Is the Celestron 8 inch CPC the same as Nexstar 8SE with a CN16 GPS accessory?
Visually, they would both perform the same. Both feature Celestron 8 inch Schmidt-Cassegrain optics. The first major difference would be the mount. The CPC features a dual-fork arm mount and the 8SE features a single fork arm mount. If astrophotography is important to you, while both are great for that, the CPC would be better with its dual fork arm design. The GPS feature is great on the CPC series, and like you said, can be easily added to the SE series by purchasing the GPS accessory. Q5: Do you need to point at some known objects for it to know where it is before it can find an objects in the sky? A: Yes, all “GoTo” telescopes (telescopes that can automatically locate objects for you) need to be aligned to the night sky. This is an easy process that is learned quickly. The CPC series features “SkyAlign” a really easy way to align the telescope. You simply choose any 3 bright objects in the night sky, and point the telescope to each of these one at a time. My 11 year old nephew oper
