ED100 Refractor on SkyView Pro Mount

This telescope and the ED80 (The little brother to the ED100) are, in my opinion, the absolute best telescopes you can buy for the price and a lot more.

When you invest in a telescope, two things are very important: optical quality and stability of the mount. This package has both. The optics of this telescope are excellent. The ED100 is really a world-class instrument.

A telescope, no matter how good optically, is useless on a wobbly mount. I see so many telescopes bought by people who just want to see if they will like astronomy but they buy such cheap junk their experience is horrible. If you can't focus the telescope or if your view is bouncing around, what's the point? It's like saying, I want to try golf so I'll set of plastic clubs and give it a try. You can't enjoy astronomy with junk telescopes. There are 1000's of cheapo telescopes in closets all over the country. People want to give them to me all the time. I don't want them---even for free. A cheapo telescope only frustrates the user.

The optics and the mount are of excellent quality. The mount can handle a much larger telescope should you decide to buy a bigger one later. The ED80 optics do not induce the false color that cheap refractors induce. You won't see a purple haze around the moon. If you decide to take photographs during the day, your pictures won't have the the purple outline you see in other telescopes.

The Intelliscope computer is really great. After aligning to a couple of stars so the scope knows where it is, all you do is "tell" it what you want to see and it "tells" you where to point the telescope. It's easy and a lot quicker than "goto".

I'll help you get started too. Once you know a little about where things are "up there", you'll have a great time seeing balls of 100,000 stars, distant galaxies and details on the moon you've only seen in pictures. You'll see the rings of Saturn and the moons of Jupiter. You'll see activity on the sun most people don't even know about.

So what if you decide that you don't like astronomy? This telescope, unlike most sold to beginners, is ideal for day time use! You can see details on birds a mile away.

You're saving money, getting a world-class telescope and the support to get you started.

Yes, money is tight. But here's something that will give you and your family years of enjoyment. Telescopes, treated properly, don't wear out. This is something the kids and grand kids will talk about for years. "Remember the time we saw that meteor go right past Saturn?" We all know that science education is lacking. Here's a chance to introduce your family to the oldest science---astronomy.

Orion's Desciption:

SkyView Pro 100ED with IntelliScope Upgrade Kit

Delivers images remarkably free of chromatic abberation

The Orion SkyView Pro 100mm ED apochromatic refractor is a complete equatorial observing package featuring the ED100 apochromatic refractor optical tube assembly paired with the venerable SkyView Pro equatorial mount/tripod — at an unprecedented low price.

The "ED80" delivers images remarkably free of chromatic aberration, thanks to its fully multi-coated 80mm objective doublet. It's crafted with one element of FPL-53 extra-low dispersion "ED" optical glass from Japan. (f/8.3) excels at visual planetary and lunar study and imaging work as well.

The included IntelliScope Computerized Object Locator provides computer-aided manual slewing.

Bright ED optics, a rock-solid mount and IntelliScope functionality. This scope packs a lot of performance for the price!

I highly recommend these accessories: Single Axis Drive Kit (Telescope will track automatically) $79.95 Rigel Quick Finder $40