Celestron NexStar 8SE Computerized Telescope – Schmidt-Cassegrain

Why it's worth it

The NexStar 8SE pairs 8-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain optics with a computerized mount that slews to any of 40,000-plus catalogued objects and tracks it automatically. Alignment means centering three bright stars, no names required, which puts a lot of aperture in reach of someone still learning the sky.

Eight inches of aperture changes what your recipient sees. Cloud bands on Jupiter get texture, the gap in Saturn's rings becomes obvious on a steady night, and globular clusters resolve into individual stars instead of fuzz. This is the point where someone stops looking at objects and starts studying them. It's also the most expensive pick in this guide, and it should go to somebody who has already shown they're hooked.

SkyAlign is what makes a computerized scope giftable. Your recipient centers any three bright stars or planets — they don't need to know which ones — and the mount figures out where it is. After that, the hand control takes them to any object in its 40,000-plus database and the motors keep it centered while they look. Tracking matters at high power, where an untracked target crosses the field in seconds.

From our review of 7 gifts for stargazers

What we like

• +Eight inches of aperture changes what your recipient sees
• +SkyAlign is what makes a computerized scope giftable
• +It packs down into a tube, a single-arm fork mount and a tripod, and the whole thing runs a little under 24 pounds
• +Plan on buying it a power supply

What to know

• –The included accessories don't match the optics
• –The single-arm alt-azimuth mount is built for looking, not for long exposures