Secondly, this is a Newtonian Reflector. It uses an open front and a collecting mirror that then bounces the light onto the objective lens. See http://www.celestron.com/tb-2ref.htm for an explanation of the different types of telescopes. The point is that this is a good light collector, even though the Catadioptric is the arguably superior design. Many if not most home scopes are small refractors or Newtonian reflectors.

Whenever there is a major celestial event, people go out and buy telescopes. They then do not use them until the next major celestial event. This August, Mars will be closer to Earth than it has been in 73,000 years.

This is a major event, and you will be able to observe it on a home telescope! This telescope might well be the perfect balance of cost, ease of use, and function, especially considering that it will be used by people who simply want to find Mars, and do so reliably. Assuming you get clear skies, there will never be a better time to observe the planet. You can read about it at http://www.celestron.com/mars/.

So, how do you find Mars? With this telescope, it is simple:
Point the telescope north, and level it. You will need a compass (or a good sense of direction).
Tell the telescope where you are. A nearby city will work, or you can use latitude and longitude.
Tell the telescope what time it is in your time zone, and what time zone you think you are in.
The above may not be in the right order, but it does not matter, the controller will lead you through the steps.
Use the controller to tell the scope that you want to point to Mars.

The scope will not only point at Mars, it will track Mars!

If you are not 100% sure that you have exact north, or you want to find something in the sky that is not as obvious as Mars, you can first align the scope on North and then on two bright stars. Once you have done that, you should be able to point to galaxies, nebulas, etc.

So, what do you do when Mars is no longer as observable? With a database of 4000 objects, there might be something you are interested in. Look at the moon! Try to see the Red Spot on Jupiter, or maybe the rings of Saturn. The controller will show you "interesting" and observable objects based on what you can see that night in tour mode. And pressing "info" will give you an interesting fact or two about the object you pulled up.

The software that comes with it will allow you to pull up a map of the night sky at any time, or "right now".

Celestron's page on this telescope is http://www.celestron.com/prod_pgs/tel/nx114gt.htm".here and the product manual is ftp://dl.celestron.com/pub/products/telescopes/nexstar_gt/31142_nx114gt/manual/31142_nx114gt.pdf. You will need a pdf reader to read the manual - try it, you'll like it.

Recommended:
Yes