| We have a select amount of these amazing telescopes at an unbelievable price. The shipment is on the way from Celestron and should be here around the 12th of November 2008. Quantities are limited, so get them while you can. If you are interested in a complete observing package, check out the ONYXPAK for $799. The package includes an Astro-Tech Voyager Mount, Celestron 2" XLT diagonal and a Celestron 21mm X-Cel ED eyepiece. The pieces alone retail for $515.95. You save an additional $117 with the package price. The Celestron Onyx 80EDF refractor has the right balance of 80mm aperture and 500mm focal length to use as a low-power rich field telescope, as a medium-power planetary telescope, or as any kind of telescope in between. Its compact size, light weight, and convenient L-shaped mounting dovetail (with 1/4"-20 thread mounting holes that fit any photographic tripod) also make it an excellent wide-field terrestrial spotting scope for vacations, birding, or nature studies. In addition, optional camera adapters turn the ED optics of the Onyx 80EDF into a superb 500mm (10x) f/6.25 telephoto lens. The 80mm two-element optical system of the Celestron Onyx 80EDF uses one lens of fluorite-based Fluoro-ED low dispersion glass combined with a second lens of high density crown glass. The combination delivers razor-sharp images that are virtually free of spurious color across the entire visible spectrum. All air-to-glass surfaces are fully multicoated with Celestron’s Starbright XLT, a unique combination of magnesium fluoride and hafnium dioxide antireflection coatings for the maximum possible light transmission. It’s the same industry-standard Starbright XLT high transmission/low reflection multicoatings used on Celestron’s most expensive Schmidt-Cassegrain optics. Contrast-enhancing light baffles in the optical tube assure truly dark sky backgrounds and high terrestrial contrast. The Celestron Onyx 80EDF has a smooth 2" Crayford-style focuser for minimal image shift, an important consideration for keeping images centered on the small imaging chip of a CCD camera during critical astrophotography. The 2" focuser drawtube uses a soft brass compression ring eyepiece holder. This design won’t scratch the barrel of your star diagonal as an ordinary thumbscrew can. The focuser rotates a full 360° to set up a camera in a landscape or portrait orientation, as well as putting your diagonal and eyepiece into the most comfortable observing position. A thumbscrew locks the focuser body in place once you’ve reached the desired orientation. For astrophotography, a separate thumbscrew locks the focuser drawtube in place once you have your camera focused. The precision-machined black tube/Celestron orange trim Onyx 80EDF has a retractable dew cap/lens shade for dew prevention at night and improved daytime contrast during viewing or photography. A slip-on metal dust cap is standard. The scope comes in a foam-fitted aluminum-frame hard carrying case that has cutouts for eyepieces and other accessories. For serious astronomy and astrophotography, the scope’s L-shaped dovetail mounting shoe is shaped to fit directly into the dovetail slot on the head of Celestron Advanced Series equatorial and go-to mounts with no other adapter needed. The mounting shoe also fits the dovetail slots of Meade LXD-75 and Vixen Sphinx and Great Polaris Deluxe mounts. In addition, the mounting shoe has two 1/4"-20 thread holes that allow you to mount the Onyx directly onto any good photo tripod for casual astronomy or daytime terrestrial observing. A small peep sight-type finder is mounted on the side of the scope to help you locate objects day or night. Eyepieces and a star diagonal are optional. An optional and economical Celestron 2" 40mm E-Lux eyepiece will give you a 6.4mm exit pupil at 13x magnification, with a 4° field (eight times the diameter of the full Moon). With an eyepiece in this focal length range, the Celestron Onyx 80EDF is its own best finderscope and a true rich field telescope, capable of scanning wide scenic vistas by day and revealing multitudes of large, faint deep space objects by night. For observing somewhat more distant objects, optional eyepieces and/or Barlow lenses will provide high powers to let you examine details in the storm belts of Jupiter, the rings of Saturn, the mountains of the Moon, and much more. And the resolution of those details will be crisp and detailed, often visibly superior to larger telescopes that more easily affected by atmospheric conditions. Maximum usable power is 167x, achievable with a 3mm focal length eyepiece and very good seeing conditions. A more reasonable maximum under so-so seeing conditions would be in the 100x neighborhood. There are few optical systems that combine into one compact and inexpensive body a serious astronomical telescope, a terrestrial spotting scope, and a top-quality telephoto lens – but the Celestron Onyx 80EDF does it all beautifully. Whether you want to observe the skies from your back yard on the spur of the moment, or travel round the world with a very portable telescope that will reveal and photograph everything nearby and distant, you’ll find it hard to beat this truly exceptional and very economical Celestron ED refractor.
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