Catadioptric telescopes
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Meade ETX125 PE telescope + AutoStarCurrent status: In stock
(1 review)
- Locate the stars automatically!
- Electronic level sensor
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Meade ETX90 PE telescope + AutoStar
Current status: In stock
- Comes with an Autostar database of 30,000 objects
- Includes 26mm eyepiece
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Celestron NexStar 6SE
Current status: In stock
- Impressive Schmidt-Cassegrain design with many intelligent features
- Legendary Celestron orange colour
- Full GoTo with nearly 40,000 pre-programmed objects
- Easy to use and set up
- High-quality aluminium construction
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Celestron NexStar 8SE
Current status: In stock
- The top model of the NexStar SE series; a Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope of very high quality
- Successor to the legendary Celestron C8 orange telescope
- Works on batteries
- Full GoTo functionality with nearly 40.000 pre-programmed objects
- Easy to use and set up
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Celestron NexStar 127 SLT
Current status: In stock
- Very suitable for deep-sky astronomy due its high light collection capacity
- The included erecting eyepiece enables you to do terrestrial observations
- Supplied with software featuring information on stars and astronomy
- GoTo with 4000 pre-programmed objects
- Also suitable for astrophotography
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Celestron Omni XLT 127
Current status: In stock
- Very user-friendly telescope with excellent optics
- Schmidt-Cassegrain design
- Easy and quick to set up
- Includes stand with stainless steel legs
- Comes with software
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Meade LightSwitch ETX-LS 6" ACF
Current status: In stock
(1 review)
- An all-in telescope with an abundance of features, an absolute first here
- Built-in GPS sensor, enabling the telescope to find all the objects by itself
- Built-in CCD camera: take pictures of the objects you see
- AutoStar module with 100,000 objects allowing you to automatically navigate to almost all objects in the universe
- Very stable tripod for flicker-free images
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Celestron Nexstar 5SE
Current status: In stock
- Striking telescope that is great for deep-sky observations
- High-quality aluminium construction
- Full GoTo with nearly 40,000 pre-programmed objects
- Easy to use and set up
- Computerised controlled altazimuth stand with tracking motor
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Meade DS 2090
Current status: In stock
- Get to know more objects than Galileo and simply take a tour of the universe!
- Full Go-To Telescope
- Includes AutoStar Module with up to 1,500 items
- Includes two motors to easily find objects
- Two eyepieces included
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Meade DS 2102
Current status: In stock
- Get to know more objects than Galileo and simply take a tour of the universe!
- Bigger brother of the DS 2090 with 102mm mirror
- Full Go-To functionality enabling you to find and follow objects automatically
- Includes database with over 1500 items
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Catadioptric telescope
A catadioptric telescope (or a Schmidt-Cassegrain, Maksutov-Cassegrain, compound or refracting/reflecting) is ideal in that it combines many of the best properties of the refractor telescope and the reflector telescope.
Catadioptric telescopes are lightweight
They perform like the big telescopes and have long focal lengths. You take them with you in a lightweight and easily transportable package. This, of course, is very handy when taking the telescope with you to areas where you are not hindered by city light (light pollution).
Optical design of Catadioptric telescopes
The optical design of catadioptric telescopes prevents coma (which reflectors suffer from) and chromatic aberration (which refractors suffer from). When using a catadioptric telescope stars will appear crisp and coma-free in your field of view and no coloured halos masking vague details and colours will develop around stars and planets. Some curvature of the field of view will be visible in catadioptric systems (especially in fast focal ratio models). Photographs often show more on the edges of large fields of view than actual observations do.
Easy and quick to set up
Many catadioptric telescopes are supplied with a Go-To mount. A Go-To mount combined with a slightly heavier tripod ensures that the small optical tube assembly of the telescope is stable on both sides, considerably reducing image movement. The power source driven tuning system makes sure that the objects that you want to observe remain in your field of view. There is no need to adjust manually. All you need to do is enter the coordinates. The catadioptric slow motion controls, often not available for reflectors, makes the telescope's positioning easier. In addition, storing and setting up the catadioptric telescope is easy and quick, also because the tripod is very light.
Disadvantages of a Catadioptric telescope
What are the disadvantages of a catadioptric telescope? Firstly: its cost. An 8 inch Schmidt-Cassegrain costs 50% to 300% more than an 8 inch reflector (but roughly the same as a refractor). Secondly, Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes have a low contrast range on the moon and the planets compared to refractors or most 6 inch or 8 inch reflectors. This is because the larger secondary mirror scatters light, resulting in light loss. The catadioptric telescope is not exactly good at cleanly splitting close binary stars either. And yet a Schmidt-Cassegrain will usually perform better than a reflector of the same aperture. A Maksutov-Cassegrain will generally offer a better contrast than a Schmidt-Cassegrain. Even though their big apertures facilitate detailed deep space observing, catadioptric telescopes generally do not yield the same bright images as other telescopes of the same or similar aperture and power do.
All-round telescope
Are you looking for a portable, affordable telescope that can do just about anything? Then there is no better investment than a good all-round catadioptric telescope.
Various catadioptric telescopes compared to each other
(Used under very good viewing conditions without light pollution, from Astronomy Magazine)
5 = fantastic; 4 = very good; 3 = good; 2 = sufficient; 1 = bad
Small aperture (3.5” to 5”) Schmidt- and Maksutov-Cassegrain
Portability: 5
Ease of setting up: 4
Ease of use: 3+
Lunar observations: 5
Comets: 2
Binary stars: 3
Galaxies and nebulas: 2
Planets: 3
Average aperture (6” to 8”) Schmidt- and Maksutov-Cassegrain
Portability: 4
Ease of setting up: 4
Ease of use: 4+
Lunar observations: 5
Comets: 3
Binary stars: 4
Galaxies and nebulas: 3
Planets: 3
Large aperture (9” to 16”) Schmidt- and Maksutov-Cassegrain
Portability: 1+
Ease of setting up: 2
Ease of use: 3
Lunar observations: 4
Comets: 4
Binary stars: 4
Galaxies and nebulas: 4
Planets: 4