More light makes discerning details easier:This powerful scope is a solid base for the successful observation of objects beyond the solar system. 150 mm aperture collects more than twice the light of telescopes with 100 mm aperture. Hence you can see twice as much light.
The strength of the Megastar 1550 lies beyond the solar system:The Megastar 1550 is designed for a successful observation of faint celestial objects. Along with this, the scope is very compact. This compactness is achieved by an additional lens in the optical path. The advantage is the compact layout, which helps also for the mechanical stability. For the moon or planets this lens adds some aberrations and reduces the use of the telescope slightly in contrast with a layout without this additional lens. Hence the Megastar is an instrument for stargazers who want a powerful instrument for nebulae, clusters and galaxies without having to spend about twice the price for a conventional Newtonian of the same aperture.
Observing with the Megastar 1550:Albeit the Megastar 1550 is more suitable for nebulae, star clusters and galaxies, it shows also some detail in our solar system. The performance can be compared with the popular 114 mm Newtonian of 900m m focal length.
The pictures to the left visualize approximately what you can expect. However, the colours are only visible in photographs, as the human eye is too insensitive to see colours of that saturation at night.
The moon:Due to the large aperture of 150 mm, the brightness of the lunar surface is impressive. You may prefer to use a lunar filter to dampen it down a bit. You can see how the lunar surface is full of craters, mountains and cracks.
The planets:The ring of Saturn, atmospheric structures on Jupiter, the phases of Venus and much more are visible.
Star clusters of our Milky Way:Hundreds of stars glitter in the field of view – the large aperture helps resolving even dim clusters into single stars.
Nebulae and galaxies:Here aperture is the most important factor. Look inside of the Great Orion Nebula and see first structures.
Can I see colours?Normally colours are just visible by photography, but due to the large aperture you may get a first idea about how colourful the space is. Look at Albireo in Cygnus to resolve this double star at medium power range. The brighter component shines in a warmly-yellow colour in contrast to the cold blue of the fainter component.
Photography:The Megastar 1550 is already prepared for the first steps in astrophotography. With the camera specific T2 ring or the Digiclamp 1 (see recommended accessiories) you can connect your camera to the scope. The moon and planets may be imaged that way.
EQ3-1 - a solid mount is the base:The parallactic mount EQ3-1 is a useful base for the telescope. The mount holds the scope with a good stability.
The mount offers advanced features as:
♦ polar height fine adjustment - assures a higher accuracy
♦ mount separable from tripod, easier transport
♦ well dimensioned field tripod
♦ manual slow motion via flexible knobs
♦ possibility to upgrade to motor drive
(see “recommended accessories”)
The 1.25" Focuser:This component is particular important for a telescope. It accepts the various eyepieces needed for different magnification, and allows fine focusing. The Megastar 1550 has a 1.25” focuser which is common standard, hence the telescope is compatible to many accessiories which will come in handy in the future.
The large accessory kit included:Only with the correct accessories a telescope can be utilized to its full potential. The Megastar 1550 convices by the large set of accessories included:
♦ 1,25" Plössl eyepiece of 25 mm focal length for 56x (Overview and large objects)
♦ 1,25" Plössl eyepiece of 6,5 mm focal length for 215x (maximum power)
♦ 2x Barlow lens to double magnification
♦ 1,5x erecting lens for terrestrial views (puts the image upright)
♦ 6x30 optical finder
♦ Lunar filter to dampen the lunar surface brighness which may be dazzling at low power
English manual:
Teleskop-Service has a manual available in English, you can download the PDF file
here.
