Celestron 279/2800 Schmidt-Cassegrain CGEM II 1100 GoTo

Observatory performance, at home in the garden

The Celestron SC 279/2800 CGEM II 1100 Is the C11 on the platform where it belongs. The 279 mm aperture gathers 1589 times more light than the naked eye: globular clusters down to the core, structure in planetary nebulae and, during oppositions, surface detail on Mars. The CGEM II carries the 12.5 kg tube with a wide margin, even with a camera and accessories.

The CGEM II Mount: Room for Serious Photography

The CGEM II is Celestron's heavier-duty German equatorial GoTo mount: 18 kg (40 lbs) payload capacity, NexStar+ hand controller with over 40,000 objects, All-Star Polar Alignment, permanently programmable periodic error correction (PPEC), and an autoguider port. Where the Advanced VX reaches its limit with these tube sizes, the CGEM II has plenty of margin: precisely what long, unattended exposures require. The mount operates on 12V; a power tank is the logical addition.

The correct mount for eleven inch

On the lighter Advanced VX, this tube works fine visually, but for astrophotography it is at its limit. The CGEM II solves this: stable tracking during long exposures and quickly damping vibrations when focusing. On paper, up to about 558x is useful; the advantage of eleven inches lies in brightness and resolution at every magnification that the seeing allows.

What's in the box?

• Optical tube SC 279/2800 with StarBright XLT coating
• CGEM II GoTo Mount with NexStar+ Hand Controller
• Steel tripod with accessory tray
• Eyepiece and diagonal mirror
• Seeker
• Counterweights

Featured accessories

• The Celestron PowerTank Lithium LT The mount feeds all night in the field.
• A moon filter (1.25 inch) The bright moonlight reflects off this large opening.

Still unsure about the right model? Our Buyer's guide for beginners and the telescope selection aid help you step by step. Also check out all the catadioptric telescopes or the full range on the Celestron merk Page. You can read more background information about the merk in the Celestron merk Guide.