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• Advanced Coma-Free catadioptric designed to emulate the optical performance of a Ritchey-Chrétien telescope: 8” aperture (2000mm focal length f/10). Fully-multicoated UHTC (Ultra High Transmission Coatings) group optics with oversized primary mirror for the highest possible off-axis image brightness. Aluminum tube construction with glare-stop baffling. Guaranteed diffraction-limited performance. For more details, click on the “optics” icon above.

• Finderscopes: There are two. The first is an 8 x 50mm straight-through achromatic design, with a 5° field of view and 12mm eye relief. It focuses by loosening the trim ring behind the objective lens cell, screwing the lens cell in or out to focus, and tightening the trim ring to lock in the correct focus.
      The second is a SmartFinder non-magnifying red dot finder for fast initial telescope alignment and object centering. This straight-through wide-field red dot finder allows easy non-magnified views of the sky, with a projected red dot of light showing exactly where the scope is pointed at all times.

• Star diagonal: 1.25” 90° multicoated prism type.

• Eyepiece: 1.25” 26mm Super Plössl (77x). The eyepiece field of view is 0.65°, 30% wider than the full Moon, for expansive lunar and deep space views.

This Telescope’s Mount . . .

• Fork mount/drive system: Die-cast aluminum drive base. Light-weight, but rigid, die-cast aluminum dual fork arms damp vibrations quickly. There is a carrying handle on each fork arm. The mount includes servo-controlled 12V DC slewing and tracking motors in both altitude and azimuth. The motors are powered by eight user-supplied C-cell batteries that fit into the drive base. The usable life of the batteries is up to 60 hours, depending on the ambient temperature.
      An optional #RCXAC adapter is available to power the scope from 110-120 volt 60 Hz AC household current in your back yard to conserve battery life. An optional #607 DC cord with a cigarette lighter plug is available to power the scope from your car’s cigarette lighter plug or a rechargeable battery for extended use in the field. For more details, click on the “mount” icon above.

• Adjustable height tripod: The tripod is the same as the one used on Meade’s higher-priced 8” and 10” LX200 scopes. Its 2” diameter steel legs adjust the tripod height from 30” to 44”. A single threaded rod with a large hand-tighten knob simultaneously holds the scope firmly on the tripod and locks the legs rigidly in the most stable position.

• LNT (Level North Technology): The LX-90’s Level North Technology combines with the scope’s built-in GPS receiver to make aligning the scope on the sky easy for even a first-time scope owner. Simply set up the scope outside and turn it on. The scope will level its optical tube and point it north, then move automatically to its first alignment star. Be sure the star is precisely centered under the red dot in the SmartFinder, then let the scope repeat the process for a second alignment star. That’s all it takes. You’re ready to start observing. For more details, click on the “computer” icon above.

• AutoStar computer: The AutoStar computer can show you the planets and thousands of deep space objects the very first night you use your scope – even if you've never used a telescope before! At the push of a button, the LX90-ACF will move at a fast 6.5° per second to any of the 30,223 objects in its database. You can choose from Messier, Caldwell, IC, and NGC deep space objects, binary and multiple star systems, the Moon, planets, asteroids, and comets. You can also automatically move to any object that’s not in the database simply by entering its right ascension and declination coordinates. The AutoStar includes a dual-axis drive corrector with PEC (Periodic Error Correction). This allows long-exposure guided 35mm or large format CCD astrophotography in a polar mode, using an optional ##2590 equatorial wedge. You can connect an optional #909 accessory port module for completely automatic CCD autoguiding of long exposure 35mm photos. CCD imaging with one of the optional Meade Deep Sky Imagers with NASA-developed “Drizzle” software does not require an equatorial wedge. If you plan on doing a lot of deep space astrophotography, the 15% higher light transmission of this scope’s multicoated UHTC optics will allow shorter photographic exposure times, making deep space imaging easier.
      The AutoStar computer includes hundreds of special event menus, guided tours, a glossary, utility functions, and telescope status options. It also allows fast alignment of the telescope in either an equatorial or altazimuth mode, using any of three alignment methods, including Meade’s proprietary Easy Align method. For more details, click on the “computer” icon above.

• AutoStar Software Suite: This software package is included as standard equipment with the LX90-ACF. It integrates the telescope with your PC or laptop computer for an enhanced range of performance features. It includes a planetarium program with a database of 19,000,000 stars and deep space objects to display on your computer screen. Connect the scope to your computer using the supplied cable, click on any object in the sky map on your computer screen, and your LX90 automatically slew to that object. You can use it to control your telescope remotely via the Internet. “Talking Telescope” software (included) converts AutoStar text displays to synthesized speech through your computer speaker. And you can use all of the program’s planetarium features for planning future observing sessions when nights are cloudy by automatically generating AutoStar Tours of favorite objects with a simple point and click. For more details, click on the “AutoStar software” icon above.

    The simple tripod/altazimuth mount configuration of the LX90-ACF with UHTC optics makes setup fast and easy. The automatic alignment features of the GPS receiver, LNT technology, and AutoStar computer and its simplified menus will start you observing in only a matter of minutes. The wide array of objects in the LX90-ACF database, and the 5 arc minute pointing accuracy of the AutoStar computer, will accurately speed you from object to object with no frustrating hunting or star hopping. With the LX90-ACF, you’ll spend more of your time looking at objects and less time looking for them. With the 15% additional light transmission of its UHTC optics you’ll spend less time photographing them, as well.
    If you’re one of those busy people whose schedule doesn’t leave you much time to enjoy astronomy, an easy-to-use fully-computerized LX90-ACF with UHTC optics will make the most of your limited observing opportunities.

What can you see through an 8” LX90-ACF with Advanced Coma-Free UHTC optics?

    Enough wonders to last a lifetime! Under good seeing conditions, no less than six of Saturn’s moons can be seen shuttling around the visibly multi-ringed planet. Even cold and distant Pluto, a faint magnitude 13.9 speck, can occasionally be glimpsed making its lonely way across the skies under appropriate dark-sky seeing conditions. Distant galaxies barely visible in other telescopes begin to show their essential structure. Nebular wisps and fragments show markedly wider extent than with any smaller scope. Orion’s nebulosity often fills your entire field of view, particularly with a narrow band light pollution filter to increase the contrast of the fainter segments. Densely packed globular clusters are often resolved to the core. Thanks to the sharp coma-free field edge performance, all the stars in expansive open clusters stay sharply in focus across the full field, even in a very wide field eyepiece. And all of it can be photographed in detail (with surprisingly short exposure times) by adding a few inexpensive accessories.
    The altazimuth drive of the LX90-ACF is more than accurate enough for piggyback, lunar, and planetary 35mm photos and much CCD imaging. However, field rotation causes stars at the corners of an image to streak during exposures longer than five minutes if a field derotator or an equatorial wedge isn’t used to align the scope on the celestial pole. So, if you plan on doing deep space photography, you’ll need to add either an optional #2590 wedge or one of the optional Meade Deep Sky Imagers with NASA-developed “Drizzle” software that does not require an equatorial wedge.
    While this 8” scope will perform well under mildly light-polluted suburban skies, it is at a remote site with truly dark and steady skies that you’ll best be able to take full advantage of all its superb optical performance and the extra light transmission of its UHTC optics. It’s not a scope that’s happy staying in a heavily light-polluted city or suburban observing environment.
    Luckily (actually more by design than by luck) the 8” LX90-ACF is a scope that one person can easily move to a dark sky site by himself or herself. A one-person setup once there is also reasonably easy to accomplish. Since the self-contained scope runs off flashlight batteries, there’s no need to haul power adapters or a portable power supply with you, making transport and setup easier still.
    This 8” scope has enough performance with its premium coma-free design and UHTC optics to keep you busy observing and photographing for the rest of your life. And the 8” LX90-ACF has virtually all the features you’ll ever need to keep you happy out in the field or in your backyard. So, from the standpoint of being the perfect balance of being big enough to keep you observing for many years to come, portable enough to make it easy for you to take the scope to the right site for observing, with superb optics and enough useful features to keep the most ardent gadget lover in seventh heaven ‘til the cows come home . . . and all at a price that won’t break the bank . . . the 8” LX90-ACF with Advanced Coma-Free UHTC optics may indeed be the perfect scope for you.