Wishing all of our customers a Prosperous Dragon Year and happy every day! Clear skies always.

Maksutov-cassegrain is a so-called “APO killer” telescope for viewing binary stars and solar system objects! Its sharpness and high magnification reveal crisp images for planet hunters. ORION StarMax 127 EQ Maksutov is a complete telescope with medium equatorial mount. With the sturdy support of AstroView equatorial mount, exploring the mares and craters of the Lunar and outer planets will be easily handled.

In day, observing with Maksutov is also rewarding. 127mm (5″) Maksutov is with a dovetail bar mounted. Universal threading enables the user to swap the camera tripod over equatorial mount. Therefore, we include “ORION SteadyPix Deluxe Camera Mount” for photography (with any compact digital cameras). It’s free with a soft carrying case for storage and moving around.

The special offer for 2012 Chinese New Year is valid for ONE (1) unit only, by 2012 Jan 19, 12.00 noon. If delivery is needed, please secure your order with us soon. And our showroom will be closed for CNY holiday from 20 Jan 2012. Should there be any queries, please enquire with us or order at Online Store. When it’s sold, we’ll keep the status updated in the Facebook.

One of the issues when purchasing a telescope for the first time buyer, is refractor (lens) or reflector (mirror)? Refractor or lens type telescope is easier to get better impression or perception as an optical equipment for sky watching. We believe it’s mostly due to the size and “tele-looking” whereas mirror telescope would for some models, look bulky and has no “handsome” look to be a telescope. I do not know the reasons…it’s just an impression to public. Not only by the outlook, the first time user will think getting a “upright” imaging telescope is better than a “upside-down” one by reflector.

And what’s the fact about? There is always a pro and con, for any decisions or any things. Very difficult to make decision? This is not only happening on buying a telescope but many others. Think of what suits the most to your needs and objectives. This would narrow down a wide selection and finalize the models you could understand better.

We always talk about the aperture of telescope and it’s one of the important criteria. However, for equator users, we’ll need to cope the issues with our environment and climate. A decent one will work best for the activities or up to the expectation but may not be necessary the complicated or large set ups. Optical equipment should be easy to understand if you could spend hours at a remote and dark area (better away from polluted city). Then try to understand about the sky objects and their compositions and brightness. We will understand what the equipment we need to use.

There are lot of resources available online to assist you about the technical issues, particularly to the beginners who has no experience before. One more to highlight is a telescope will consist of optical tube and mounting. Think about your usage and demand for optical performance first follow by a mounting. For example, a dobsonian reflector does come with a mounting but merely a wooden base which works similarly to alt-azimuth mount.

Hope the above is of little use to our new friends in stargazing. The following video clips are just the examples of optical collimation to a newtonian reflector and the assemblies of a dobsonian.

This is an entry level refractor (lens type telescope) with alt-azimuth mount. Please feel free to watch the short video as below to understand more about “how-to”.

Facts about Planet Jupiter

>> Diameter: 137,260 km, the largest planet – more than 12 Earths could line up across it
>> Temperature: Range -163° C to >-121° C
>> Distance from Sun: Approximately 745 million kilometres
>> Atmosphere: Mostly hydrogen and helium
>> Surface: A giant ball of mostly hydrogen and helium
>> Rotation of its axis: 9 hours, 55 minutes in Earth time (the length of one rotation)
>> Rotation around the Sun: 12 Earth years
>> Magnetic Field: Yes
>> Number of Moons: 63 moons have been identified; Ganymede is the largest moon – it is bigger than both Mercury and Pluto

Status of visibility: It shines bright and high overhead us after sunset. It’s visible in our nightsky until end of March 2012.