Astronomy

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12-inch components is reason-
able, and they easily fit into my
Camry’s back seat or trunk.
The next surprise was the
collimation tool for the mirror.
Collimation (the alignment of a
telescope’s optics) is usually
tedious or takes two people.
Explore Scientific has designed
a system so the user can
employ the collimation tool, a
rod that lets you collimate the
scope from the focuser. Usually
you are back and forth to the
rear of the telescope, or telling
someone, “No, the other screw;
tighten not loosen.” What a
great innovation!
The focuser is a 2" two-
speed (10-to-1 reduction)
model. The finder included is a
red dot finder. I prefer an opti-
cal finder scope on my Dobs,
but the red dot finder is ade-
quate and reduces the second-
ary mirror cage’s weight. Yet if
that weight becomes an issue,
or you want to use one of these
heavy wide-angle eyepieces,
Explore has included threaded
counterweights. This was
another unexpected surprise.
You should know that no
eyepieces are included; most
purchasers of scopes this large
will already have at least one
eyepiece. However, if this is
your first telescope, make cer-
tain you order an eyepiece or
two with it. I would suggest a
wide-field 25mm as a starter.
You might also want an 18mm
for a little higher magnifica-
tion, or a longer focal length
eyepiece for a wider field of
view and lower power.

Taking it for a spin

Under the night sky, the tele-

scope performed well. It was

easy to move around to its final

observing spot. Once at the

eyepiece, I also found it easy

to adjust the tube’s position

while observing. The focuser

works well. I always appreciate

the 10-to-1 reduction. It allows

for getting the focus just right,

especially at higher magnifica-

tions. And the focuser held my

fairly heavy wide-angle eye-

piece with no slippage.

There are several general

observational tests I do on all

telescopes. Even though I was

expecting no color issues, I like

to test telescopes on the Full

Moon. I detected no color

issues, but our satellite was

overwhelmingly bright, so I

had to use a filter. The Explore

Dob also performed nicely on

the waning crescent Moon,

providing a crisp image.

On a good night, a contrast

between two telescopes can be

established. My yardstick is a

tough one here; I compare

Dobsonians to my personal

18-inch f/6 Dob, a high-quality

one that used to belong to a

close friend. The Explore Dob

views were excellent; I pushed

the telescope to 90x with a

17mm eyepiece and then to

127x with a 12mm with no

problems and a great image. I

did try a 2x Barlow lens, but

found my local sky conditions

were not good enough to give a

fair test. I noted that the image

of Jupiter was OK, but not as

good as at 127x.

Deep-sky objects were excel-

lent, from the brighter ones like

the Orion Nebula (M42) to

some of the season’s dimmer

and more elusive targets. I also

spent some time looking at

double stars. One of my favor-

ites this time of year is Albireo

(Beta [β] Cygni) because it’s

easy to see and colorful.

Conclusions

All in all, I was pleased with the

telescope’s performance. I did

not note any visual issues like

coma, astigmatism, or other

distortions.

Many of us Apollo program-

era kids considered ourselves

fortunate if we had an opportu-

nity to look through someone’s

12.5-inch ref lector. And you

were quite advanced if you

owned an 8-inch Newtonian

ref lector. Today, if you catch

aperture fever and want to see

many of those subtle deep-sky

object colors, faint wisps, and

nebulosity, or if you want

Jupiter to appear like you’ve

never seen it in smaller scopes,

a Dobsonian just might be for

you. And Explore Scientific’s

new trio of Dobsonian truss

tube telescopes gives you a

selection with excellent optical

performance and great

mechanical quality at good

prices, with convenience of

setup and use — just know

that even the largest of these

will eventually leave you want-

ing something bigger. In the

meantime, explore as much of

the night sky as you can with

one of Explore Scientific’s fine

new telescopes.

PRODUCT INFORMATION

Explore Scientific 12-inch

Truss Tube Dobsonian

Type: Newtonian reflector

Aperture: 12 inches

Secondary mirror

obstruction: 24 percent

Focal length: 1,525mm

Focal ratio: f/5

Weight: 66.2 pounds (30 kg)

Price: $1,199.99

Contact:

Explore Scientific

1010 S. 48th St.

Springdale, AR 72762

866.252.3811

http://www.explorescientificusa.

com

The secondary

cage and focuser

fit inside the Dob’s

rocker box for storage

and transportation.

The Dob’s focuser

accommodates 2"

eyepieces and offers

two focusing speeds.

Mike Reynolds is a contributing

editor of Astronomy who observes

through a variety of scopes from

his home in Jacksonville, Florida.