The Celestron Advanced VX 8-inch EdgeHD is a universal telescopic system for intermediate and advanced amateur astronomers, but it is still small and light enough to be easily transported for observation in the country. The 8-inch hole is large enough to view and photograph any celestial object, and computerized equatorial stabilization is easy to find and track.
KEY FEATURES CELESTRON ADVANCED VX 8 EDGE HD
Visual design: EdgeHD (Schmidt-Casegrain enhanced with additional lens elements)
slot: 203.2 mm (8 inches)
Focal length: 2032 mm (80 inches)
focal length: f / 10
Lens focal length: 40 mm (50 x)
Total set weight: 61 lbs. (27.67 kg) (divided into 3 main transport components)
mounting type: German equatorial line, computerized, servo motors
Visually, the EdgeHD system is excellent and with the right accessories goes well with all types of cameras. The views of Saturn and Jupiter are exciting. Spherical clusters break up into stars. All Messier objects are clearly visible; With a trained eye and a dark rural sky, galaxies up to 12 degrees can be seen. This is a telescope you will not get rid of.
As this telescope is designed for relatively advanced users, we consider it from this point of view. The author has been using the Celestron Advanced VX 8 Edge HD as basic equipment since 2014 and knows them very well. As a longtime member of the consumer community, the author is also known to be reliable.
Celestron Advanced VX 8 Edge HD: Design
Target Celestron Advanced VX 8-inch Edge HD telescope mounted on a tripod (Photo: Michael Covington)
- The EdgeHD’s optical design is superior to Schmidt-Cassegrain
- Lightweight, durable and computer proven
- Interoperability – other telescopes, other stands, standard accessories
The jewel in Celestron’s crown is the EdgeHD optical system, which is an improved Schmidt-Casegrain lens with additional lens elements, and although the improvement is mainly for photography, we can see it with the naked eye.
The computerized stand combines Celestron’s NexStar firmware with a German-style equatorial stand whose main axis points to the celestial pole. This provides properly oriented tracking for photography and the ability to use different telescopes on the same stand. For example, our advanced VX mount easily holds a camera with a telephoto lens instead of the EdgeHD. The current version accepts both vixen (narrow) and loosmandi (wide).
The computerized stand detects celestial bodies by receiving commands from the hand box or via USB from your computer (Photo: Michael Covington)
Compared to competitors, the VX Advanced Mounting Head is relatively light and strong and is not easily damaged or thrown out of adjustment. The telescope, mounting head and tripod are easy to separate for transport.
The stand requires a 12-14V DC power supply, about 0.5A most of the time, up to 3 or 4A for the moments when the telescope is moved quickly. We use a portable battery.
Celestron Advanced VX 8 Edge HD: performance
Usually the best viewing is with an eyepiece of about 20 mm, not the accompanying 40 mm (Photo: Michael Covington)
- Excellent optics
- It searches for celestial bodies and tracks them reliably
- Serious deep sky photography requires better composition
All good telescopes of the same size offer similar views, so this is not much different from other well-made 6 to 10 inch telescopes. Compared to conventional Schmidt-Cassegrains, however, we believe that EdgeHD is more pronounced, especially farther from the center of the field.
The 40mm eyepiece provides power of 50, which looks low but ideal for star clusters, nebulae and galaxies. Celestron suggests that you will buy more lenses and as such we would recommend two more lenses, about 20 mm (100x for general purpose) and 10 mm (200x for the moon and planets). In extremely quiet air, we were able to use a 5 mm (400x) lens on nearby binary stars. High quality lenses show the best in this precision telescope, so don’t skimp.
The VX Advanced Mount (an older version, with a secondary production saddle) can hold a camera and telephoto lens for dramatic deep-sky shots. (Photo: Michael Covington)
After proper adjustment, the mount finds acceptable celestial objects (good enough to fit the object in the field of a 20 mm lens) and tracks them well. You can choose objects on a handheld console, a computer running Celestron’s PWI software, or many other sky map packages, such as stellarium. Astrophotographers will want to perform PEC training, as described in the guide, for smoother tracking.
However, for long exposures of nebulae and galaxies, with automatic controls and a periscope sending sequential mount adjustments, Advanced VX left me wanting (and eventually moving to) heavier mounts with more precise engagement and more -a little backlash. This is only a problem when the Advanced VX carries a telescope of this size. Works very well with carrying a smaller telescope.
Celestron Advanced VX 8 Edge HD: Features
Star camera (not included) or DSLR camera mounted instead of a telescope lens (Photo: Michael Covington)
- Computer aided setup process
- Amazing views of all types of celestial bodies
- More lenses needed (about 20mm and 10mm)
Because Advanced VX is equatorial stabilization, tuning is more than a normal process of automatically centering several stars pointed to by the telescope. You also need to aim at its Polaris polar axis, then improve alignment by seeing the stars and letting the computer on the stand tell you the mistakes. The process, which Celestron calls “Polar Alignment of All Stars,” is easy to use and impressively accurate, but you need to identify bright stars. If the computer tells you to center Enif and you center Alpheratz, you will get incorrect results. This is the main difference between tropical installations and those that are most suitable for beginners.
Digitally processed image of Jupiter with 8-inch EdgeHD and star camera (previous figure). Image processing stands out much more than it seems at first glance (Photo: Michael Covington)
This is a good telescope for observing all types of celestial bodies. You can also attach a camera (smartphone and DSLRA and astral without a mirror) for images of the moon and carefully and skillfully, the planets and objects in the deep sky. One of the most satisfying things we’ve done is capture thousands of videos of Jupiter, Saturn, or Mars with an astronomical camcorder, then arrange and sharpen them to get a much better view than the human eye can get with the same telescope. .
This is an expandable system, takes a lot of standard accessories and you will immediately need one or two lenses with higher power (shorter focal length).
Add aiming range, auto-aiming and a suitable camera and you can take pictures in deep skies like the one with a telescope, but the better stabilization of Advanced VX makes it much easier (Photo credit: Michael Covington)
Do I need to buy a Celestron Advanced VX 8 Edge HD telescope?
If you are a serious amateur astronomer who has developed a deep understanding of both the sky and the telescope, this is an attractive product. The telescope is as good as you want it to be in its size range. The montage works well for everything except long-term exposure to deep sky photography, and there is plenty of room for growth with standard accessories and even, if necessary, a heavier stand.
If this product is not suitable for you
If your main interest is long-exposure astrophotography, skip the Advanced VX and get the same Celestron CGX or Losmandy GM8 telescope (at a significantly higher price).
If you’re new to astronomy and still not good at star recognition, that can be a lot; You can get very similar views with the Celestron 6 or 8-inch NexStar telescope on a fork stand that is easy to carry and adjust.
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