telescope is a powerful yet portable scope that can be used for observing everything from the Moon and planets to deep-sky objects like stars, galaxies, and nebulae, while maintaining the user-friendly interface of the SE series. Using Celestron's proprietary StarBright XLT multi-coating system, light transmission is increased throughout the entire optical path with anti-reflection multi-coated lenses, highly reflective multi-coated mirrors, and crown optical glass elements. While the focal ratio is a relatively slow f/10, the mount's precision tracking system allows it to be a competent shorter-exposure astrophotography imaging platform for the Moon and planets.

Driving the dual servo motors on the mount is the brain of the NexStar 8SE: The iconic NexStar+ computer hand controller. Packed with 40,000+ celestial objects, it can hold up to 100 additional user-defined destinations and is updatable via the Celestron website. It has multiple alignment procedures to get you observing fast, including the super-easy SkyAlign system. Capable of being used in the northern or southern hemispheres, the NexStar has sidereal, lunar, and solar tracking speeds to accurately follow near and deep-sky objects, plus nine slew speeds and the ability to automatically trigger a camera's shutter release for Fastar or piggyback wide-field photography or conventional prime-focus astrophotography.