Meade Schmidt-Cassegrains

More Information  · Supplied Accessories  · Recommended Accessories Price $1,799.00 Supplied Eyepiece SP26 Highest Useful Magnification 400x Visual Limiting Magnitude 14 Focal Length 2000mm Focal Ratio f/10 Resolution 0.57 arc seconds Aperture 8" Weight 53 lbs. Heaviest Single Component 33 lbs. Warranty 1 year

    This Meade 8” LX90-SC provides the backyard astronomer with a big feature-filled scope at a very attractive price. With its UHTC group multicoated Schmidt-Cassegrain optics providing the equivalent of three-quarters of an inch of extra light-gathering aperture (compared with an 8” scope with standard coatings), you can literally never run out of celestial objects to see and photograph with this 8” telescope. The Meade 8” LX90-SC is a scope that can keep you happily observing for the rest of your life, at a price that you can afford right now.

    The LX90-SC’s AudioStar™ computer is amazingly simple to use. You don't have to know Polaris from the Pleiades, or Albireo from Zubeneschamali to find your way around the skies. All you have to do is let the built-in GPS receiver tell the AudioStar™ computer where you are on Earth and the time and date. The AudioStar™ will do the rest, aligning the scope on the skies and leading you to two alignment stars. Visually confirm that the scope is centered on those stars and you’re ready to let the computer locate dozens of deep space objects for you automatically and accurately. The GPS/AudioStar™ system will let you navigate the skies like a seasoned observer your very first night out.

    And once your LX90 is aligned on the sky, the Astronomer Inside™ software inside the AudioStar™ computer hand control will talk to you, giving you four hours of audio descriptions of the celestial objects you are looking at. Astronomer Inside™ puts the knowledge and experience of a professional astronomer in the palm of your hand.

   AutoStar software
   LX90 UHTC optics
   LX90 GPS mount

This Telescope’s Optical System . . .

• Schmidt-Cassegrain optics: 8" aperture (2000mm focal length f/10). Fully-multicoated UHTC (Ultra High Transmission Coatings) 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.

• Finderscope: 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.

• Star diagonal: 1.25" 90° prism type.

• Eyepiece: 1.25" 26mm Series 4000 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 with 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.
      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. High capacity rechargeable 12 VDC battery packs are also available. For more details, click on the “mount" icon above.

• Adjustable height tripod: The tripod (the same one used on Meade’s premium 8" and 10" LX200 telescopes) adjusts in height from 30" to 44". It has 2" diameter steel legs that damp vibrations quickly, with a center leg brace that locks the legs firmly in place for added rigidity. Three 1.25" diameter holes in the leg brace can hold eyepieces while observing. 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.

• AudioStar™ computer: The LX90-SC’s AudioStar™ computer hand control plugs into the telescope’s fork arm to permit a wide array of telescope options. First and foremost is its automatic go-to capability. The AudioStar™ 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! And a speaker built into the computer hand control lets the unique Astronomer Inside™ software provide you with more than four hours of fascinating audio descriptions of the objects you are observing. Astronomer Inside™ puts the experience and astronomical knowledge of a professional astronomer in the palm of your hand.
  At the push of a button, the LX90-SC will move at a fast 6.5° per second to any of the more than 30,000 deep sky and solar system objects in its database, then track it flawlessly across the sky while you observe at your leisure. There are standard solar, lunar, and sidereal tracking rates with 2000 precision-selected incremental rates that permit observatory-level precision in tracking the Moon and planets. The AudioStar™ includes a dual-axis drive corrector for long-exposure guided astrophotography.

• AudioStar™ computer operation: Using the LX90-SC AudioStar™ computer is simplicity itself. Just mount the scope on its tripod and turn it on. The built-in 16-channel GPS receiver locks onto the network of orbiting GPS satellites to determine your observing location’s latitude, longitude, date, and time. Using this information, the LX90-SC orients itself to the sky and slews at 6.5 degrees per second to the first of two alignment stars. If that star is not precisely centered in the finderscope or main scope optics, a touch or two on the AudioStar™ hand control’s directional push buttons quickly centers it. Do the same with the second alignment star the scope moves to and you’re ready to observe. That's it!
      The AudioStar™ 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.

• 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-SC with UHTC optics makes setup fast and easy. The automatic alignment features of the GPS receiver and AudioStar™ computer and its simplified menus will start you observing in only a matter of minutes. The wide array of objects in the LX90-SC database, and the 5 arc minute pointing accuracy of the AudioStar™ computer, will accurately speed you from object to object with no frustrating hunting or star hopping. With the LX90-SC, 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, the easy-to-use LX90-SC with its unique Astronomer Inside™ software and talking AudioStar™ computer hand control will make the most of your limited observing opportunities.

    Just how much can you find to see and photograph with an 8" Meade LX90-SC Schmidt-Cassegrain with UHTC multicoatings? Enough wonders to last a lifetime!