Optical reference

Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 80AZ: aperture, focal length and eyepiece fit

What the Celestron StarSense Explorer LT 80AZ measures, the magnification and true field each eyepiece produces in it, and the barrel, mount payload and camera adapter that fit.

Published specifications

Aperture
80 mm (3.15 in)
Focal length
900 mm
Focal ratio
f/11.25
Optical design
Achromatic refractor
Focuser / eyepiece barrel
1.25 in focuser with a 90-degree erect-image diagonal
Mount
Altazimuth with pan handle (StarSense phone dock)
Highest useful magnification (published)
189x

Eyepiece ladder

2 pairings

The LT 80AZ is an 80 mm f/11.25 achromat, a long, slow refractor that keeps false colour low for its class. The published useful range runs from about 11x to 189x, so it is a lunar, planetary and double-star scope rather than a deep-sky one.

Because magnification is the telescope's 900 mm focal length divided by the eyepiece focal length, a 25 mm eyepiece gives 36x here and a 10 mm eyepiece gives 90x. The highest useful magnification is the published 189x, beyond which the image dims and softens without showing more detail.

The focuser takes 1.25 in eyepieces, so use 1.25 in eyepieces; a long low-power 2 in eyepiece will not fit this focuser.

Match an eyepiece, mount or camera