Celestron StarSense Explorer 114mm Smartphone App-Enabled Tabletop Dobsonian Telescope

Product Overview

The Celestron StarSense Explorer 114mm is a 114 mm f/4 Newtonian reflector with a parabolic primary, mounted on a tabletop Dobsonian base and paired with a smartphone dock and Celestron's StarSense Explorer app. The app reads the actual star field through your phone's camera and matches it against its own catalogue to work out where the tube is pointed, then shows on-screen arrows that walk you to a target and turn the bullseye green once it is centred in the eyepiece. At 450 mm focal length the whole telescope weighs 12.6 lb and sits on a table, a bench or a car bonnet — it is the most portable way into the StarSense Explorer system.

Who It's For

This is a good match if you want a real telescope that lives in a cupboard and goes outside in one hand, and you would rather spend the evening observing than learning to star-hop first. The short 450 mm focal length gives wide, forgiving views of clusters, the Moon and the brighter nebulae, and the app finds them for you. It also suits a travelling observer, a cottage or a balcony, and it works as a second telescope for quick looks when setting up something larger is not worth it.

Key Features & Design

• 114 mm parabolic primary at f/4: 450 mm focal length, with a highest useful magnification of 269x, a lowest useful magnification of 16x and a limiting stellar magnitude of 12.8.
• Parabolic rather than spherical primary: at f/4 that matters — a spherical mirror at this focal ratio would not hold a sharp focus across the field.
• Two eyepieces supplied: a 17mm Kellner at 26x and a 10mm Kellner at 45x, so there is a low-power finding view and a closer look in the box.
• 265x the light-gathering power of the unaided eye: enough for the Moon in detail, the brighter planets, open clusters and the brightest nebulae.
• 1.25" rack-and-pinion focuser and a StarPointer red-dot finderscope.
• Aluminium mirror coatings with an SiO2 overcoat on standard optical glass.
• Tabletop Dobsonian base: 381 x 381 x 393.7 mm (15" x 15" x 15.5"), 8.4 lb, in CARB-compliant melamine-faced particle board.
• 12.6 lb (5.71 kg) complete: a 4.2 lb tube and an 8.4 lb base, with the StarSense dock and unlock code included.

Optical / Mechanical Design

The tube is a 114 mm parabolic Newtonian at f/4 — a short, fast instrument measuring 469.9 mm long by 139.7 mm in diameter (18.5" x 5.5"). Celestron publishes its resolving power as 1.21 arcseconds by the Rayleigh criterion and 1.02 arcseconds by the Dawes limit, and a 34.5 mm secondary minor axis keeps the central obstruction modest for the aperture.

At f/4 the focal ratio is doing two jobs: it keeps the tube short enough to be genuinely portable, and it delivers a wide true field with the supplied 17mm eyepiece. The trade is that fast Newtonians are more sensitive to collimation than slow ones, and a collimation cap is supplied for that. The 1.25" rack-and-pinion focuser is simple and takes any 1.25" eyepiece.

Recommended Uses

Wide-field observing of open clusters, the Milky Way star fields, the Pleiades and the brighter nebulae, where 450 mm of focal length is an advantage rather than a limitation. Lunar observing in detail, and the brighter planets at up to 269x. Guided touring with the app's list of currently visible objects and its audio descriptions. Travel, camping, cottages and balconies, where 12.6 lb and a 18.5" tube fit in luggage. Outreach and family observing, where the app lets anyone find something themselves.

Compatibility and Accessory Notes

Eyepieces: the focuser takes 1.25" eyepieces. The supplied 17mm and 10mm Kellners cover 26x and 45x; a 6mm or a zoom is the usual next addition for planetary work, with a 269x ceiling above.

Something to stand it on: the base is a tabletop design, so it needs a table, bench, wall or car bonnet at a comfortable height. Celestron's Tripod for StarSense Explorer Tabletop Dobsonian Telescopes is the purpose-made answer if you would rather not hunt for a surface each time.

Smartphone: the StarSense Explorer app runs on Android 12 and later and on iOS 18 and newer, including iPhone XR and newer. Celestron maintains the full device list at starsenseexplorer.simcur.com.

Included software: Celestron Starry Night Basic Edition ships with the telescope alongside the StarSense Explorer unlock code.

If you are unsure whether your phone will run the app, send us the model and we will check it against Celestron's list before you order.

Good to Know Before You Order

No tripod is included. The base is built to sit on a surface. A patio table or bench works; the matching tripod above is there if you want a dedicated one.

The app needs real starlight to work. It cannot orient itself in daylight and wants roughly an hour after sunset before there is enough star detail to match on. Cloud cover, haze, a bright Moon and heavy light pollution all reduce what it can lock onto.

It shows tonight's sky only. There is no date or time control in the app, so it plans the session you are about to have rather than one next month.

Tracking is manual. Objects drift across the field as the Earth turns and you nudge the tube to follow. At the low powers this telescope is happiest at, that is an occasional touch rather than constant attention.

114 mm is 114 mm. Galaxies and faint nebulae are within reach as smudges rather than structures at a 12.8 limiting magnitude — this aperture rewards clusters, the Moon, the planets and the brighter showpieces. If the faint end of the sky is your main interest, the 130mm or 150mm in this range gather noticeably more light and we are happy to talk through the difference.

Solar observing needs a purpose-made filter. Viewing the Sun through any telescope requires a proper solar filter fitted to the front of the tube — ask us and we will point you at one that fits this aperture.

Two-year Celestron warranty.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it difficult to set up?

No — this is the simplest telescope in the range to get going. The tube sits in the base, an eyepiece goes in the focuser and the phone goes in the dock. Aligning the phone to the optics takes a moment at the start of each session and the app's tutorials walk through it. Collimation is worth checking occasionally at f/4, and the included collimation cap is what you do it with.

Does the app need a subscription?

No. The unlock code is in the box and the app is yours with the telescope.

Do I need to buy anything else to use it?

Not to observe — two eyepieces, the finder and the dock are all supplied. You do need a surface to stand it on, and many owners add the matching tripod for that.

Which phones does it work with?

Android 12 and later, and iOS 18 and newer including iPhone XR and newer.

What is it best used for?

Wide-field deep-sky views, the Moon, the brighter planets and open clusters — and travel, because the whole telescope is 12.6 lb.

How does it compare with the 130mm and 150mm tabletops?

Aperture and reach. The 114mm gathers 265x the unaided eye against 345x for the 130mm and 459x for the 150mm, with limiting magnitudes of 12.8, 13.1 and 13.4. The 114mm is the lightest and the widest-field of the three; the 150mm shows the most.

Bottom Line

A 114 mm f/4 parabolic Newtonian on a tabletop Dobsonian base with app-guided pointing: 450 mm of focal length, two eyepieces, 12.6 lb complete, and a phone that finds the targets. It needs a surface to sit on and rewards wide-field observing.