Vixen Refractor Optical Tubes

More Information  · Supplied Accessories Price $439.00 List Price $610.00 Highest Useful Magnification 133x Focal Length 400mm Focal Ratio f/5 Resolution 1.45 arc seconds Visual Limiting Magnitude 12.0 Aperture 3.1" Weight 5.1 lbs. Warranty 5 years

This 5.1 lb. Vixen refractor is small enough and light enough to be mounted on virtually any photo tripod for casual observing, as well as on the Sphinx go-to mount on the #SX2511 tabletop stand or full-length field tripod or the Vixen Great Polaris equatorial mount. While no eyepiece is supplied with the system, to allow you to customize your observing experience to your precise requirements, its large 60mm focuser drawtube comes with a robust 2" eyepiece adapter for 2" star diagonals, image erectors, or wide-field eyepieces. The scope comes with a 1.25" flip mirror star diagonal that lets you switch between two different 1.25" eyepieces (or between a camera using a standard T-ring and an eyepiece) at the turn of a knob. The scope also comes with a non-magnifying red dot finder (not shown in the photo to the left). The scope’s optical tube measures 90mm in diameter and is equipped with a dovetail mounting plate that fits all Vixen mounts, the Celestron CG-5 and Advanced Series go-to mounts, and the Meade LXD75 go-to mount.

Optically the scope is quite good, with sharp high-contrast images due to its fully multicoated optics. There is some visible violet fringing around the Moon, planets, and brighter stars, as is normal with a fast focal ratio achromatic scope, but it is surprisingly well-controlled. The fringing is rarely discernable in most deep space and terrestrial observing. Mechanically, the scope is well made and finely finished, as is typical of Vixen products. If you need a quality scope for spur-of-the-moment observing, this is a good one to consider.