More Information  · Supplied Accessories

The Sky-Watcher GreatStart 80AR-EQ2 is a 80mm equatorial refractor with a light-gathering capacity 131 times greater than the best dark-adapted eye. Combine that light grasp with its two premium eyepieces (25mm and 12mm Super Plössls) and 2x Barlow lens, and you have the ability to see celestial sights that are simply invisible to the unaided eye. And it does it at a very down-to-earth price.

The construction of the optical system is first rate, with all-glass optical components and high transmission lens coatings for enhanced image brightness and clarity. This 80mm Sky-Watcher can show you binary stars and star clusters, as well as the brighter nebulas and galaxies outside the solar system, and reveal myriad details on the Moon and planets. It has a solid and stable EQ2 equatorial mount with manual slow motion controls in both axes so you can manually track solar system and deep space objects across the sky. At only 12 lbs., it’s light enough for a youngster to take out and set up on their own, but it’s optically good enough to keep an observer happy for years.

This Telescope’s Optical System . . .

• Refractor optical tube: 80mm (3.15”) aperture 900mm focal length f/11.2 focal ratio refractor. Crown and flint glass achromatic doublet optics, with antireflection optical coatings on all air-to-glass surfaces for high light transmission and bright, contrasty images. There are no plastic optical components. Some minor chromatic aberration (a faint halo of violet light around the Moon and planets) will be visible, as is the case with all achromatic refractors, but it is well controlled and unobjectionable for the vast majority of observers.

• Rack and pinion focuser: The 1.25” focuser has dual focusing knobs for precise image control with either hand. The large focus knobs are easy to operate, even while wearing gloves or mittens in cold weather. Hinged split tube rings let you rotate the optical tube in its mount to bring the focuser to the most comfortable observing position.

• Two Super Plössl eyepieces: You get a medium high power 1.25” 12mm (75x) eyepiece and a lower power 1.25” 25mm (36x) eyepiece that has a 1.44° field of view (over three times the diameter of the full Moon). Both fully multicoated eyepieces are premium 4-element Super Plössl eyepieces, the same eyepieces often supplied as standard equipment on telescopes costing thousands of dollars. Sky-Watcher regularly sells the eyepieces for $47 each on their website ($94 total), and you get two of them in this $155 scope!

• 2x Barlow: Also standard is a 1.25” 2x Barlow lens that doubles the magnification of the supplied Super Plössl eyepieces. The Barlow also doubles the power of any other 1.25” eyepiece you might want to add to your GreatStart refractor. Sky-Watcher regularly sells this Barlow on their website for $27. If you bought the two eyepieces and the Barlow directly from Sky-Watcher, you’d pay $121 for them by themselves, almost the $155 sale price of the complete scope, including eyepieces and Barlow!

• Star diagonal: A 1.25” first surface mirror 90° star diagonal is standard equipment. This allows you to look at objects overhead in the sky in comfort, without having to contort your body to see through the eyepiece.

• Finderscope: A non-magnifying red dot finder mounts beside the focuser. The battery-operated red dot finder seems to project a dot of red light on the sky exactly where your telescope is pointed. The red dot helps you center celestial objects in the telescope so you don’t have to search for them using the narrow eyepiece field of view. Collimating knobs on the finder let you line up its red dot precisely with the main telescope optics to make centering distant objects easy and painless.

• Supplied software: The GreatStart includes a comprehensive “Planetarium Software for the PC” CD-ROM, a computerized sky map for your PC that lets you explore the heavens on your computer.

This Telescope’s Mount . . .

• Equatorial mount: The sturdy all-metal EQ2 equatorial mount is designed for astronomical observing. By aligning the mount on the north celestial pole, you only need to turn one slow motion control knob to follow planets and stars as they travel across the sky. A counterweight on the opposite side of the mount from the telescope balances the weight of the optical tube and makes it easy to move the scope effortlessly from one part of the sky to another. No tools are required to adjust the position of the counterweight to quickly and precisely balance the optical tube. A micrometer control lets you adjust the altitude of the scope mount for fast alignment on the north celestial pole with no tools required.

• Manual slow motion controls: There are two slow motion control knobs with flexible steel cables conveniently positioned on the mount so they are easy to reach while observing. One controls the scope’s motion in right ascension (the east/west direction in the sky). Turning this knob enables you to follow the motion of celestial objects as they travel from east to west across the heavens. The second controls the scope’s motion in declination (the north/south direction in the sky). Turning this knob lets you correct for any north/south drift a celestial object may take as it moves across the sky, due to an improper alignment of the scope on the north celestial pole when you first set it up. The two controls combine to give you complete access to any part of the sky. They give you the ability to star hop from a known object to any other object by using a star chart. They let you center objects in the field of view, and track them effortlessly with only an occasional quick turn of the r. a. knob.

• Tripod: The stable tripod has aluminum legs that easily adjust in length to put the eyepiece at the most comfortable height for virtually any observer, young or old. The tripod includes an accessory shelf to hold your eyepieces. A lip on the shelf keeps accessories from falling off during use.

Free shipping, two quality Super Plössl eyepieces, a Barlow lens to double your eyepiece powers, a planetarium program software CD-ROM for your computer, an illuminated red dot finder – all of these goodies make this very complete Sky-Watcher 80mm equatorial mount refractor a great buy for the backyard astronomer.