Skywatcher Maksutov 90/1250 mm spotting scope - Black Line

Skywatcher SkyMax Maksutov-Cassegrain Telescope MC 90/1250 mm - optical tube

This telescope is an optimal travel telescope and convinces with a particularly versatile use. With a tube weight of only 1.4 kg, the Maksutov fits on any photo tripod and can thus also be used as a spotting scope for nature observation or as a telephoto lens for photography. With our dovetail bar PSFOTODEL you can also mount this compact reflector telescope on astronomical mounts and have a nice telescope for beginners and of course for mobile use.

Astrophotographic results obtained with this telescope on Astrobin

Here you can find some astrophotographs made with this telescope model: Link to Astrobin

The areas of application of the SkyMax 90T OTA:

Astronomy:
The compact 90 mm Maksutov offers you a high-contrast image with high sharpness. Fine details on the Moon, the Great Red Spot on Jupiter, or the rings of Saturn are easily visible. The Skymax 90T is a true planetary telescope. The 90 mm aperture also reveals many hundreds of double stars, gas nebulae and even distant galaxies. Mount the telescope on a photo tripod or on a mount, which we offer in our accessories section for you and start into the astronomy adventure.

Scope for Nature Observation:
The high-contrast image of the Maksutov is also convincing during the day. Get up close to distant objects like a sailing ship on the horizon or a distant animal and be amazed by the details you will see. The SkyMax image is upright when you observe with the star diagonal. We even offer an Amici prism, so the image will even be laterally correct, just like through binoculars.

Landscape, wildlife and general photography:
The MC90/1250 is also a powerful mirror telephoto lens with internal focusing. The extreme focal length of 1250 mm brings very distant objects close. You can easily attach your DSLR camera to the telescope via the T2 photo thread. You only need the matching T2 ring, which we offer of course. The big advantage of this telephoto lens over others is its lightweight design. With only 1.4 kg, the instrument is still carried by light photo tripods - ideal for traveling.

Astrophotography:
The Skymax 90T allows you to get started in astrophotography. Photograph the moon slowly rising above the horizon or image the moon´s cratered landscape. Photograph the familiar Galilean moons of Jupiter or try your hand at an object beyond the solar system. To do this, you will need an astronomical mount with tracking, which we are happy to provide.

Multifunction adapter for easy mounting on photo tripods or mounts:

The Skymax 90T OTA has an attachment plate with a 1/4" female thread attached to the base. You can use it to attach the telescope directly to ball heads and tilt heads. The PSFOTODEL Dovetail bar from TS-Optics can be used to adapt the telescope to astronomical mounts with quick coupling.

Practical info from Teleskop-Service, the Maksutov-Cassegrain system:

A Maksutov-Cassegrain offers imaging quality very close to that of a classical refractor in a very short design. The imaging is significantly better than that of fast achromatic refractors of the same aperture, because a Maksutov-Cassegrain has no disturbing chromatic aberration.
So the Maksutov-Cassegrain is an interesting alternative for amateur astronomers and observers who value a sharp and contrasty image and also need a short and compact telescope.

A Maksutov a very good instrument for viewing the moon and planets. It will also perform well with a long focal length eyepiece when observing star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies but it is not a large field telescope. Very extended objects, such as the Pleiades, will no longer be shown in their full extent.

How a Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope works:
Light passes through the front meniscus lens onto the spherical primary mirror. The errors of the spherical mirror are corrected by the front meniscus lens. This produces a well-corrected image on axis and also in the field. Another advantage is that the lens closes the tube to the front, creating a closed system. Sensitivity to temperature variations is reduced.

The secondary mirror throws the image towards the eyepiece at the back of the tube. The secondary mirror additionally causes an extension of the focal length, similar to a converter in photography.

A special advantage, the adjustment of sharpness by internal focusing:
Focus adjustment is achieved by moving the primary mirror through a micrometer fine adjustment. This type of adjustment has considerable advantages, one saves an eyepiece focuser that can give way and one achieves a much larger focusing range. Almost every conceivable accessory can be connected to the Maksutov.

The biggest disadvantage of the primary mirror focusing is mirror shifting, the disturbing wandering of the image when focusing, especially in photography. This problem, caused by the tilting of the mirror, practically does not occur with the Skymax-90!

Astrophotographic results obtained with this telescope on Astrobin

Here you can find some astrophotographs made with this telescope model: Link to Astrobin