Celestron Origin Review

Overview

The Celestron Origin is a brand new product to the star party in 2024, boasting the ability to do quick observation and serious astro-imaging into an all-in-one device. The Origin is a new step for Celestron into the field of smart telescopes. It has a very premium price tag that commands a prospective customer to shell out $4000! For this price point, it is a direct competitor to other smart telescope like the Stellina and some of the Unistellar products.

The Origin has a ton of tech built inside and we will get into that deeper as the review continues. Things I point out in this review are of course subject to change over time as Celestron pushes software updates, feature upgrades and performance enhancements. The Origin I got to test was in the first few months of initial release in the summer of 2024.

What's In The Box?

If you have ever unboxed a Celestron before, this will feel right at home. They are double-boxed with foam all around for added protection. Inside you will get the quick start guide, the OTA, the tripod, spreader tray and a power supply to recharge the mount. We will get more into each component next. The full manual is available on Celestron's website digitally. The quick start guide is printed and included in the box though. This will help you get the Origin up and running on your first night. The full manual does provide more in depth detail if you need further assistance.

Optical Tube and Optics

The OTA is painted with a nice glossy finish in the same color as Celestron's EdgeHD and other RASA tubes. This new Origin boasts a 6" (152mm) aperture at the front, giving it plenty of light gathering ability. Being a RASA, it excels at wide field imaging with a short focal length of 335mm, making it a f/2.2 focal ratio. They come standard with Celestron's Starbright XLT coatings that are a staple in Celestron's telescopes.

This is VERY nice for deep sky imaging and being able to capture targets quickly. The OTA is metal where it is painted, but the front and rear casings are unfortunately plastic construction. I understand the need as it keeps the weight down, but durability can suffer over time. RASA optics are award winning for Celestron, and I anticipate the Origin will be no different. Fans of the C6 using a Hyperstar will appreciate Celestron finally bringing this combo to the market as a lot of us have been wanting one for years. You can of course still get a traditional RASA in an 8", 11", and 14" variants.

Central obstruction is quite large, as it is with all RASAs honestly. This one is similar to the RASA 11 at 41% of the aperture. Still for a 6", that is a lot of lost light. But we all can't have our cake and eat it too with something like this. The OTA is fitted with a standard Vixen style dovetail that is full length for easy balancing of the Origin's weight. Speaking of weight, this OTA is quite light at 10.6 pounds and has a length of 24". It is very portable and manageable by just about anyone. This is a perfect large aperture smart telescope that you can still easily take on your next camping trip, but you certainly won't be taking on an airplane anytime soon.

I found in my usage of the Origin, the optics are very sharp and give nice colors throughout the field of view. Collimation was spot on out of the box for my unit, but if yours is not, you can adjust it by the three allen head screws that are situated around the ring on the corrector plate. This will adjust the tilt of the optical system at the front to achieve a perfect flat field for your images.

Mount and Tripod

The mount Celestron picked for the Origin is basically the same tried and true Evolution mount from their other lineup. The mount is a wonderful mount in general. It's highly accurate, highly portable, has nice features, and overall just a great performer. The mount normally boasts a 25lb payload capacity for its Evolution lineup of telescopes. You can get the mount by itself elsewhere for $1200 or fitted with various SCT OTAs up to a 9.25" for additional cost.

The Origin's "EVO" mount that it is shipped with is a little different though than the standard. First thing to notice is the orange accents all around the trim. These are specific to this model. The next thing is the weighted Celestron logo by the clutch knob for the altitude axis. This weighted logo was something they did on the Evolution 60th Anniversary edition a few years ago. It is a nice aesthetic touch to the normal Evolution.

Looking around the mount some more, you'll notice an Origin logo on the side, but past that, it is all the same inside. We still have a good rechargeable battery inside capable of several hours of operation without cables, nice brass gears, heavy duty motors, integrated WiFi, and the ability to charge your mobile devices via the USB ports on the front. The mount itself is very sturdy and is made of quality materials, mostly of aluminum and some plastic coverings. The mount head weights in at 17lbs by itself, but is easily managed using its two ergonomic handles on the base and side arm. With the Origin OTA installed, it is easy to find the balance point, simply by loosening the altitude clutch knob, adjusting the position of the tube, and clamping it down to secure it. Overall it's a very good pick of a mount to use for this new product. In previous times when I have owned an EVO mount they have always tracked very well, provided very accurate GoTo performance and were very reliable. The only bad part is the motors are really quite loud, among the loudest in the Celestron lineup with the CGX mounts. They remind me a little bit of the jokes we used to tell about Meade LX200 motors sounding like coffee grinders... well... Celestron is close to joining the club with this one.

Moving down to the tripod. It is the standard EVO tripod, but, the spreader tray normally is used for eyepieces and accessories to be stored close to you. On the Origin, this is replaced with a simple spreader tray with the Celestron and Origin logos embossed in the aluminum. Aside from that, the tripod has all the great stability and convenience features the regular EVO does. It has the index marks on the legs for easy leveling, hand knobs for securing the legs, and a bubble level on the top for easy leveling wherever you are. It's the perfect fit for the job.

The mount and tripod are more than sufficient for taking nice images with the Origin. During my time with it, it performed spot on every night. The tracking accuracy was perfectly fine for default 10-second exposures for broadband, and 15-second exposures for narrowband. The Origin has no issues with blurring stars or dropping frames because of poor tracking. The plate solving in the software guided the mount exactly to where the targets were with high precision and overall made the whole experience a breeze.

Camera

The camera for the Origin is situated up front by the corrector plate of the optics. This is how other RASA systems and Hyperstar systems traditionally work. The camera itself is Sony IMX178LQJ color camera that gives a respectable resolution of 3096 x 2080 pixels. This delivers a nice 1.27 x 0.85 degree field of view for imaging most medium sized targets such as the Helix Nebula, Whirlpool Galaxy, Trifid Nebula, and so on.

The camera is operated by a single USB-C cable that comes up through a slot in the dovetail bar. This cable is integrated into the OTA, so use care when using it as it is likely not serviceable by the user. The camera is not cooled sadly, but Celestron has hinted at new cameras becoming available as time goes on and technology improves.

In my opinion, it was a good camera choice for Celestron to go with the Sony 178 chip. This is a nice chip that gives low noise and respectable image quality. My only complaint is that this combo gives a field of view VERY similar to the ZWO Seestar S50. The Seestar photographs 1.29 x 0.73 degree field of view which in my opinion is too close to one another. The HUGE advantage the Origin has is the ability to rotate the camera for any target. If you're photographing a certain target and you want to change the orientation because of where it is in the sky, thats easy! Loosen the retainer ring, rotate the camera, tighten the ring back up. The Seestar camera is fixed in a portrait position. This makes it difficult on certain targets at certain parts of the night. The Origin wins over others simply by the versatility of the camera position. And when Celestron comes out with new ones for it, it will just make it all the better.

The images the camera produces are more than acceptable. They have nice resolution, good colors, and are very enjoyable to look at. The initial images are a bit noisy, but that's where stacking takes the cake. After stacking a couple of minutes worth on several different targets, noise was quickly being eliminated. Five minute stacks revealed very little noise, but much improved color, contrast and detail in the images. Letting it run even longer will only give you better detail and results. But with it being non-cooled, you will run into some hot pixels eventually. This can be rectified when dark frames are applied. Within the app you do have the option to take dark frames, flat frames and bias frames to ensure you have a full lineup of calibration frames for the serious imager. But if you don't want to dive that deep, you certainly don't have to.

Onboard Electronics

The Origin is fitted with a slew of onboard goodies that are inside the OTA. First off you'll notice on the very rear of the OTA is a white ring. This is an LED ring that gives off different patterns and flashes to communicate what is going on with the telescope. It can pulse for WiFi connectivity, swirl when capturing photos, and flash when it's saving. It is pretty neat to watch when you're out the first night with it. You'll also notice on the back it has a fan right in the middle. There are actually two fans onboard. One for the computer, and one for the optics. It can cool the optics down quickly for thermal stability, and it can keep the computer temperature down as well to prevent overheating.

Celestron recommends you keep both fans running at all times, and I don't disagree. In my testing it showed no issues with image quality or vibrations. A good rule in astrophotography is always having your optics to ambient temperature to get the best thermal quality. Heat in the tube will cause a blurry image and can ruin your data. To go along with the fans there are vents to pull in air and let the OTA "breathe" essentially. These are very helpful in getting to ambient temperature fast. The Origin is fitted with a dew heater inside to provide easy moisture control on the corrector plate. If you live or observe in a place where you are prone to dew at night, this will be helpful to you. It's all controlled in the settings of the app when you need it. The front objective has the dew heater ring already installed from the factory. This is similar to the dew heater rings you can purchase from Celestron for your other SCTs in their lineup.

To make imaging SUPER easy, Celestron fitted the Origin with autofocusing capabilities. When the telescope initializes in the beginning of the night, it will perform an autofocus on the night sky above. It quickly uses the internal focus motor and will drive the focus forward and back to achieve the perfect spot. You can of course do it manually if you would like, but I found the autofocus did a really good job. Checking it with a bahtinov mask, it was spot on every time. The Origin is also equipped with an environmental sensor. This reads the outside temperature and can adjust your autofocus when the temperature starts dropping below the current threshold. If you set it to 4° deviation, every time the temperature changes 4°, it will conduct an autofocus. As the mirrors and OTA cool off, the focus can shift. This makes it easy to make sure you never lose any good photos from a focus issue again.

The onboard computer that drives this whole autonomous setup is a Raspberry Pi 4 module. This onboard computer handles all the processing power you need, from plate solving, to stacking, to the autofocusing and more. All of these run off a single coiled cable from the OTA that plugs into the AUX port on the mount. There are no additional wires and cables needed like a regular imaging rig. The onboard computer relies on the Origin app to deploy some of the Celestron AI features they have demonstrated. These various AI functions help with noise, gradients, and detail enhancement.

In my experience so far, they are hit and miss. The AI gradient removal is wonderful. It provides nice contrast with the sky, removes all the unwanted light pollution gradients and does a nice job at keeping it neutral. The AI denoise is a little rough around the edges. It needs some work in how to handles the image. I'm sure this will improve as time goes on, but for now, you are better off doing the denoise yourself afterwards in your favorite photo editing software. The AI denoise just is too aggressive with its approach. On most occasions it gets rid of too much noise where it sacrifices your detail in the image. The Origins main goal is to capture as much light and detail for you as it can, and the AI turns around and gets rid of some of it, which is counterproductive. The AI deconvolution tool is a mixed bag as well. Certain targets it excels at sharpening up the image and making it better, but for objects like globular star clusters it sharpens the stars way too much and makes it look overbaked.

On the right side of the OTA is a little slot with some USB connections and an Ethernet connector. The USB ports can be used to access the RAW files from the Origin on the objects that you image. You can use a USB thumb that is formatted in ExFAT or FAT32 to transfer the files. To transfer the files, you will use the Origin app and go into the Settings tab to the transfer. When it transfers over, it will transfer the whole sequence of exposures you took, including the final stacked image the Origin created for you on your screen. When I did this to a sequence of M17, it was a quick transfer speed using USB3.0 and took about a minute to transfer 30 minutes worth of 15-second exposures. Each frame in RAW format is 12MB.

Filters with the Origin

Behind the camera on the front objective is a magnetic filter drawer. This drawer accepts both 1.25" and 2" filters of your choice. The Origin ships with a standard clear filter in a 1.25" format. You should always use your Origin with this filter installed at the very least. RASA optics are developed for use with this in place, and not doing so could degrade your image quality. This standard filter is good for broadband targets, such as galaxies or clusters. The standard clear filter does show some halos around bright stars, but I doubt you'll be using the Origin for photographing Vega or Antares every night. You may of course opt to using narrowband filters for nebulae as well. Celestron offers a 1.25" Origin branded narrowband filter for the tune of $199. I personally feel like for $4000, Celestron should have just included it in the box. Almost all the other smart telescopes include a light pollution nebula filter as a standard accessory. And some cost dramatically less than the Origin! To get the most out of your Origin though, you will want a narrowband filter. You can choose the Celestron one, but in previous experiences with Celestron brandedfilters, they tend to have halos around bright stars that can be somewhat distracting. You can of course use any 2" filter you choose, just make sure it is compatible with the f/2.2 imaging range. Not all narrowband filters are designed for f/2 imaging, but some like the Optolong L-Extreme f/2 and IDAS NBZ Booster HS are good choices for your Origin.

The Origin App

If you know and love SkySafari on your mobile device, you will likely love the Origin app as well. Celestron joined up with SkySafari team to design the Origin app and provide all the advanced features for the product. The basic look, operation, settings, and feel of the app is the same as SkySafari. Familiar territory is good for a lot of us and this is a big plus for Celestron here. The app is very well designed for this new iteration into digital astronomy. The night sky is at your fingertips, literally, with the Origin app. You are greeted by common features like information on the targets you're interested, as well as other long-time standing features like night vision mode for star parties. But Origin specific stuff is quite prominent.

First thing you'll notice is a live preview of the camera view on the screen at all times. It is small and tucked down in the corner but it shows you what the camera sees in live time. We get a few camera oriented things such as the ability to manually focus the telescope, adjust exposures, adjust ISO and other imaging parameters in the imaging section. We get new automation features where we can add targets to a list under "Imaging Schedules" and "Tonight's Schedule." These are really neat since you can select various targets, add them to the list and set how long you want to take pictures of each. Once you start it, the Origin will automatically fulfill that list fully autonomously unless you stop it, or it completes the set. That is so convenient for star parties and such where you can plan your imaging sessions out to your liking.

The app includes OneSky where you can connect with others and see what they are photographing. This is totally free and it gives you an idea how many others are doing similar imaging to you and maybe some new ideas of what to image next.

The app includes a plethora of settings and advanced things we can do with the Origin. We can control the dew heater, adjust the autofocus settings, add dark frames, flat frames, bias frames, turn off/on AI settings, temperature settings for the autofocus, behaviors of the star map, appearance functions, among many other things. It is quite in depth, and Celestron certainly has thought of most things users want and need in a package like this.

The app itself is iOS and Android compatible for a wide range of users. The original delay of the Origin was due to issues with the Android version of the app. That has since been resolved. While the app isn't perfect, as I have encountered some bugs, these will be fixed as the software develops going forward.

SnapShot is a new feature to the Origin. Similar to the Seestar's "terrestrial mode" it allows the user to capture things during the day time with the Origin. It is very simple, just point and capture essentially. It does allow you to change some camera parameters to get the best focus and exposure. I found in my testing the focuser was very jumpy in SnapShot mode. I would select a value of 5 to nudge the focus just a little and the motor would whir way past focus and I'd have to play this cat and mouse to get it into focus. That was a little frustrating and eventually I got it accomplished.

This software bug has been reported since.

Performance Under The Sky

To get your Origin oriented to the night sky is a simple process. During my time with the Origin, I will say it does not like starting up without stars visible. It will not perform the autofocus properly, even when looking at something like the moon. You will have to do it all manual if it is daylight at all. But for nighttime viewing, it's a walk in the park.

Connect your Origin's WiFi to your mobile device and open the app. From there it will automatically start its process to do an autofocus, and plate solve the sky above itself. This process only takes about a minute. At the top you will see the status bar that tells you how far along initialized it is. Once it is done, the sky is yours! Select any target, far and wide to start your exploration of the sky. Once you slew to an object of your choice, click the live camera preview and start imaging. It is that simple! You can watch the object grow brighter and brighter as it stacks as many images as you want it to.

When I was imaging all night with the Origin, I never lost a single photo for tracking or stacking issues. ZWO's Seestar has that problem with dropping frames often. But Celestron's software is VERY good at handling itself. The first night out with it, I did a variety of different targets of a couple minutes a piece, just to test its EAA capability. To no surprise, it produced images that were far better than any visual instrument can on your eyes. But doing a serious imaging run of M17 was a treat. The detail and nebulosity this Origin pulled from a Bortle 8 night sky was impressive. I saved all the images in RAW format so I could post process them myself and get better results from post processing. All I can say is that the Origin does exactly what its designed for and does with exceptional focus on simplicity. The Origin will allow anyone to grow into astrophotography as the user advances. This is the perfect telescope for EAA and other modified versionof astrophotography if you do not wish to dive deep into a big rig with complicated guiding, dithering, and other functions. For me, the Origin was accurate, tracked extremely well and I had a blast using it without any hiccups.

Future Origin Potentials

At the time of writing this in late summer 2024, the Origin is still a new product to the field. Celestron has made it known they are actively going to be providing upgrades and new functionality for this product going forward. We soon should see the ability to put the Origin on a wedge and do some form of their All Star Polar Alignment (ASPA) with it. That will make longer than 15-30 second exposures possible by exposing the camera longer with proper polar alignment. Along side this, Celestron is wanting the Origin to be compatible with the StarSense Autoguider, a $800 stand alone accessory. Celestron is hinting at other cameras coming down the road, but they certainly are not in a hurry to release a new chip. Right now a lot of astrophotography chips are almost universally the same. ZWO chips are similar to QHY chips, and they're similar to PlayerOne's chips, and so on and so on.

I would love for Celestron to make this technology more widespread and available to other people. For example, if they sold the 6" RASA OTA by itself and I could mount it on my own EVO mount, or CGEM II / CGX, or other Celestron branded mount with the right firmware, it would operate a similar way. Obviously it would need the WiFi module purchased to plug in as well, but you can kind of get where I am going with this. The EVO mount isn't honestly the best choice even on a wedge for long exposure astro-imaging. The EVO mount being one arm and the weight of the tube off the side will make it tough to track well enough to get a one minute exposure. I am excited to see where they take it down the road. But as we know with technology, it becomes obsolete after a couple years, so there has to be some ideas to push this forward into lasting years to come.

Final Thoughts

The Celestron Origin sure is a fun treat! I won't lie, it is one of the most exciting astronomy products I have looked at in a long time. But it is not for everyone and I will be the first to admit that. The Origin is the perfect telescope for clubs, schools and people who are interested in EAA. It is the perfect balance of portability, capability and overall performance for a decently small profile. It is nowhere near as big as my C9.25 with an EQ mount, cameras, Hyperstar, yada yada yada, but it is still the largest of the smart telescopes out there. The Origin has wonderful optical quality, really good tech and super convenient features for everyone at any skill level.

My main problem with the Origin is the price point. At $4000 the only real competitors up there are the Unistellars and the Stellina telescopes. Both don't have quite the grab with community like Celestron has for dependability and brand recognition. But at $4000, what do you REALLY get that you don't get with some of the others? I own a Seestar S50, so I am biased a little since it's the only smart telescope that I have used for an extended period of time. But if you run down what the Seestar and the Origin have in common, the list is like 85% the same. They both autofocus, they both plate solve, they both take dark frames, they both have sky atlases to find objects, they both have live previews, they both stack images, they both automate most of work for you. They both have integrated dew heaters, they both have rechargeable batteries to run off of, they both have great optics that deliver respectable images, and so on. The point is, the Seestar is $499, and the Origin is $4000, EIGHT TIMES more expensive. The optics are more advanced and will grab light quicker, but it's not as portable as the Seestar by a long shot. The Seestar has a narrowband nebula filter built in from the factory, where as you need to spend $200+ on additional equipment for the Origin.

In my head, I just don't know that the Origin justifies the high price tag. It is an amazing telescope and there is no doubting that, but for $4000 I just feel like we pay a little too much when the competition does most of the same for a fraction of the cost. Once the Origin starts really pushing the envelope down the road, it might be worth the cost but in 2024, I don't think it's enough for now. The future is wide open for the Origin.....