OPT Announces a Special Sales Event to Honor the International Year of Astronomy’s Selection of the Celestron SkyScout as the Official Product of IYA2009

Oceanside, CA, December 09, 2008 --(PR.com)-- OPT is pleased to announce that the Celestron SkyScout Personal Planetarium has been declared the "Official Product" of International Year of Astronomy 2009 by the IYA organization. Have you ever looked at the night sky and wondered just what's out there? Now you don't need an astronomy degree or years of experience to enjoy the wonders of the Cosmos. The Celestron SkyScout is a revolutionary new handheld device which instantly identifies and/or locates any celestial object visible to the unaided eye, providing educational and entertaining information, both in text and audio. A fun learning tool for all ages, the Celestron Sky Scout personal planetarium puts the knowledge of an expert astronomer in the palm of your hand.

"Celestron's SkyScout is a must-have tool for astronomy beginners. Its high-quality features and educational value make it the perfect instrument to explore the sky during 2009, the International Year of Astronomy." said Pedro Russo, International Year of Astronomy Coordinator.

The SkyScout combines GPS technology, which gives the time, date and location of the user, software that calculates the position of the objects for that moment, and 3 axis sensors measuring gravitational and magnetic fields to determine the true orientation of the Sky Scout to the Earth. This incredible technology enables stargazers to instantly identify over 50,000 celestial objects in the sky with the press of a button. The SkyScout also has a "locate" feature that allows users to select an object they wish to view (i.e. Mars) and the SkyScout will point the user to the object using illuminated arrows in the viewfinder.

“The Celestron SkyScout is one of the best selling astronomy products of all time” states Craig Weatherwax, owner of OPT. “The SkyScout uses the latest technology to help astronomy enthusiasts find and learn about tens of thousands of objects in the night sky. With the built in audio files, the SkyScout is like having an astronomy professor with you under the stars.”

To help celebrate being chosen as the Official Product of the IYA2009, OPT is offering a special sale price on the Celestron SkyScout for a limited time. From now until December 31st 2008, OPT is providing a special price of $179 and is also offering free UPS shipping to most US locations.

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