Celestron CPC Deluxe 1100 HD — image 1
Celestron

Celestron CPC Deluxe 1100 HD

An 11-inch EdgeHD tube on a heavy fork GoTo mount, for the observer who wants a permanent-quality planetary and deep-sky instrument without building a pier.

87/ 100
Polaris Score
#1 of 6 large computerized SCT
See the breakdown ↓
Aperture
280mm
Focal Length
2800mm
Focal Ratio
f/10
Mount Type
Fork Alt-Azimuth GoTo
Optical Design
Schmidt-Cassegrain (EdgeHD)
Weight
38.1 kg
From$5,499

$800 above 90-day lowLast $4,699 in Aug 2026

Price tracked by PolarisObserved 96 timesTracking since Jul 2026

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Where to buy

Verified 13h ago · prices tracked daily

What it's built forOpen these in the simulator →

This telescope lives for the planets.

An f/10 focal length built to magnify. Where fast scopes sweep wide, this one holds a single planet rock-steady at high power — a telescope for the patient observer on a steady night.

Sweet spot 210–350×Loves steady seeing
The view people remember

Saturn, with its rings tilted wide.

The one you call people outside to see — the rings standing clear of the planet, the Cassini Division a clean black line drawn around them.

See Saturn through this telescope →
01What it's good at

What it's best at — and the trade-offs.

280mm of aperture pulls in globular clusters, planetary nebulae and galaxy detail that smaller scopes only hint at
Best at
✓280mm of aperture pulls in globular clusters, planetary nebulae and galaxy detail that smaller scopes only hint at
✓EdgeHD optics flatten the field edge to edge, so stars stay pinpoint across the whole eyepiece instead of smearing at the margins
✓The integrated fork GoTo with a database of 40,000+ objects points and tracks itself, which matters at f/10 where fields are narrow
✓SkyAlign gets you aligned on any three bright objects without knowing their names, so setup is genuinely beginner-friendly despite the size
Trade-offs
!At roughly 65 lbs assembled it is a two-hands, plant-your-feet instrument that discourages spontaneous sessions
!The 2800mm focal length gives a narrow true field, so large objects will not fit
!The corrector plate dews up on humid nights and needs a heater or dew shield
!f/10 is slow for deep-sky imaging without the HyperStar conversion
02In plain English

What These Numbers Mean

280mm · f/10 · 2800mm FL · Fork Alt-Azimuth GoTo
Aperture
280 mm (11 inch)
Eleven inches gathers about 1,600 times the light of your eye. This is observatory-class light grasp on a portable fork: globular clusters resolve to the core, planetary detail holds up at 400x on good nights, and hundreds of galaxies show real structure from a dark site.
Focal length
2800 mm
Nearly three metres of focal length, which suits planets, the Moon, double stars and compact deep-sky objects. The field is inherently narrow, so pair it with a reducer or long eyepieces when you want context around a target.
Focal ratio
f/10
Slow and high-magnification by nature. Easy on eyepieces, hard on deep-sky imaging, where exposure times are long and the alt-azimuth fork adds field rotation unless you fit an equatorial wedge.
Optical design
EdgeHD Schmidt-Cassegrain
The EdgeHD correction flattens the field so stars stay sharp to the edge rather than bloating outward, which matters both at the eyepiece and on a camera. It is the difference between a standard SCT and one usable for imaging without extra corrective glass.
Weight
29 kg tube and fork
About 64 lb for the optical tube and fork assembly, plus the tripod. Two people or a strong back and a wheeled case are the realistic answer, and this becomes a scope you set up deliberately rather than spontaneously.
Mount
Dual-fork alt-azimuth GoTo
The dual arms make it far steadier at high magnification than a single-arm fork, and the GoTo database finds and tracks targets automatically. Alt-azimuth tracking is excellent visually but limits long-exposure imaging without a wedge.
03The Polaris Score

How it scores, and why.

87/100 · #1 of 6 large computerized SCT
87/ 100
Celestron CPC Deluxe 1100 HD
#1 of 6 large computerized SCT
Performance
95
Ease of use
80
Portability
35
Upgrade potential
80

Polaris weighs optical capability, how easy the scope is to live with, how portable it is, and how far it takes you before you outgrow it — not list price or brand.

04Who it's for

An honest fit check.

Serious visual observers who want to see planetary detail and faint deep-sky objects from…
Buy it if you
✓Serious visual observers who want to see planetary detail and faint deep-sky objects from one instrument
✓People with a permanent or garage-kept setup where the weight is wheeled out, not carried far
✓Observers ready to grow into lunar and planetary imaging
Look elsewhere if you
!Anyone who has to carry gear up stairs or hike to a dark site
!Wide-field observers who want the whole Pleiades or the Andromeda galaxy in one view
!Buyers on a tight budget where a Dobsonian delivers the same aperture for a third of the price
05Build your rig

What to buy next — and where it leads.

6 pieces of gear, ordered by what changes the view most
Recommended upgrades
A sharper everyday view★ Top pickTele Vue Nagler 22mm Type 4

A premium 2-inch wide-field eyepiece for the widest true field

Sharper planets & lunar detailTele Vue Delos 6mm

A premium high-power eyepiece for planetary detail

No fogging on long sessionsPegasus Astro Multi-Channel Dew Controller

Keeps the corrector plate clear on humid nights

Imaging path
Visual observing tonightFork Alt-Azimuth GoTo✓ Included

Ships with this telescope — point-and-track for visual sessions, no extra setup.

Portable astrophotographyZWO AM5N Harmonic Equatorial Mount✓ Compatible

Start capturing images of the Moon and planets

Permanent-setup astrophotographySky-Watcher EQ6-R Pro✓ Compatible

Commonly paired with this telescope

Start imagingZWO ASI662MC

Start capturing images of the Moon and planets

Lunar & planetary
Excellent
Deep-sky imaging
Add a wedge or reducer
Visual observing
Strong all-rounder
06The numbers

Full specifications.

6 measured and stated values
Optics
Optical DesignSchmidt-Cassegrain (EdgeHD)
Aperture280mm
Focal Length2800mm
Focal Ratiof/10
Mount & drive
Mount TypeFork Alt-Azimuth GoTo
Physical
Weight38.1 kg
07Alternatives

For a different goal, start here.

3 alternatives, each mapped to the goal it wins at
Lighter and cheaper

Celestron NexStar 8SE

8-inch SCT on a single-arm mount if 11 inches is more scope than you can move

→
Bring your own mount

Celestron EdgeHD 11 OTA

Same optics as a bare tube if you already own an equatorial mount for imaging

→
More aperture, less money

Apertura AD12 Dobsonian

12 inches of visual light-grasp for a fraction of the cost if you skip GoTo

→
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