NEW Celestron Origin Intelligent Home Observatory

[FLO]

Celestron have today released details of their first 'Home Observatory' telescope, and it features 6" Rowe Ackermann optics 🙂 

Celestron Origin Intelligent Home Observatory

ETA around May 2024

We don't yet have a price, but we are guessing around £4k. 

 

[John]

Wow !!!

Things are really moving on now, aren't they 😲

 

[tomato]

The IMX 178 sensor has significant amp glow which can of course be eliminated with dark frame calibration, or minimised with short exposures, but I wonder why they didn’t go with the IMX678 which is about the same price but has zero amp glow, is the 178 camera already in Celestron’s product range?

It should certainly out perform the Seestar but then it definitely isn’t in the same price bracket.

It will, I think,  tempt someone thinking of putting an AP rig together, especially if they have been seduced by the RASA output regularly posted here on SGL.

[Elp]

Does anyone actually know what's happening with the RASA 8s?

[Sunshine]

 

[Icesheet]

10 hours ago, Elp said:

Does anyone actually know what's happening with the RASA 8s?

Have they stopped selling them?

[Elp]

It's been going on for over a year, the last I heard they were supposed to have fixed the issue and be back to retailers mid to late 2023 but it didn't happen. As an example FLO haven't had stock for a long long time as far as I'm aware (as per other retailers), the listing has had extended delivery times until recently but still no stock.

Edited January 9 by Elp

[Icesheet]

18 minutes ago, Elp said:

It's been going on for over a year, the last I heard they were supposed to have fixed the issue and be back to retailers mid to late 2023 but it didn't happen. As an example FLO haven't had stock for a long long time as far as I'm aware (as per other retailers), the listing has had extended delivery times until recently but still no stock.

Don’t want to stray too far off topic here but do you have a link as to what the issue is? There’s a used one for sale near me that I’m interested in and would be good to know 😊. 

[Elp]

I'm not certain what the issue is exactly (cause) but I think a lot of people were complaining they couldn't get a flat and aberration free field no matter what they did, and this thread highlights the stock discussion more:

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/854593-what-happened-to-the-rasa-8-stock/

I think he fact that some people haven't had an issue doesn't tell the whole story, but for Celestron to recall stock shows how bad the situation is. It only affects the 8 inch as far as I'm aware.

Edited January 9 by Elp

[Elp]

And just like that one is now in stock, hopefully the issue is now resolved whatever caused it. The 8 is certainly a popular size due to mount considerations for going any larger.

Edited January 9 by Elp

[FLO]

12 hours ago, Elp said:

Does anyone actually know what's happening with the RASA 8s?

The Celestron 8" RASA (not the 6" model discussed here) was temporarily withdrawn from sale. That was some time ago. A new batch was recently released and our first stock delivery (only one!) arrived this morning. Another shipment is en route, so more will be available in 1-2 weeks. 

HTH

[RobW]

Lovely concept - not convinced on the $4k price tag though. If you don't have mounts and existing gear, it is all-in-one. If you have some existing gear, a RASA 8 seems a better proposition. Different strokes I guess. Maybe their target market is people wanting more than an S50, but still wanting simplicity with everything in one bundle.

[Gfamily]

It's out of stock, so don't consider this as promoting another company; but I've just seen that Tring have the Origin 6 listed at ~£3800 (but out of stock). No idea if it'll be the same when it comes back in.

As for the RASA 8, I know someone (here) who uses a RASA, and I understand that getting the imaging sensor correctly flattened is a bit of a fiddle. Whether this is behind the complaints and temporary withdrawal from the market, I don't know.

[Elp]

I think flattening the whole field with any scope or camera setup takes some doing, especially the larger the camera sensor.

[tomato]

There is a comprehensive thread on here about the RASA8 defect:

It’s just my opinion, but I would have some faith that Celestron  have fixed the problem if they have started shipping units again.

 

[FLO]

On 08/01/2024 at 20:42, FLO said:

ETA around May 2024

We don't yet have a price, but are guessing around £4k. 

Celestron released the UK price this afternoon. It is £3999. 

3 hours ago, Gfamily said:

... I've just seen that Tring have the Origin 6 listed at ~£3800 (but out of stock). No idea if it'll be the same when it comes back in.

Looking this evening, they are £3,999. Perhaps £3,800 was an earlier guess.

Either way, we'll monitor prices between now and its arrival. 

HTH, 

Steve

[FLO]

This long-awaited smart telescope is now en route 🙂 

ETA is currently mid-end August (2-3 weeks). 

Unfortunately, Celestron's first shipment to the UK will be small, but another larger delivery is scheduled for September. 

We will dispatch the telescopes to customers in date order - promise 😇

Thank you for your patience.

Steve

[FLO]

On 05/08/2024 at 10:26, FLO said:

This long-awaited smart telescope is now en route 🙂 

ETA is currently mid-end August (2-3 weeks). 

Unfortunately, Celestron's first shipment to the UK will be small, but another larger delivery is scheduled for September. 

We will dispatch the telescopes to customers in date order - promise 😇

Celestron's mid-end August shipment has slipped into early September. 

Unfortunately, we won't receive enough to fulfil all our existing customer backorders. More stock will arrive around late October and then again sometime in November. 

We are not expecting 'unsold stock' to be available before early next year. 

This is true for all UK astronomy retailers, not only FLO. 

Thank you for your patience ☺️

Steve