LX-Series Catadioptric Telescopes

 

Antonio Cidadao Writes: I am a planetary observer (member of APAA, ALPO and BAA) from Portugal, and I would like to share with you a "pictorial" version of one of my Mars images obtained last night (August 26th).

Image taken with the Meade 10" LX200

(Filter Used)

Mars Fever at Full Pitch, Telescopes in Short Supply!

Not In time With Your Telescope Purchase?

Spend A Night At Casanova's Mars Gazing!

 

We Have Set Up A 12" LX200GPS Telescope,

Equipped With:

• The UHTC High-Performance Light-Gathering Lens Option

• A High-Performance Computer Configured For Aiming This Telescope

• Professional Grade Astronomy Software Displaying In "Real Time" The Night Sky, Along With Telescope Aiming And Object-Tracking Control

• Our Computer Lab Equipment With High-Speed Internet Access - View Information About The Night Sky On A PC-Workstation Running The "Starry Night" Software; Which Provides Pictures And Object Information.

Fantastic!

Arrange A Night Star Gazing At Casanova's

• Test Drive & Gain Hands-On Experience With Meade Telescopes!

• Mars Viewing

• One-On-One Or Small Group Lessons - With Your Meade Telescope!

• Group Event or Single Person Viewings

• A Small Fee Is Collected For Each Event

Advanced Deep Space Viewing

Diffraction-Limited Schmidt-Cassegrain and Maksutov-Cassegrain Optics,

Designed With Advanced Electromechanical Systems.

The large apertures of Meade LX-Series catadioptric (mirror-lens) telescopes permit the use of higher observing magnifications than is the case with smaller instruments. Extremely fine celestial detail may be observed and photographed using the telescopes' greatly increased resolution and resolving power,

The four principal satellites of Jupiter become finite-sized orbs rather than pinpoints; the planet itself, under favorable atmospheric conditions, is an intricate web of whirls, festoons, and discontinuities. Saturn's rings resolve into finer detail, with at least 3 rings observable, and with detectable color variations. Six of Saturn's satellites are visible in revolution about the planet. Numerous features of the Martian landscape, including the white polar cap, are clearly identifiable. The Moon is a veritable treasury of incredibly fine fault lines, craterlets, and rilles. Deep-space phenomena take on a new character when explored through the tremendous light gathering capability of the 8", 10", and 12" models. Galaxies merely visible in smaller telescopes begin to show their essential structure; globular star clusters are resolvable in fine detail, in some cases to the core of the cluster; diffuse gas clouds such as the Orion Nebula are visible in such wide extension that the nebulosity may fill the field of view. This listing only hints at the breadth of galactic and extragalactic objects visible through the eyepiece of a Meade 8", 10", or 12" SCT model: it is a rare observer who might in a lifetime view all of the enumerated phenomena in the above categories.

Meade Schmidt-Cassegrain Optics

In astronomical optics the term diffraction-limited is used to rank an optical system as being of professional quality. Simply put, diffraction-limited means that the performance and resolution of an optical system are limited only by the size of the theoretical stellar diffraction image ? i.e., limited only by the inherent aperture of the system and by the laws of physics ? and that no additional performance improvement is physically possible. Meade hand-matched Schmidt-Cassegrain optical systems ? in continuous, independent, random tests by advanced amateurs and in definitive test reports by leading astronomical magazines ? are consistently ranked as diffraction-limited. That Meade Schmidt-Cassegrain optics carry such a reputation worldwide is perhaps the prospective purchaser's best assurance of optical quality.

Astrophotography

Many Meade Schmidt-Cassegrain owners have done fine, high-resolution photography of the Moon, planets, and deep-space, as the photos on this page confirm. A large complement of optional accessories, as well as the Meade Pictor 201XT CCD Autoguider, is available for virtually every type of photographic application.

CCD Imaging

Meade CCD imagers create a multifold increase in the effective aperture of any Meade telescope and enable the imaging of the planets and deep-space objects with a level of resolution and detail never before possible.

Meade LX10, LX90, and LX200GPS Schmidt-Cassegrain Series

Meade Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes include a wide range of features and specifications, permitting a choice of telescope precisely tailored to each buyer's requirements. The respective tube assemblies of LX10, LX90, and LX200GPS models utilize identical optical systems. Differences among the various models lie primarily in the relative levels of mechanical and electronic sophistication. Basic model concepts are as follows:

8" LX10 Schmidt-Cassegrain

Responding to the demand for a relatively light weight, moderately-priced 8" Schmidt-Cassegrain, the Meade 8" LX10 is nonetheless fully qualified as a serious instrument. The LX10 operates for over 50 hours from its internal battery-powered motor drive system. The standard-equipment hand controller enables precise 2x guiding corrections in Right Ascension during long-exposure astrophotography; corrections in Declination may be effected from the same hand controller by adding the optional Declination motor.

8" LX90 Schmidt-Cassegrain: Announced in June, 2000, the Meade 8" LX90 Schmidt-Cassegrain is the first full-capability, computer-controlled 8" Schmidt-Cassegrain ever offered in its price range ? a telescope that includes many advanced features:

Dual-Axis worm-gear drive system: With 4.9"-diameter gears for smooth sidereal-rate tracking and slewing, the LX90's microprocessor-controlled drive system allows for precise long-exposure photographic or CCD imaging.

Autostar Computer Controller: Use Autostar to GO TO any of over 30,000 celestial objects in the LX90 database or to any object of known RA and Dec., automatically, at the push of a button and at a speed of 6.5?/second on both axes, simultaneously. The telescope's pointing precision is a remarkable 5-arc minutes or better.

Nine selectable slew speeds: Push the Autostar speed button to change dual-axis speeds from a slow 1x sidereal to a fast 6.5?/second in any of nine increments.

Die-cast aluminum, double-tine fork mounting: The LX90's fork mounting yields all of the rigidity required for advanced applications of the telescope, from high-power, high-resolution visual observing of the Moon and planets to long-exposure astrophotography or CCD imaging. A 3-connector control panel is integrated to one of the fork arms.

Variable-height Standard Field Tripod: Consistent with the mechanical standards of the LX90 system, the chromed-steel Meade Standard Field Tripod (the exact same tripod included with Meade 8" and 10" LX200GPS models) provides rock-solid support for the telescope.

Cordless operation: Power the telescope from eight (user-provided) C-cell batteries located internal to the telescope's drive base.

LX200GPS Schmidt-Cassegrains

Meade 8", 10", and 12" LX200GPS Schmidt-Cassegrains, announced in September, 2001, present to the serious amateur instruments ready for an amazing array of state-of-the-art capabilities. Built into the new LX200GPS fork mounts ? the strongest, most rigid mountings available on Schmidt-Cassegrains of these apertures ? is one of the most advanced electronic packages ever offered, at any price, in a commercial telescope, an electronic package that makes using these telescopes a revelation, for the beginner or for the most experienced observer.

Imagine being able to select any of over 145,000 celestial objects ? objects that include entire catalogs of galaxies, nebulae, star clusters, double stars, and variable stars, as well as all eight of the major planets from Mercury to Pluto ? and, at the push of a button, having the telescope automatically move to the object and center it in the telescopic field to a precision of one arc-minute.

Meade LX200GPS models perform such feats of pointing precision time after time, on object after object, enabling the user to observe or photograph extremely faint galaxies, for example, at the very limit of the telescope's capability, knowing that the object is precisely located at the telescope's field center. Dozens of telescope functions ?from changing slew speeds to automatic "GO TO" ? can be actuated from the Autostar II hand-held computer-controller.

Use the 4-speed Zero Image-Shift Microfocuser, included as standard equipment with LX200GPS models, to focus the lunar, planetary, or deep-space image precisely, to a microscopic level, a level that enables the resolution of extremely fine detail often previously invisible.

 

7" LX200GPS Maksutov-Cassegrain

A Formidable Astronomical Tool

The Meade 7" LX200GPS Maksutov-Cassegrain exploits fully the extraordinary imaging characteristics of the Maksutov design.

Housed in a compact optical tube assembly, the Meade 7" Maksutov optical system rivals the optical performance of even a fine ED apochromatic refractor, and, mounted aboard the awesome electromechanical capabilities of the Meade LX200GPS fork mounting, the telescope is a formidable astronomical tool.

Field De-Rotator

With the optional Meade #1220 Field De-rotator, field rotation during long-exposure photographic imaging with Meade LX200GPS models, in altazimuth mode, can be fully and precisely compensated for, without recourse to an equatorial wedge.

Telescopes

Accessories

LX90 Model

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