This Telescope’s Optical System . . . - Advanced Coma-Free catadioptric designed to emulate the optical performance of a Ritchey-Chrétien telescope: 10” aperture (2500mm 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 (96x). The eyepiece field of view is 0.52°, a little wider than the full Moon, for expansive lunar and deep space views that fill the eyepiece.
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 #541 adapter (with 25’ AC and DC cords) is available to power the scope from 110-120 volt 60 Hz AC household current in your back yard to conserve battery life, and 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 LX90’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 #2570 Ultrawedge equatorial wedge. (The standard LX90 wedge #2590 may have trouble holding the weight of the 10” LX90 when fully loaded with photographic accessories.) 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-ACF 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 10” LX90-ACF with Advanced Coma-Free 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 10” LX90-ACF with Advanced Coma-Free optics? With 57% more light gathering capability than an 8” telescope, this scope’s 10” catadioptric optics give the Universe a visual and photographic sharpness and grandeur at dark sky sites that no smaller telescope can approach – no matter how good that smaller scope might be.
The Orion Nebula shows an extension and subtlety of feature never visible through a smaller scope, particularly when you use a narrow band light pollution filter to increase the contrast of the fainter segments. Orion’s Trapezium stars A and C reveal their faint 11th magnitude visual binary companions. Nebular wisps and fragments such as the Veil show markedly greater extent than with any smaller scope. Faint galaxies and planetary nebulas, barely visible blurs in smaller scopes, start to reveal their structure in detail. 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. Small storm cells in Jupiter's belts, plus tantalizing hints of surface details on its moons, can be seen under good seeing conditions, as can occasional dust storms on Mars. Cold and distant Pluto, a faint magnitude 13.9 speck, can be glimpsed making its lonely way across the skies.
With a photographic limiting magnitude of 17, all of these sights 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 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.
This big 10” scope will perform adequately on faint deep space objects such as galaxies and nebulas under mildly light-polluted suburban skies, if provided with the proper light pollution filter. However, it is at a remote site with truly dark and steady skies that you’ll best be able to take full advantage of its large aperture, and superb flat field optical performance. This is not a scope that’s happy staying in a light-polluted city or suburban observing environment. But, if you have regular access to dark skies, and the size and weight of the scope (a 50 lb. optical tube to lift up onto the tripod) doesn’t daunt you, the 10” LX90-ACF with Advanced Coma-Free UHTC optics may be the perfect scope for you, particularly if you’re a deep space enthusiast.
If you’re one of those busy people whose schedule doesn’t leave you much time to enjoy astronomy, this easy-to-use fully-computerized LX90-ACF will make the most of your limited observing opportunities. It has all the aperture you need to keep you busy observing for the rest of your life, with enough useful features to handle almost any observing and astrophotography chore you set for it . . . and a price that won’t break the bank.
Just how much can you find to see and photograph with a 10” Meade LX90-ACF with Advanced Coma-Free UHTC optics? Enough wonders to last a lifetime! |
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