Celestron Advanced VX 700 Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope

As we begin the review of the Celestron Advanced VX 700 Maksutov-Cassegrain, here’s a quick refresher on some terminology. The term ‘catadioptric’ describes using lenses and mirrors to shape incoming light in a telescope. The popular Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope (SCT) is a catadioptric, as is the Celestron model we’re reviewing here. ‘Cassegrain’ refers to the combination of a concave primary mirror and a convex secondary, while ‘Maksutov’ refers to the shape of the instrument’s front corrector plate. Both Schmidt-Cassegrain and Maksutov-Cassegrain telescopes use primary mirrors, which are sections of a sphere. Such mirrors suffer from spherical aberration, producing poor off-axis focus (coma). This is countered in SCTs by using flat corrector plates with a slight