Meade LX200-ACF - fork-mount go-to f/10 Advanced Coma-Free catadioptrics

More Information  · Supplied Accessories  · Recommended Accessories  · Images of Some Features Price $3,999.00 Highest Useful Magnification 500x Visual Limiting Magnitude 14.5 Focal Length 2500mm Focal Ratio f/10 Resolution 0.46 arc seconds Aperture 10" Net Weight 99 lbs. Heaviest Single Component 63 lbs. Warranty 1 year

   AutoStar software
   LX200 computer
   LX200 mount
   LX200-ACF UHTC optics

This Telescope’s Optical System . . .

• Advanced Coma-Free catadioptric designed to emulate the optical performance of a Ritchey-Chrétien telescope: 10" aperture catadioptric (2500mm focal length f/10). Fully multicoated UHTC (Ultra High Transmission Coatings) optics with oversized primary mirror for brighter field edge illumination. Aluminum tube construction with glare-stop baffling and mirror lock. 2" electric focuser with 1.25" eyepiece adapter. Guaranteed diffraction-limited performance with a flatter field edge-to-edge than other commercially-available catadioptric optical systems. 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.

• Star diagonal: 1.25" multicoated prism type.

• Eyepiece: 1.25" 26mm Series 5000 5-element Plössl (96x). The eyepiece field of view is 0.62° (20% larger than the full Moon), for expansive lunar and deep space views.

This Telescope’s Mount . . .

• Fork mount/drive system: Die-cast aluminum drive base. Dual die-cast aluminum fork arms support the optical tube. The mount includes servo-controlled 12VDC slewing and tracking motors in both altitude and azimuth. The motors are powered by eight user-supplied C-cell batteries that fit into the fork arms. Optional adapters (with 25’ cords) are available to power the scope from 110-120 volt 60 Hz AC household current in your back yard to conserve battery life, or to power the scope from your car’s cigarette lighter plug or a rechargeable battery for extended use in the field. For more details, click on the “mount" icon above.

• GPS/AutoStar computer: A 16-channel GPS (global positioning satellite) receiver is built into the top of the telescope’s left fork arm. The GPS receiver, in conjunction with a built-in electronic compass and AutoStar computer control, automatically aligns the scope on the sky so that the AutoStar computer can locate for you the more than 145,000 stars and objects in its memory.
      In addition to quickly and automatically moving the scope to any desired object with an accuracy typically in the two arc minute range, and flawlessly tracking the object while you observe at your leisure, the AutoStar computer provides numerous visual, tracking, and photographic tools and functions to make your observing easier and more enjoyable.
      Unique “Smart Mount" technology can constantly improve the already high pointing accuracy of the telescope with every object that you center precisely and synchronize on during a night’s observing. For more details on these features, click on the “computer" icon above.

• Adjustable height tripod: The tripod adjusts from 30" to 44" and damps vibrations quickly. It has 2" diameter steel legs, with a center leg brace for 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.

• AutoStar Software Suite: This standard equipment software package is designed to integrate the telescope with your Windows-based PC or laptop computer for an enhanced range of performance features. The AutoStar Software Suite includes a planetarium program with a database of 19,000,000 stars and deep space objects for display on your computer screen. It includes all the standard planetarium program features for stand-alone use when nights are cloudy. In addition, it contains programs for controlling the telescope from your laptop or PC. For more details on the many capabilities and features of the AutoStar Software Suite, click on the “software" icon above.

What can you see through an 10" LX200-ACF with Advanced Coma-Free UHTC optics?

    With 57% more light gathering capability than an 8" scope, this scope’s 10" coma-free flat-field optics give the Universe a visual and photographic sharpness and grandeur at dark sky sites that no smaller scope can approach – no matter how good that smaller scope might be. And the multicoatings of the UHTC optics group produce images that are 15% brighter than you’ll see with a conventionally coated scope! The Orion Nebula shows an extension and subtlety of feature never visible through a smaller scope, particularly when you use a narrow band light pollution filter to increase the contrast of the fainter segments. Orion’s Trapezium stars A and C reveal their faint 11th magnitude visual binary companions. Nebular wisps and fragments such as the Veil show markedly greater extent than with any smaller scope. Faint galaxies and planetary nebulas, barely visible blurs in smaller scopes, start to reveal their structure in detail. Densely packed globular clusters are typically resolved to their core. Open clusters show stars that are sharp and point-like all the way across the field. Small storm cells in Jupiter's belts, plus tantalizing hints of surface details on its moons, can be seen under good seeing conditions, as can occasional dust storms on Mars. Cold and distant Pluto, a faint magnitude 13.9 speck, can be glimpsed making its lonely way across the skies. And, with a photographic limiting magnitude of 17, all of it can be photographed in detail (with surprisingly short exposure times) by adding a few inexpensive accessories.
    The altazimuth drive of the LX200-ACF is more than accurate enough for piggyback, lunar, and planetary 35mm photos and much CCD imaging. However, field rotation causes stars at the corners of an image to streak during exposures longer than five minutes if a field derotator or an equatorial wedge isn’t used to align the scope on the celestial pole. So, if you plan on doing deep space photography, you’ll need to add either an optional #1220 field derotator or an optional #2570 Ultrawedge to the 10" LX200-ACF.
    This 10" scope will perform adequately on faint deep space objects such as galaxies and nebulas under mildly light-polluted suburban skies, if provided with the proper light pollution filter. However, it is at a remote site with truly dark and steady skies that you’ll best be able to take full advantage of its large aperture, and superb optical performance. This is not a scope that’s happy staying in a light-polluted city or suburban observing environment. If you have regular access to dark skies, and the size and weight of the scope (a 63 lb. optical tube to lift up onto the tripod) doesn’t daunt you, the 10" LX200-ACF with Advanced Coma-Free UHTC optics may be the perfect scope for you, particularly if you’re serious about deep space observing and astrophotography. It has all the aperture and light transmission you need to keep you busy observing and photographing for the rest of your life, with enough useful features to handle almost any observing and astrophotographic chore you set for it . . . and a price that won’t break the bank.