Search

I'M IN LOVE. I don't often begin a review by saying that a product has wooed me, but the Celestron Origin Home Observatory has done just that. Not that I'm […]

THE CAMBRIDGE DICTIONARY defines magnificent as 'deserving to be admired.' I had no trouble doing that when I walked into the offices of Stellarvue to get an extension ring for [...]

PERHAPS NOTHING HAS revolutionized amateur astronomy more than go-to telescopes with motorized drives that find and track any of thousands of deep-sky objects. No longer must users rely on a [...]

WHEN I WAS A TEENAGER, new to observing the sky, I spent a year wandering across the Milky Way armed with nothing more than a pair of 7x50 binoculars. Then [...]

Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Mini U.S. Price: $299 skywatcherusa.com What We Like: One device can both track and pan cameras Polar-alignment scope included Wireless app allows for easy programming Excellent battery [...]

TAKAHASHI, the Japanese firm long known for crafting some of the world's finest telescopes and astrographs, has upped the ante for wide-field, deep-sky astrophotography. The company's new FSQ-130ED Super APO [...]

The 4-inch refractor has been a favorite of astronomy enthusiasts for countless years, thanks to the combination of portability and resolving power. While these scopes are not the largest light [...]

Tabletop telescopes have become very popular in recent years, and it's easy to see why. Lightweight, compact, inexpensive, and easy to use--what's not to like? The most recent entry in [...]

BY JONATHAN TALBOT Since Stellarvue's founding more than 20 years ago, optical excellence has been the driving force behind their production of top-tier refracting telescopes. Over the years, Stellarvue has [...]

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 [...]

Sky-Watcher AZ-EQ5 Mount U.S. price: $1,350 Available from skywatcherusa.com and dealers worldwide. I CAN REMEMBER a time not long ago when aspiring astrophotographers had little to choose from in an [...]

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 [...]

HOW MUCH DOES a decent beginner scope cost? There are plenty of good choices for $400, and the options are almost limitless if you're willing to spend more. At the [...]

CHOOSING A FIRST TELESCOPE is a difficult task for a fledgling amateur astronomer. Frequently, newcomers pick telescopes with computerized go-to controls, only to discover after a lot of frustration--and expense--that [...]

Vixen Ri3oSf Reflector & Porta II Mount Package U.S. price: $399 Vixen Optics 1050 Calle Amanecer Ste C San Clemente, CA 92673 vixenoptics.com THE PERFECT beginner's telescope. What does it [...]

Deep-sky PHOTOGRAPHERS area demanding lot. We'd like sharp optics with enough focal length to provide good detail in our deep-sky targets. But we also want wide fields for impressive images [...]

THE HAWKEYE BORESCOPE FROM GRADIENT LENS IS A GREAT AID TO SHOOTERS BECAUSE YOU CAN DO A LOT MORE THAN LOOK AT A GUN'S BORE WITH IT. AND NOW IT [...]

Sky-Watcher touts its Esprit line as high-end astrograph refractors at a fraction of the usual cost. Does the new 100ED match the hype? IF YOU HAD TO LIVE with just [...]

ζ-130D Astrograph U.S. price: $2,995. As tested with Micro Edge Focuser, tube rings, dovetail mounting plate, and Nikon camera adapter: $4,095. www.takahashiamerica.com IT WAS A LITTLE LIKE dealing with Russian [...]

ZEQ25GT U.S. price: from $799 (as tested: $937, including tripod, polar-alignment scope, carrying case, and tripod bag) equatorial go to mount than just a radical new design. iOptron 6F Gill [...]

IF YOU'VE BEEN READING our product reviews for a while, then you probably know that I enjoy testing refractors. It's not because I'm a 'refractor guy;' at least no more [...]

AH, THE MEADE ETX-90. Has a more famous telescope emerged in the past 20 years? I can't think of one. I remember the first time I got to play with [...]

Celestron SkyProdigy 6 U.S. price: $999 Available from Celestron dealers worldwide. www.celestron.com; 310-328-9560 MAYBE IT WAS the piercingly cold nights. Or perhaps it was Orion marching out of the eastern [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

Orion Parsec 8300M U.S. price: $1,999.95 Orion Telescopes & Binoculars OrionTelescopes.com; 800-447-1001 Orion Telescopes & Binoculars continues to grow its presence in the world of astronomical imaging. Today the company [...]

Orion SkyQuest XT10g GoTo Dobsonian Telescope U.S. price: S1.099.95 Orion Telescopes & Binoculars 89 Hangar Way, Watsonville, CA 95076 800-676-1343, www.oriontelescopes.com SINCE DEBUTING IN 1980, commercial Dobsonians have gone though [...]

Orion SpaceProbe 3 Altazimuth Reflector Orion SkyScanner 100mm TableTop Reflector Orion GoScope 80mm TableTop Refractor U.S. price: $99.95 (for each scope) Orion Telescopes & Binoculars OrionTelescopes.com; 800-447-1001 AT PUBLIC STAR [...]

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 [...]

Like the sun, there are definite cycles of activity for new products entering the astronomical marketplace. Every other year seems to produce a bumper crop of gadgets for us to [...]

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 [...]

Edmund Scientific Astroscan Plus Telescope US price: $229 Scientifics 60 Pearce Ave. Tonawanda, NY 14150 800-728-6999 www.scientificsonline.com Pop QUIZ: What telescopes have been in continuous production for more than 30 [...]

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 [...]

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "NICE. WELL DONE."Imumbled these words to myself several times as I unboxed and assembled the Orion SkyQuest XX12 Truss Tube Dobsonian. I was struck by the […]

IF YOU'RE A SERIOUS deep-sky imager, chances are you've been eyeing those CCD cameras with the latest, greatest, big-chip sensors. But they're not for everyone. Many of us aren't willing [...]

SINCE ITS 1971 DEBUT, Celestron's C5 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope (SCT) has been supplied on a variety of mounts, but the highly regarded 5-inch optical tube assembly has remained fundamentally unchanged. Although [...]

It was a chilly April evening when I took the newly unpacked 6-inch StarBlast telescope outside to cool. I returned an hour later, eyepieces in hand, eager to see what [...]

WHAT BEGAN A DECADE AGO as a roundup of note-worthy products introduced to amateur astronomers has grown into one of Sky & Telescope's most anticipated annual features. Each year's release [...]

In the past, my only experience with apochromatic refractors was with an occasional cursory glance through the eyepiece of one set up at a star party. For this reason, I [...]

UNTIL FAIRLY RECENTLY, Maksutov telescopes were not commonly seen at star parties. Amateur astronomers considered them exotic. But that changed in recent years with the introduction of several lower-priced models. [...]

WHAT WE LIKE: Superb optics Classic good looks Well-ventilated mirror cell WHAT WE DON'T LIKE: Sticky altitude motions Mount vibration damps slowly When I began reading Sky & Telescope in [...]

WHAT WE LIKE: Robust construction Excellent focuser Generous back focus WHAT WE DON'T LIKE: Long cooldown times Inconvenient cooling fan I'M A MAKSUTOV FAN. During the last six years, I've [...]

It's sobering to realize that it's been more than 40 years since Celestron introduced the commercial Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope, that versatile and indispensable workhorse of many amateur astronomers around the world. [...]

IF YOU ALREADY have a good set of optics or plan to buy a tube assembly only (for example, many refractors are available as tubes without mounts), then you'll need [...]

IN THE PAST anyone contemplating the purchase of a computerized Go To telescope was presented with two choices: buying a complete system including a telescope, or purchasing a high-end computerized [...]

Once again Coronado raises the bar with an affordable solar observing package. WHAT WE LIKE: Affordable Quick setup Built-in solar finder WHAT WE DON'T LIKE Small 'sweet spot' in field [...]

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 [...]

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Reflex scopes, more commonly known as red dots, are nothing if not versatile, with their infinite eye relief and forgiving parallax. And because they are used with both […]