Meade 12″ ACF LX200 Telescope Online

Meade 12″ ACF LX200 Telescope

The most widely used research telescope on earth now comes with the most advanced optical system. Meade’s LX200-ACF brings Advanced Coma-Free (ACF) optics within reach of aspiring astronomers everywhere. Nearly every observatory reflector in the world uses an aplanatic (coma-free) optical system like the Ritchey Chretien (RC), including NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. Now you can own similar optics to what the professionals use. The Meade LX200-ACF telescope includes all the field-proven features of the LX200 including GPS, Primary Mirror Lock, Oversized Primary Mirror, SmartDrive; Smart Mount, AutoStar II and more. The new Meade LX200-ACF. It’s the biggest news in astronomy since, well, the LX200.

A traditional RC design is a type of reflector that delivers a coma-free, flat field of view via hyperbolic primary and secondary mirrors. RC telescopes (from a variety of manufacturers) are found in most of the world’s top observatories and NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. Because the mirrors in these telescopes have always been very expensive to make, few amateur astronomers could enjoy them. Fortunately, Meade engineers developed a radical new Advanced Coma Free design by combining a hyperbolic secondary mirror with a corrector-lens-and-spherical-primary-mirror combination that performs as one hyperbolic element. This ACF design produces a coma-free, flat field of view that rivals traditional RC telescopes at a fraction of the cost. The design even eliminates diffraction spikes and improves astigmatism, both of which are inherent in the traditional RC design.

• f/10 Advanced Coma-Free Optics: Building from a classic RC design, Meade has created a new design with the same coma-free pinpoint star images and flatter field that discerning astrophotographers and most professional observatories have come to expect from classic Ritchey Chretien optics. Meade’s Advanced Coma-Free system also reduces astigmatism and eliminates diffraction spikes found in classical RCs. The LX200-ACF is the perfect platform for the demanding researcher and imaging enthusiast.
• Meade Ultra-High Transmission Coatings (UHTC) increases total light transmission and image brightness by nearly 20% over Meade’s standard coatings. Objects such as stars, galaxies, and nebulae will appear significantly brighter.
• Primary Mirror Lock locks the mirror in place during long-exposure astrophotography.
• Oversize Primary Mirror diameters are greater than their listed aperture (e.g., the diameter of the 8″ LX200-ACF is actually 8.25″). This additional 1/4″ yields a wide, fully illuminated field-of-view.
• Smart Mount constantly refines pointing accuracy each time an object is centered and updated. Compatible with both equatorial and altazimuth mounts.
• Coma Killer – What is coma? It’s not some sort of astronomical state of unconsciousness. It’s an optical aberration. Precisely defined, coma is a distortion in which the image of a star cannot be focused to a point, but takes on the shape of a comet.
• Smart Drive provides permanent periodic error correction (PPEC) on both axes by learning and averaging error over the course of one or more training periods, thereby minimizing guiding corrections during long-exposure photographs. PPEC is available on both axes and functions in both polar and altazimuth modes.
• Sony GPS Receiver Sensor automatically inputs precise time, date, and geographical location to help quickly and precisely align the telescope.
• AutoAlign – Telescopes with Meade’s AutoAlign come pre-aligned. They are smart scopes that know the night sky right out of the box. AutoAlign picks two fail-proof alignment stars for you and places them right in your view-finder. Just center to fine tune your alignment and the wonders of the universe are at your fingertips.
• AutoStar II controller features “Hot Keys” for quick access to a 145,000 celestial object database. AutoStar II can be updated with the latest software upgrades, guided tours and timely objects like comets.

Why choose the Meade LX200-ACF? Because coma isn’t some sort of astronomical state of unconsciousness. It’s an optical aberration. Precisely defined, coma is a distortion in which the image of a star cannot be focused to a point, but takes on the shape of a comet. Worst yet, the majority of telescope optical systems, including the popular Schmidt-Cassegrain, have it to one degree or another. Once, you would have had to spend tens of thousands of dollars for an aplanatic optical system (a fancy term for coma-free). Now that Meade has made this Advanced Coma-Free optical system, this level of performance is affordable to the amateur.

The Meade LX200-ACF telescope brings Advanced Coma Free optics within reach of aspiring astronomers everywhere. The Meade LX200-ACF combines a revolutionary new optical system with the field-proven mechanical features of the original Meade LX200 – the most widely used research-grade telescope in astronomy today.

• Aperture: 305mm (12″)
• Focal Ratio: f/10
• Focal Length: 3048mm
• Meade ACF, or Advanced Coma-Free, optics offer a flatter field and pinpoint stars out to the edges of the field of view.

• Meade 12″ f/10 LX200-ACF Telescope
• Variable Height Giant Field Tripod
• Autostar II Control System
• 8x50mm Viewfinder
• Series 4000 Super Plossl 26mm Eyepiece
• Eyepiece Holder and Diagonal Prism (1.25″)
• Instruction Manual
• Autostar Suite Astronomer’s Edition Software