| B>This Orion 12" Truss Tube Dobsonian has:
• 12" f/4.9 Newtonian reflector optics
• IntelliScope object locating and identifying computer
• truss-tube design for compact transportability
• smooth UHMW/ABS altitude and Teflon/EbonyStar azimuth bearings, plus altitude tension control
• 10mm (150x) and 35mm (43x) eyepieces
• 9 x 50mm finderscope
Perhaps you find the idea of a big-aperture deep space “light bucket" appealing, but the price of a big catadioptric or the size of a big conventional reflector have kept you on the fence. Well, you can hop off that fence right now, because Orion has the perfect solution – the highly portable/highly affordable Orion SkyQuest XX12 IntelliScope Truss Tube Dobsonian. The Orion XX12 is a deep-sky observer's dream, with big 12" (305mm) “light bucket" optics, but it uses a sturdy eight-truss tube design that disassembles quickly into a few compact and easily portable components. Even better, it comes with a computerized IntelliScope object locating computer to make finding your way around the skies easy. At its sensible price, the Orion XX12 is a great buy as well as a great observing tool.
The Orion XX12 fits comfortably into a compact car for transport to your favorite observing site. The Orion’s traditional and time-proven truss tube design uses eight aluminum trusses (in four captive pairs) that attach and detach quickly with oversized hand knobs, with no tools required and no loose knobs to lose in the dark. This design provides a more rigid structural support than other designs in this category. When removed, the trusses in each captive pair hinge down to align in parallel, saving space when transporting and storing them. The 56" optical tube breaks down into two sections, the largest measuring just 26" in length. The completely assembled scope weighs just 86.5 pounds, including all supplied accessories.
The acclaimed Orion IntelliScope Computerized Object Locator comes standard on the XX12, allowing you to manually and accurately slew the scope to any of 14,000 celestial objects in just seconds, using its illuminated pushbutton keypad. You spend more time looking at celestial objects and less time looking for them. What’s more, with 12 inches of light-grabbing aperture, your favorite “faint fuzzies" won't look nearly so faint or fuzzy! The deep-sky views in the Orion XX12 will simply dazzle you.
Get the practical and affordable Orion SkyQuest XX12 IntelliScope Truss Tube Dobsonian and you can hit the road to big-aperture astronomical adventure whenever the skies are clear.
This Orion Dob’s Optical Tube Assembly . . . - Newtonian reflector optics: 305mm (12") diameter, 1500mm focal length, f/4.9 focal ratio parabolic primary mirror, with a 70mm (2.75") m.a. diagonal mirror. Both are guaranteed to be diffraction-limited. The diagonal mirror cage and primary mirror tub are made of rolled aluminum. The diagonal mirror cage (upper tube section) measures 14" in diameter by 8" long. It weighs 9.6 pounds. The primary mirror tub (bottom tube section) also measures 14" in diameter (not counting altitude bearings) and is 26" long. It weighs 34.3 pounds. Die-cast and machined rims on the tube sections hold the eight 1" diameter by 22" long aluminum truss tubes and optical components in precise alignment to minimize the need for frequent collimation. The eight truss tubes (in four pairs) weigh a total of 5.6 pounds, including their captive assembly knobs.
- Primary mirror: Low thermal expansion Pyrex in an open metal cell with a no tools needed fully adjustable 9-point flotation system for sharp and bright high contrast images of nebulas, galaxies, and star clusters. Lunar and planetary images are also sharp and crisp, but a neutral density (Moon) filter would certainly be called for to cut down on the incredible solar system brightness provided by this 12" mirror – almost 1900 times that of your eye. The center-spotted primary mirror is ground with computer-controlled accuracy, multicoated with aluminum, and overcoated with silicon dioxide (quartz) for long life.
- Primary mirror cooling fan: A battery-operated Cooling Accelerator Fan attaches to the back of the mirror cell to facilitate faster equilibration of the mirror to the ambient temperature. The fan is powered by a 12VDC battery pack using eight D-cell batteries (batteries not supplied). An optional rechargeable high capacity 12V battery pack can be used to cut down on the cost of replacing D-cell batteries in very cold climates.
- Diagonal mirror: 70mm (2.75") m.a. diagonal mirror, mounted in a fully adjustable four-vane diagonal holder using very thin (0.7mm thick) spider vanes to minimize diffraction effects. As with the primary mirror, the diagonal is multicoated with aluminum and overcoated with quartz for long life.
- Finderscope: 9 x 50mm straight-through viewing achromatic crosshair design.
- Focuser: machined aluminum dual-speed 2" Crayford focuser with a 1.25" eyepiece adapter. The focuser has two coarse focus knobs. One of the knobs has a smaller concentric knob that provides an 11:1 reduction ratio for critical fine focusing at high magnifications. Adjustable drawtube tension ensures excellent, non-slip motion for any size or weight eyepiece used.
- Two eyepieces: one 10mm 1.25" four-element Sirius Plössl and one 35mm 2" three-element Deep View. The 35mm 2" Deep View provides a magnification of 43x, with an actual field of view 1.3° across. That’s over two and a half times as wide as the full Moon, giving you rich and expansive deep space views of star clouds, galaxies, and nebulas alike. The 10mm 1.25" Plössl provides a stout 150x magnification with a 0.35° field of view, enough magnification to provide sharp close-up views of the Moon, planets, globular star clusters, multiple star systems, binary stars, and more.
This 12" Orion Dob’s Base Assembly . . . - Rocker box altazimuth base: The altazimuth rocker box that the mirror tub rides in is crafted of strong, lightweight, and water-resistant laminated particle board, as is the water-resistant ground board that the rocker box rides on. The rocker box has vertical side reinforcements for maximum rigidity. Cutouts in the side pieces reduce the rocker box weight without sacrificing strength or stability. The base is shipped disassembled, but can be put together in under an hour using only a screwdriver and the supplied hardware. The circular base of the rocker box is 25" in diameter. The rocker box is 30" high and weighs 34 pounds.
- Altitude and azimuth bearings: The UHMW/ABS (Ultra-High Molecular Weight/Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene) altitude bearings are an extra-large 8" in diameter for smooth vertical tube motion. The azimuth bearing uses virgin Teflon and EbonyStar laminate to provide smooth and effortless motion of the optical tube. The Teflon/EbonyStar combination (long the standard in ultra-premium hand-made Dobsonians) provides the proper amount of stiction to assure backlash-free movement, without the inadvertent and uncontrolled motions sometimes caused by wind gusts pushing on mounts using roller-bearings in azimuth.
- Navigation knob: A navigation knob conveniently mounted opposite the focuser and under the diagonal mirror cage makes it easy to control the scope’s motion in any direction using only one hand. The optical tube starts moving at a gentle touch – smoothly and with no fuss. Center on an object and the scope settles down immediately, with no shudder or vibration to mar your viewing experience.
- Carry handle/altitude tension control/eyepiece rack/dust caps: There is a handle at the front of the rocker box to make carrying it more convenient. Knobs in the sides of the rocker box incorporate a tension control in altitude that lets you compensate for eyepieces of markedly differing weights. An aluminum eyepiece rack capable of holding one 2" and three 1.25" eyepieces attaches to the side of the rocker box. Dust caps are provided for both the upper and lower tube assemblies to keep the mirrors dust-free when your scope is not in use.
- IntelliScope computer: Simply plug the supplied IntelliScope Computerized Object Locator hand control into the base of your 12" SkyQuest XX12 Truss Tube Dob and you're all set to locate and view any of 14,000 celestial objects in seconds. You just select an object to view from the illuminated menu buttons on the hand control, press Enter, and then manually push the telescope in the direction shown by the guide arrows on the hand control’s backlit two-line liquid crystal display (LCD). In seconds, the IntelliScope’s two high-resolution, 9,216-step digital encoders pinpoint the object, placing it right in the telescope’s field of view.
The IntelliScope computer's database includes a lifetime of celestial objects to view: 837 stars (including double and variable stars), 7,840 NGC objects, 5,386 IC objects, 101 Messier objects, 8 major planets, and 99 user-entered objects. The intuitive menu buttons allow selection of objects by type (e.g., Planet, Nebula, Cluster, Galaxy) or catalog number (e.g., M57, NGC 253). Press the Tour button to select one of 12 tours of the best objects visible in any given month. Or use the ID button to find out what object is in your eyepiece, if you're not sure of its identification. The LCD screen provides information about the objects you see, including object type, common name (if any), magnitude, constellation, and a brief visual description.
Whether you are an entry-level or expert astronomer, the IntelliScope Computerized Object Locator makes observing the night sky with your Orion XX12 Dob easier and more fun. It will let you view many more celestial curiosities in an evening – and in a lifetime – than you ever could before. The IntelliScope Computerized Object Locator requires one 9-volt battery ( included).
What can you see through the 12" Orion truss-tube Dob?
Everything in deep space appears brighter, and wider in extension, with the 12" Orion when compared with a smaller scope. You have tremendous light gathering power at your command – almost 1900 times that of your unaided eye. Many objects that are a challenge to even see in smaller aperture telescopes now show their essential structure. Objects just within the threshold of visibility with a 10" aperture scope appear more prominent with the 12" and may be worth observing for extended periods. If you are a comet hunter, you will delight in the fainter magnitudes that you can reach in the 12" Orion. You can visually tackle elusive deep-space gems like the Horsehead Nebula in Orion. In Perseus, the very faint 11th magnitude nebula M76 will be visible from a dark sky site, as will very faint planetary nebula M9 in Ursa Major. M61, the spiral galaxy in Virgo, reveals its spiral arms as you’ve always hoped to see them.
Compared to an 8" or 10" scope, the increased resolution and greater light-gathering power of this Orion’s 12" aperture is beyond just being impressive. It lets its lucky owner resolve many, many objects that smaller telescopes simply don't have the horsepower to show satisfactorily because they can't pull in enough light. Compared to an 8" scope, the 12" Orion has 50% greater resolution of small details and two and a quarter times the light-gathering to reveal fainter objects. Even compared to a 10" scope, the 12" Orion has 20% higher resolution and 44% greater light-gathering. The 12" Orion's compact design and compact price make this big Dob a practical step up for the serious observer.
As with any large aperture telescope, the performance of the 12" Orion on faint objects will be markedly improved by a dark sky observing site. Light-polluted city and suburban sites are definitely not recommended as the primary observing site for a 12" scope. Such sites require a nebula (light pollution) filter to take even limited advantage of its immense light-gathering.
While it is in deep space observing of galaxies and nebulas from a dark sky observing site that the 12" Orion truss-tube Dob excels, significant planetary and lunar observing is also within its capability. All you need is a neutral density eyepiece filter to cut down the immense brightness of solar system objects seen through this “light bucket."
Taking advantage of the weight-saving sophistication of its truss-tube design, and a maximum single component weight of only 34.3 pounds, the Orion 12" Dobsonian makes it practical for almost any individual on his or her own to explore the heavens with a truly big scope, whether from a back yard or a distant dark sky observing site. This Orion 12" truss-tube Dobsonian reflector will keep you happily observing the faint and distant outer reaches of the Universe for many years to come.
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