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IN NOVEMBER 1941, as a young couple stood paging through the first issue of Sky & Telescope in a small alcove at Harvard Observatory, it's unlikely their thoughts were anywhere [...]

Everything about this telescope looks top-flight--except for the price. Is there a catch? Astro-Tech 14-inch f/8 Ritchey-Chretien Telescope U.S. price: $5,795 Astronomics.com Unfortunately George Willis Ritchey didn't live to see [...]

FORK-MOUNTED Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes have been around for more than half a century. That's a sobering thought for those of us who vividly remember the first advertisements for them appearing in [...]

When software bisque, makers of highly regarded telescope mounts found in countless amateur and professional observatories around the world, announced the Paramount MyT--its first-ever mount designed for portable use--there were [...]

Tele Vue Big Paracorr Type-2 US price: $1,095, televue.com Tele Vue's Big Paracorr was key to transforming the author's 12-inch f/5 Newtonian reflector into a firstclass optical system used for [...]

Officina Stellare RiDK 300 U.S. price: $14,695. As tested with the Rotofocuser, $19,454. officinastellare.com Software Bisque Paramount ME II U.S. price: $15,000. bisque.com Everyone knows the old saying 'you get [...]

THERE ARE MORE ACTIVE deep-sky astrophotographers today than ever before. We have digital imaging and an abundance of commercial gear to thank for that. But there are also many would-be [...]

Long-time amateur astronomers certainly know that the equipment side of our hobby is always evolving. Over time, even once-dominant companies such as Unitron and Criterion have faded away to be [...]

From my perspective as a reviewer, the new Paramount MX from Software Bisque is a little bit of a paradox. On one hand, it's a very nice German equatorial mount [...]

If The Definitive History of telescopes ever gets written, you can rest assured that there will be many chapters devoted to telescope drives. While the concept of a clockwork drive [...]

The David H. Levy Comet Hunter from Explore Scientific is more than a run-of-the-mill telescope out of Asia rebranded with a celebrity endorsement. A lot more. For starters, the 6-inch [...]

The Northeast Astronomy Forum (NEAF) has come a long way in the past two decades. What began as a 'crazy idea' during a casual conversation among Rockland Astronomy Club members [...]

SINCE LANDING ON the astronomical scene in late 2007, iOptron has continually introduced products aimed at an ever-more sophisticated audience. And two of the latest--a 150-mm (6-inch) Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope and [...]

With apologies to younger readers, I have a quiz for those of us old enough to have watched the Apollo 11 Moon landing and who also have been amateur astronomers [...]

IF YOU THINK 49 years of experience photographing the starry sky makes me a good candidate for introducing beginners to astrophotography, you're wrong. Digital photography has so revolutionized the way [...]

Meade LS-8' ACF U.S. price: $1,900 Meade Instruments 27 Hubble, Irvine, CA 92618 949-451-1450; www.meade.com Meade's LightSwitch telescopes have taken Go To performance to the next level with a fully [...]

PlaneWave's 12.5-inch f/8 CDK Astrograph U.S. price: $9,900 PlaneWave Instruments 1815 West 205th St., #303, Torrance, CA 90501 310-787-9411; www.planewave.com IT WAS A PLEASANT midsummer night testing equipment, memorable for [...]

WE THOUGHT THE 2OO9 Northeast Astronomy Forum (a.k.a. NEAF) was big. Well, this year's event was even bigger. The 19th annual astronomy extravaganza held in April at Rockland Community College [...]

THERE WAS VERY LITTLE, at least on paper, preparing me in advance for the experiences I'd have testing Atik's new 314L CCD camera. There are no written rules for classifying [...]

Starizona's HyperStar US price: from $595 (model tested costs $1,295) Starizona 5757 North Oracle Rd., Suite 103 Tucson, AZ 85704 520-292-5010 http://starizona.com 'FUN. It almost seems unfair to summarize something [...]

SAY THE WORD ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY to even casual amateur astronomers, and chances are they'll conjure up scenes of whirling galaxies and colorful nebulae, for it's these iconic deep-sky images that let [...]

NEWS SEEMS TO BE dominated by extremes. In the world of astrophotography, cameras with the newest monster chips or the most advanced features, and telescopes with the biggest apertures or [...]

IT TOOK A NASTY SMACK on the head to remind me how nice it is to work with a robust telescope mount. New England's abysmal weather last summer completely disrupted [...]

POPULARLY KNOWN AS NEAF, the Northeast Astronomy Forum is the world's most prestigious trade show for astronomical products. Telescopes, cameras, software, and accessories overflow scores of exhibits staffed by equipment [...]

From the night sky's brightest star and most-illustrious nebulae, to large sweeps of glowing hydrogen that few readers have ever seen before, there's a tremendous range of deep-sky detail visible [...]

From humble beginnings in the early 1990s, the annual Northeast Astronomy Forum (NEAF) has become one of the world's premier trade shows for amateur astronomers. During two days last April, [...]

FOR THE SAKE of fairness, reviewers should approach each product without preconceived notions regarding its quality and performance. But that's easier said than done in the case of the Astro-Physics [...]

Apogee Instruments was the first company to release astronomical cameras with Kodak's new CCDs, in part because the company already had a time-tested body designed for 37-millimeter-square chips. I've never [...]

Judging by my e-mail and my conversations at amateur gatherings, most readers consider reviewing telescopes a dream job. While my opinion differs, let's just say that some telescopes are more [...]

Three new 66-millimeter ZenithStar refractors from William Optics offer a level of craftsmanship and optical performance that far exceeds most people's expectations for instruments so modestly priced. All hardware photographs [...]

WHAT WE LIKE: Excellent image quality Electric focus and collimation system Built-in dew heater WHAT WE DON'T LIKE: Heavier than Schmidt-Cassegrain of same aperture Tube is not sealed due to [...]

CASUAL READERS MIGHT HAVE missed it. Even those flipping carefully through our March issue could have passed by the advertisement on pages 14 and15 thinking it was just a new [...]

Software Bisque's Paramount ME offers one-stop shopping for a robotic mount that can be controlled from across the room or across the continent. THERE IS NO OTHER PRODUCT like Software [...]

Are these new entry-level telescopes as good under the stars as they appear to be on paper? EARLIER THIS YEAR MEADE INSTRUMENTS began shipping its much-awaited LXD55 Schmidt-Newtonian telescopes--the latest [...]

After years of anticipation, Leonid watchers get their reward. While some called the 2001 Leonids a great shower, others called it a storm. Perhaps the term Leonid squall is in [...]

We've all heard that beauty is only skin deep, but it's what's inside that makes this scope attractive. IF WE ARE TO JUDGE THE PULSE OF our readers by the [...]

Autostar and an 8-inch aperture--it's been worth the wait. IT'S PROBABLY SAFE TO SAY THAT NO telescope design since World War II has had a greater impact on amateur astronomy [...]

The Tele Vue line of premium refractors grows larger with the introduction of this 4-inch f/8.6 instrument. DURING THE 20TH CENTURY amateur astronomy's love affair with refractors has waxed and [...]

IN A PERFECT WORLD PRODUCT REviewers would approach telescopes with an open mind and no preconceived notions. If there's ever been an instrument to remind me of why this is [...]

IT'S HUMAN NATURE that fuels my enthusiasm for testing new products. But that same human nature also makes some of these products intrinsically more interesting to me than others. And [...]

The digital age is breathing new life into astrometry, the precise measurement of celestial positions. And when it comes to solar-system objects, amateurs are leading the way. Try this test. [...]

Don't be fooled by the remarkably low price; these new CCD cameras from Meade are packed with exciting features. They just might be the best deal ever for amateur astronomers [...]

The scene played with the predictability of a well-rehearsed script. On a half dozen occasions last summer visitors stopped by while I was testing two high-end digital cameras. Each knew [...]

In less than a decade CCDs have become part of mainstream amateur astronomy. Here are the reasons why. Unless you are very new to astronomy, you know about the astroimaging [...]

Advertisements call Celestron's new 9 1/4-inch 'the first truly new size in Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes in over 20 years.' That statement certainly left some people wondering whether the copywriters somehow missed [...]

It's a fantasy that's as old as astrophotography - a camera that guides itself. But that's exactly what the ST-7 from Santa Barbara Instrument Group does. If Star Trek's Mr. [...]

There's no reason why you can't get a keepsake photograph of Comet Hyakutake tonight and Comet Hale-Bopp next year. Dust off your cameras! After avoiding us for two decades, really [...]

A good way to make four months seem like four years is to order a CCD system! While we were anticipating the arrival of our Optec CCD charge-coupled device) photometer, [...]

WHEN MEADE Instruments unveiled a new advertising campaign last March, amateur astronomers discovered just how much the computer-based, high-tech revolution of the 1980s had permeated their hobby. My colleagues and [...]

SBIG's ST-8300M CCD Camera U.S. price: $1,995 Santa Barbara Instrument Group 147-A Castilian Dr., Santa Barbara, CA 93117 805-571-7244; www.sbig.com OVER THE YEARS, many of the products I've tested have [...]