Celestron ST80 Spotting Scope

This is my super finder.  I guess you can consider this a telescope, even though I bought it to mount on my XT10 in the finder position.  It is an 80mm f/5 achromatic doublet refractor and is often referred to as a short tube 80mm (ST80).  This Celestron version is identical to the Orion ST80 and others sold under various names.  They are all made by Synta, the same folks that make the current XT line of dobs for Orion.  I bought the Celestron version because it is black and matches my XT10.   The details on how I attached it to the XT10 are in the finders section.

It works very well as a rich field telescope to supplement my XT10 and binoviewers.  This is a very nice, compact telescope.  I need to get a compact mount for it so I can travel with it. Bob Berta has put together some excellent information on tuning up the ST80.

I have found that the 4+ deg TFOV is an excellent companion to the XT10, especially with the binoviewers in the XT10.  The max TFOV I can get with the binoviewers is 1 degree.  I did put the binoviewers in the ST80 and it was amazing.  A 3 deg TFOV at 23x, very nice.  

I would not recommend this telescope for planetary or DSO work.  While you can see these objects, I wouldn’t plan on any critical viewing with this scope.  80-90x are about the limit with occasional jaunts up to 100x possible.  If you want more than that, get a Televue 85.  If 4 degree TFOV panoramic vistas are your goal, then this scope will suit you just fine.  It is still attached to my XT10, so I must like it.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *