Celestron Nexstar 4SE or 5SE

[Debostar]

Dear Friends,

I want to see the planets and the moon, maybe some stars. I have no idea how all of this works, but I have seen a Celestron NexStar 4SE and 5SE down at the mall, the 4SE is within my budget and I may be also able to get the 5SE.

Please could you tell me if these would be good for a beginner, and what would be the benefits of getting the 5SE as opposed to the 4SE. I plan to use the telescope in an isolated desert mountain location in the UAE, that is well away from light polution and humidity....That is at my works site. I also may try using it on my balcony at home, but there is tons of light pollution here. In any case, stars and/or planets are visible even here with the naked eye.

I understand that these units are not the best for astral photography, however, as long as I would be able to document some of my sightings in a basic image quality, I would be satisfied, and in the future I could upgrade to something semi-professional....

Appreciate all comments, especially from those who do own these telescopes.

[CGolder]

Hello,

i would certainly go for the 4se over the 5se, the value between the 2 is huge and the differences between the 2 are small in comparison.

they are both on the same mounts but the 4se is a 4" maksutov and the 5" is a SCT. the mak will have a smaller central obstruction so the difference is actually less than 1".

now thats a lot of money for less than an inch of primary.

they are good scopes and easy to align and use.

the 4se has had some good reviews but it is a small scope so will be better for brighter objects such as the moon and planets, but will give some nice views of some Deep sky (better if you are at a dark site).

Bigger is generally always better, but the best two in the SE range are generally the 4se and 6se for value and quality.

The 5se being overpriced (imo) and the 8SE pushing the mount and pushing the price a bt close to the CPC

[Demonperformer]

I have the next size up (6SE) and have been very happy with the results. If your budget will stretch that far, I would suggest the 5SE is a better bet, purely on the grounds that you have about 50% more light-grasp (25/16)

[rowan46]

welcome to sgl. I have the older nexstar 5 and the optics on it are very nice. It does give better views than the 4 but at a dark site both will be fine. The reason I got the 5 was because it was second hand and consequently very cheap. to buy new however the price differential is too great. the 4 has its good points it has a smaller front obstruction and a larger focal ratio consequently is very good on planets it also doesn't need collimating and the mount was designed for the 4 consequently its steadier.

The 5 gives a slightly brighter view of everything its as good on planets and has a slightly wider view generally its definately better to look through, however the mount was designed for the 4 and it shows. if you put a camera on the back its not as steady as the 4.

in answer to your question is it better than the 4? the anwer is yes it is. But I am not sure its 50 percent beter. optically it is but factor in the mount as well I am not sure that a new 5se is cost effective compared to the 4se I have to agree that the 6se is probably the best in the range