Refractors

More Information  · Supplied Accessories  · Recommended Accessories Price $2,799.00 Highest Useful Magnification 257x Visual Limiting Magnitude 12.9 Focal Length 900mm Focal Ratio f/7.5 Resolution 0.97 arc seconds Aperture 4.72" Weight 75 lbs. Heaviest Single Component 41 lbs. Warranty 2 years

This Sky-Watcher Pro 120ED apochromatic refractor has: • 120mm f/7.5 apochromatic doublet optics using Schott glass and an FPL-53 ED element • dual-speed 2” Crayford focuser with 10:1 ratio fine focusing • 2” dielectric star diagonal with 2” and 1.25” eyepiece holders • two 1.25” Long Eye Relief eyepieces (20mm and 5mm) • 8 x 50mm right-angle finderscope • 40 pound payload capacity Celestron CGEM go-to German equatorial mount • NexStar go-to computer with 40,000+ object database • two-year warranty

    The Sky-Watcher Pro 120ED refractor on a CGEM mount from Celestron is a double Sky & Telescope Hot Product for 2010, once for the scope itself and once for the mount.

In an October 2009 review of the Pro 120ED, Sky & Telescope said, “Don't be fooled by its modest cost; this 120-mm apo delivers images that are on par with premium-priced instruments . . . Its performance as a visual telescope was on par with similar-size apo refractors costing three times as much." Sky & Tel concluded in the “At-A-Glance” section of their review: “What We Like: excellent optics; handsome appearance. What We Didn’t Like: nothing.”

The Sky-Watcher Pro 120ED combines a crown glass element of premium Schott Glass with an FPL-53 ED glass element for apochromatic images that are essentially free of the annoying halo of unfocused violet light (chromatic aberration) that often mars the view of bright stars and solar system objects in other large aperture doublet refractors.

    The 120mm Sky-Watcher doublet optics are even more appealing when you consider that this Sky-Watcher apo is loaded with features other manufacturers charge extra for (or don’t even have available) – such as an 8 x 50mm right-angle finderscope, a 2” dielectric star diagonal, two 1.25" LE (Long Eye Relief) eyepieces (LE20mm and LE5mm); and a foam-lined aluminum-clad carrying case.

The smooth and precise Hot Product Celestron CGEM go-to mount makes finding over 40,000 celestial objects easy and automatic. You spend more time looking at heavenly bodies, rather than looking for them. The CGEM mount combines portability and premium-level performance with a payload capacity of 40 pounds. This makes for rock-steady imaging and visual observing with the 11.3 pound Sky-Watcher Pro 120ED refractor – and gives you a superb basis for adding additional optical tubes up to an 11” aperture SCT as your observing and imaging interests expand.

    The Sky-Watcher Pro 120ED and CGEM mount Hot Products have all the premium performance you need to form the heart of a very serious observing system. Considering the great optical performance of this true apochromatic doublet, adding in the extra features you get at no extra cost, and supporting it with the precision performance and expansion capabilities of the CGEM mount, the 120mm Sky-Watcher Pro 120ED/CGEM mount package is a terrific buy!

   NexStar CGEM computer
   CGEM mount

This Telescope’s Optical System . . .

• Apochromatic ED doublet refractor: 120mm (4.72") aperture, 900mm focal length, f/7.5 focal ratio. The optics use a crown glass front element of premium Schott Glass, from one of the world’s most-respected glass manufacturers. The rear ED element is precision-polished from high grade FPL-53 ED (Extra-low Dispersion) glass. This ED element produces superior sharpness and color correction by minimizing the chromatic aberration, the “false" color fringing seen around bright objects when light rays pass through standard crown-and-flint doublet objectives. The result is to reduce spurious color halos and fringing to vanishingly low levels for clean and color-true images.

• Fully multicoated optics: Each air-to-glass surface in the Sky-Watcher Pro 120ED doublet objective lens has MHC (Metallic High-Transmission Coating) antireflection multicoatings on all air-to-glass surfaces for high light transmission, minimal light scatter, and excellent contrast.

• Internal light baffles: Contrast-enhancing internal light baffles in the tube and focuser drawtube and a specially darkened tube interior provide dark sky backgrounds and high terrestrial contrast.

• Dew shield: The supplied dew shield slows the formation of dew on the lens in cold weather to extend your undisturbed observing time. It also improves the contrast, similar to the effect of the lens shade on a camera lens, when observing during the day or when there is excessive ambient light at night, such as a neighbor’s backyard security light. The 11.3 pound optical tube measures 37.8" long, including the dew shield. A slip-on metal dust cap is standard.

• Dual speed 2" Crayford focuser: The precision-made no-backlash focuser has dual-speed focusing. There are two coarse focusing knobs. The right knob also has a smaller concentric knob with 10:1 reduction gear microfine focusing. This provides exceptionally precise image control during high magnification visual observing and critical DSLR or CCD imaging. The large focus knobs have ribbed gripping surfaces so they are easy to operate, even while wearing gloves or mittens in cold weather. Lock knobs lets you adjust the tension on the drawtube to accommodate varying eyepiece/photo accessory loads, as well as firmly lock in a photographic focus.

• 2" dielectric star diagonal: The supplied standard equipment 2" mirror star diagonal of the Pro 120ED slips into the focuser drawtube’s 2" eyepiece/accessory holder. The 2" diagonal has 99% reflectivity dielectric mirror coatings for high light transmission. A supplied 1.25" accessory adapter slips into the 2" diagonal to let you also use 1.25" eyepieces. The 1.25" accessory adapter can also be inserted directly into the 2" accessory holder on the focuser drawtube to let you use a 1.25" image erecting diagonal, or 1.25" photographic accessories.

• Supplied eyepieces: Two 1.25" long eye relief eyepieces are supplied as standard equipment – a 20mm (45x) and a 5mm (180x).

• Finderscope: The Sky-Watcher PRO 120ED comes with an 8 x 50mm right-angle finderscope that is fully-multicoated to insure maximum brightness and contrast.

This Telescope’s Mount . . .

• Heavy duty CGEM computerized German equatorial mount: The CGEM mount includes dual-axis slewing/tracking motors on each axis for go-to computer control.

• Powering the Pro 120ED APO: The Celestron CGEM mount comes with a car battery cord to operate from the cigarette lighter plug of your car or from a rechargeable 12VDC battery pack. The 17 amp hour capacity Sky-Watcher Power Tank #4517V is recommended and will operate the scope all night long without danger of running out of power.

• Mounting the scope: A dovetail slot on the top of the mount holds the long dovetail slide bar mounted under the optical tube. This allows you to slide the optical tube fore and aft in the dovetail slot to quickly and precisely balance the optical tube in declination when you add or subtract accessories, eliminating the need for an extra counterweight to balance a camera or other accessories. Setup and takedown times are exceptionally fast, as a single large hand-tighten knob holds the optical tube in place. A second lock knob prevents the tube from sliding off the mount should the hand-tighten knob loosen. The oversized dovetail mounting platform assures secure vibration-free tube attachment.

• Balancing the scope: The single sliding 17 pound counterweight is locked in place on the counterweight shaft with a single large hand-tighten knob. This makes it easy to rebalance the scope in right ascension if you add heavy photographic accessories. For more details, click on the “CGEM mount" icon above.

• NexStar computer hand control: The supplied NexStar computer hand control has a built-in database of more than 40,000 stars and objects that it can find and track for you with just a few keystrokes. It has a double line, 16-character, liquid crystal display. 19 fiber optic backlit LED buttons make it easy for you to control the computer without affecting your dark-adapted vision.

• Some NexStar features: An RS-232 communication port on the hand control allows you to operate the telescope via a personal computer using the supplied RS-232 cable and NexRemote software CD-ROM. The hand control and motor control software is flash-upgradeable to allow you to download the latest product updates over the Internet to keep your CGEM mount always at the cutting edge of technology. An autoguider port is located on the electronic pier for guided, but unattended, long exposure astrophotography.

• Aligning on the sky: Five different alignment methods are built into the NexStar computer. Alignment is easily accomplished in only a few short minutes, so you can be observing in less than 15 minutes after you first take the scope outdoors. There’s a unique “All-Star" software program built in that lets you align the mount on the celestial pole using a single bright star, even when you can’t see the North Star because of trees or buildings. For more details, click on the “NexStar CGEM computer" icon above.

• Two-year warranty: All Sky-Watcher go-to telescopes have a two-year warranty, double that of competitive go-to scopes.