Celestron, the long-established US telescope maker, entered smart telescopes with the Origin: a 6-inch f/2.2 RASA home observatory, now in its Mark II version.
Sorted by research score.
List price $4,299 (as of Oct 2026)
A 6-inch (152 mm) f/2.2 RASA "home observatory" with a Sony IMX678 camera, autofocus, dew heater, filter drawer and Raspberry Pi computer on a fork mount with a full-height tripod.
Pros
Cons
Celestron, based in Torrance, California, has made telescopes since the 1960s and is best known for its Schmidt-Cassegrains. Its smart telescope, the Origin, uses Celestron's patented RASA (Rowe-Ackermann Schmidt Astrograph) design: a 6-inch mirror-and-lens system at f/2.2 with the camera mounted at the front of the tube.
| Model | Optics | Camera | Battery | Weight | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Origin Mark II | 152 mm RASA, 335 mm, f/2.2 | Sony IMX678, 8.3 MP | "6+ hours" (LiFePO4) | 41.6 lb with tripod | $4,299 |
Price from celestron.com on October 17, 2026.
Origin includes autofocus, StarSense automatic alignment, a dew heater with dew shield, a filter drawer for 1.25" and 2" filters, raw file export and a full-height tripod. Celestron keeps adding features through software, such as dithering (April 2026) and mosaic mode (September 2026).
Strength: by far the most light-gathering of any mainstream smart telescope, with deep-sky images building in seconds-long frames. Weak points: weight, price, and planets; reviewers of the original Origin could not get Saturn in focus.
From celestron.com (which lists authorized retailers) and astronomy dealers. We haven't found a public Celestron affiliate program; our links to Celestron are not paid.