The story of Celestron began in 1960, when Tom Johnson founded the company VALOR Electronics. Johnson wanted to build a telescope for his son and invented the Schmidt-Cassegrain system (SC) - still today the best-selling high-quality mirror system in the world.

He soon changed the company name to Celestron and devoted himself solely to his telescopes. He made ever-larger instruments in the early years of the company - his masterpieces being Cassegrain telescopes of up to 22" in aperture.

In a modification of the ingenious optical system devised by German telescope designer Bernhard Schmidt, Celestron created the Schmidt-Cassegrain (‘SC’) telescope system, which has revolutionized amateur astronomy throughout the world. The advantages of the SC system cannot be bettered by any other telescope design even today.

Particularly noteworthy is its capability to be connected to any conceivable accessory (no matter what the overall length) and, not least, the perfect protection of the mirror system from environmental influences and age-related deterioration Even 30-year-old Celestron telescopes can often look just like new.

The ‘Schmidt-Cassegrain idea’ has since evolved into a huge family of telescopes with optical systems for every budget - right up to the latest NexStar Evolution and CGX telescopes with the SkyAlign.