Celestron NexStar 4SE
A high-quality telescope for beginner and intermediate astronomers alike, this catadioptric is an instrument that promises years of usage
It’s not often that we come across a telescope that’s an ‘all rounder’, but we were taken with the Celestron NexStar 4SE. It’s quite difficult to outgrow this telescope given what it can offer and how easy it is to accessorise with extra eyepieces and other kit. The 25mm Plössl eyepiece supplied gives a magnification of 53x, but we’d advise purchasing a selection of eyepieces and filters, bearing in mind that the highest useful magnification is 241x, to get the very best out of this telescope
Setting this Maksutov-Cassegrain up took next to no time at all, and we were impressed with the quality of many of its components. The robust build of the NexStar 4SE promises to last for years of observing sessions, provided it is treated with care. We would recommend purchasing a dew shield for this telescope though, since catadioptric telescopes can succumb to moisture.
Weighing in at 9.53 kilograms (21 pounds) the telescope is a touch on the heavy side, but given the technology and components compacted into one instrument we weren’t surprised. This is really just a minor inconvenience to those who would prefer a lighter scope.
Quite a large flaw in the telescope’s design is that it requires eight AA batteries to operate the computerised fork mount. Sadly, the NexStar drains batteries quite quickly, making using it quite frustrating and giving it the potential to become quite expensive with more frequent use. We found that even with rechargeable batteries the telescope would act oddly with low charge, so we strongly recommend purchasing an AC power cord from Celestron. Unfortunately this is not included with the telescope.
Celestron promises a lot when it comes to the operational abilities of this instrument, so we were delighted to discover that the NexStar 4SE did exactly what the manufacturer said when we took it out to test on a clear September evening. Its star alignment using the SkyAlign technology was impressively simple, and it wasn’t long before we began touring the late-summer sky.
Our first target was the Andromeda Galaxy, which is visible to the naked eye as a fuzzy patch. Instructing the NexStar to view this galaxy, the computerised mount ran smoothly and was very accurate at locating objects, with the galaxy sat very close to the centre of the field of view. When we brought the heart of the nebula into view we did notice a degree of vibration while focusing but, once finished, views could be taken in with no hindrance. Thanks to the excellent StarBright XLT optical coating, our observations of the galaxy and brighter satellite galaxies were very crisp, bright and clear, with no defects in the optics to speak of.
While the telescope slews to its target the mount does make a great deal of noise, particularly when we used the moderate to fast settings. If you find the noise off-putting and are happy to observe without a computerised mount then it’s quite easy to switch over to a manual one, given that the tube possesses a Vixen-style dovetail. Remember though, you will need a Vixen adapter if you want to fit the tube to another Celestron mount.
Heading back inside to warm up with a cup of tea, we decided to give the NexStar’s lunar, solar and sidereal tracking a test. On returning to the telescope 30 minutes later, we found that the star hadn’t drifted out of the field of view, highlighting the telescope’s excellent tracking ability. Many novice astronomers might find the idea of using a GoTo telescope daunting, but Celestron’s comprehensive manuals and software will put any worries to bed.
With the nearly full Moon in the sky quite late into the evening, we took the opportunity to view our natural satellite’s cratered surface. What we saw was impressive; NexStar revealed well-defined crater walls and lunar mare to a high standard – the craters Copernicus and Tycho were particularly impressive using the modest 4.02” aperture.
With gas giant Jupiter also at a good position in the sky and not too far from the Moon, the NexStar made short work of locating this planet and its four largest moons: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto. Jupiter took pride of place in the field of view as a bright disc, with Ganymede and Europa appearing as sharp points of light flanking the giant’s left, while Io and Callisto could be found relatively near to the planet’s right limb. As discovered with Andromeda, views through the Schmidt-Cassegrain’s optics were impressively clear and bright, with no colour fringing evident. Jupiter will only continue to make an excellent target by increasing the telescope’s magnification, something we highly recommend doing, either by using a Barlow lens or filters, as well as additional eyepieces with a 1.25” fitting.
Despite a pricetag that many might find is way beyond their budget, we highly recommend the Celestron NexStar range, with the 4SE in particular being good value for money. With little-to-no maintenance required, provided you treat the telescope with care, this ’scope is one that will last a long time, providing impressive views of a wide selection of night sky targets. There’s even room for basic astrophotography. A massive thumbs up from us!