Origin Intelligent Home Observatory (12099) Celestron

Now accepting pre-orders!

Preorders and preorder deposits are refundable. Shipping is estimated to begin around late March/early April on a first come, first served basis.

Our Take

Celestron’s screaming fast f/2.2 RASA optical design is a match made in heaven for the smart telescope era. Fast optics mean that photographs of extremely faint and distant celestial objects appear more quickly than ever before. The neatly integrated system and easy-to-use app put breathtaking images of space within the grasp of even the most beginnery beginner. THIS is the telescope we’ve been waiting for to make astronomy accessible to everyone.

• Stargazing and Astroimaging Redefined: Celestron Origin is an intelligent, all-in-one home observatory that captures stunning views of faint, deep-sky celestial objects and delivers them to your phone or tablet. The images you capture in seconds look better than what you’d see in the eyepiece of a much larger telescope under much darker skies.
• Revolutionary RASA Optical Technology: Origin’s patented 6” Rowe-Ackermann Schmidt Astrograph (RASA) optical design places it in a class by itself. With its large aperture and fast f/2.2 focal ratio, you get unparalleled image brightness and clarity with less exposure time.
• Automatic, AI-powered Astrophotography: As Origin captures data, built-in AI algorithms autonomously stack and process every frame in real-time. Galaxies and nebulae instantly come to life—sharp, detailed, and in brilliant color—all with no user intervention.
• Automated Setup with StarSense: To get started, place Origin outside, turn it on, and connect to the app. Using Celestron’s patented StarSense technology, Origin scans the sky and autonomously focuses and aligns itself. You’re ready to select a target and start imaging in less than two minutes.
• Intuitive App Interface: The user-friendly Celestron Origin app for iOS and Android, developed in partnership with Simulation Curriculum, the makers of SkySafari™, offers a simple yet powerful planetarium interface, making it easy to navigate the sky and control the system.
• Share the View with Everyone: Multiple users can use the Origin app to view the telescope’s live feed simultaneously. You can also cast the view to your smart TV or save and share it instantly.
• Advanced Features: As you grow in the hobby, download the raw image files you capture for more advanced manual processing. You can also experiment with filters and use Origin for night-vision or land-based observing during the day.

Description

Celestron Origin stands at the forefront of a new era in amateur astronomy, blending stargazing and astrophotography into a single, user-friendly experience. This intelligent, all-in-one home observatory takes the complexity out of traditional telescopes, transforming your backyard into a gateway to the cosmos. Packed with cutting-edge technology, Celestron Origin captures the beauty of celestial objects and brings them to life on your phone or tablet.

RASA Optical Technology: Unleashing the Power of Light

At the heart of Celestron Origin lies the patented Rowe-Ackermann Schmidt Astrograph (RASA)—a landmark advancement in optics. In the RASA design, the imaging sensor lies at the front of the telescope tube, not the back, creating an ultra-fast f/2.2 system with an extraordinarily wide field of view while providing sharp images to the edge. Since it launched in 2014, RASA technology has become the

go-to choice for space surveillance and satellite tracking. For Origin, Celestron’s optical engineers developed a brand-new 6” RASA with all the same capabilities of an observatory-grade instrument in a grab-and-go package.

RASA simply delivers more photons in less time than a smaller and slower Newtonian reflector, refractor, or other entry-level telescope tube. RASA’s unique combination of speed, aperture, and performance ensures unparalleled image detail, even during short exposure times.

To take full advantage of the RASA optics, Celestron selected the Sony IMX178 color CMOS sensor to capture your data. It features STARVIS back-illuminated technology for the highest sensitivity and fast readout with low noise, helping to provide clear images as quickly as possible. This sensitive chip has small 2.4µm2 pixels for high resolution—a perfect match for the fast optical design.

A Universe at Your Fingertips: StarSense Technology & the Origin App

Setting up Celestron Origin is a snap, thanks to its automated initialization process powered by StarSense technology. Place Origin outside, turn it on, and connect to the app. Then, you can choose to remain with your telescope or head indoors. In less than two minutes, Origin focuses itself, scans the night sky, autonomously aligns itself by matching star patterns overhead to its internal database, and notifies you that it’s ready to begin your astronomical adventure.

 

A Shared Cosmic Experience

Gone are the days of waiting in line to peer into an eyepiece. Origin fosters a sense of community as you share the awe-inspiring experience of exploring the night sky together. Whether your friends and family are in the same room or gathered outside, multiple people can connect to Origin, and stream the view with their own devices. Additionally, Origin allows you to cast the live feed to your smart TV or instantly save and share your astroimages, creating memorable moments beyond the confines of your backyard.

Ready for More? Advanced Features

As you grow in the hobby alongside Origin, it will continue to support you with more advanced features and functionality. For example, Origin has a built-in filter drawer that accepts standard 1.25” and 2” format filters. This allows you to install optional filters, which can be especially useful in imaging nebulae in light-polluted environments like the typical suburban backyard. For imaging broadband objects like galaxies and star clusters or objects from dark skies, remove the filter for more light-throughput and brighter images. Experiment with removable and interchangeable filters for results you can’t achieve with other systems’ fixed filters.

If you would like to try advanced image processing, Origin again has you covered. Unlike other systems, Origin stores all your raw images for you. Connect via USB to import them into your favorite image-processing software for manual editing and stacking.

And how about putting Origin to work for you while you sleep? That’s no problem with the scheduled observations feature. Just tell the app which objects you want to capture. You’ll wake up to an array of spectacular images.

Gain a New Perspective Here on Earth

In addition to revealing distant worlds, Origin can also capture incredible views of land-based objects on Earth, day or night. During the day, you can manually slew Origin to capture landscapes and scenery. At night, Origin’s fast optics and sensitive camera allow you to see things in very dim ambient conditions for almost night vision-like performance. Look around your yard or campsite at night to see what you may be missing!

Take Your Astroimaging Studio Anywhere

Origin is a portable system that doesn’t require external WiFi networks, so you can easily take it to remote dark skies in any car. The optical tube, mount, and tripod all easily assemble and disassemble without tools. Each component weighs less than 16 lb. Optional carry cases are also available.

Future Upgrades

When you invest in Origin, you can count on Celestron’s engineers as your long-term partners in astronomy. Our technical teams are hard at work developing even more upgrades and enhancements for your Origin. For example, we provide access to Origin’s camera for potential future upgrades as technology improves. We’re also developing all-new functionality for your Origin and the Origin app.

Here’s a sneak preview of a few features that will roll out in the coming months:

• Compatibility with the StarSense Autoguider
• Compatibility with the HD Pro Wedge
• Support for polar alignment

Taken together, these features will allow you to use Origin for long exposure astroimaging. With precise polar alignment, you’ll be able to achieve exposure times as long as 10 minutes or even longer. But that’s just the beginning. We’ll keep you notified whenever we add new features to Origin so you can keep on exploring with us!

Specifications

Optical Design	Rowe-Ackermann Schmidt Astrograph (RASA)
Aperture	152mm
Focal Length	335mm
Effective Focal Ratio	f/2.2
Optical Coatings	StarBright XLT coatings throughout
Filter Drawer	Integrated, accepts 1.25″ or 2″ astroimaging filters
CMOS Image Sensor	Sony IMX178LQJ, color, back-illuminated
Sensor Size	8.92mm diagonal
Pixel Size	2.4μm x 2.4μm
Number of Effective Pixels	6.44M (3096 x 2080)
Field of View	1.27° x 0.85°
Onboard Computer	Raspberry Pi 4 Model B
Mount	Computerized GoTo altazimuth mount
Dew Prevention	Fully automated heating element integrated into front lens, removable dew shield/lens shade
Focus Motor	Autofocus or manual control
Cooling Fans	One (1) fan for optics, one (1) fan for electronics, both pull air through vents with wire mesh
LED Status Ring	Indicates status “at-a-glance”
USB-A Ports	Two (2) on optical tube for accessing raw image files for external processing, one (1) on mount for mobile device charging only
Ethernet Port	One (1) on optical tube
Auxiliary Ports	Two (2) on optical tube, four (4) on mount
Battery	Integrated LiFePO4, 97.9 Wh, capable of 6+ hours of use
Power Input	12V DC adapter for charging internal battery or running on external AC power
Celestron Origin App	Runs on compatible iOS or Android smartphones and tablets
System Requirements	iOS 16 or higher, Android 12 or higher
Optical Tube	24″ x 7″ in diameter, weighs 10.6 lbs
Mount	18″ x 12″ x 10″, weighs 17.0 lbs
Tripod	13″ x 12″ x 32″ collapsed, weighs 14.0 lbs
Total System	24″ L x 26″ W x 48″ H assembled, weighs 41.6 lbs