Bresser MC-100/1400 EQ3 Maksutov Telescope

This compact telescope with high image contrast and equatorial EQ-3 mount leaves nothing to be desired for beginners and star wanderers on the move.

Complete set of beginner's telescope, tripod, mount & accessories
Compact dimensions, also suitable for the balcony
Telescope aperture: 100 mm / focal length: 1400 mm
Very good for Sun, Moon & planets even from the city!
Many accessories for immediate start included
Astrophotos with smartphone possible
Fine adjustment with flexible shafts in 2 axes
With secure aperture sun filter

Take your first steps into the wonderful world of astronomy – with this complete set consisting of an astronomical Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope with 100 mm aperture and 1400 mm focal length, equatorial EQ-3 mount, tripod and extensive accessories. The special feature of this beginner’s telescope: Due to the high contrast, you can start your journey to the stars wherever you like – even in the middle of a brightly lit city. And yet the extremely compact telescope takes up very little space on balconies, terraces and the like. The system is easy to handle and therefore perfect for beginners. The optics show especially the Moon and planets at their best. Ideal for all travel-loving amateur astronomers: due to its compact design, the telescope is also perfectly suitable as a travel telescope.

Compact high-quality optics for beginners – the telescope
Powerful optics with a long focal length in a very compact design for easy transport – that is what Maksutov-Cassegrain telescopes offer. The design principle: The optics combine mirrors and lenses with very good imaging properties.
With the 100 mm aperture, the BRESSER Messier MC-100/1400 already collects a lot of light and offers a good resolution. Due to the extremely large focal ratio of 1 to 14 (F/14), which results from the 100 mm aperture and the 1400 mm focal length, you enjoy a very sharp image with excellent contrast. This means that the telescope is an absolute specialist when it comes to exploring the Moon, Sun and planets. But you can also look forward to observing many deep-sky objects through your telescope for beginners. Admire open star clusters, globular clusters and so-called planetary nebulae such as the impressive Dumbbell Nebula M27. Really sharp images with up to 200x magnification – no problem thanks to the resolution of the 100 mm aperture! From a purely technical point of view, even more is possible in terms of magnification. However, increasing magnification often results in a loss of image sharpness. Moreover, the telescope is not the only factor when it comes to the question of how high you can magnify. The air turbulence in the atmosphere (seeing conditions) also plays an important role.

Good foundation for your space exploration – mount and tripod
While you enjoy the view of the sky, your Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope is perfectly mounted on the height-adjustable aluminium tripod with equatorial EQ-3 mount. The equatorial design has a decisive advantage: Unlike azimuthal models, you have to compensate for the movement of the celestial bodies on just one axis. To do this, you align this particular axis of the equatorial mount parallel to the Earth's axis by pointing it approximately at the polar star – also known as "alignment". Thanks to the two flexible shafts with fine adjustment, tracking and adjusting the telescope is extremely comfortable and precise. The storage plate between the tripod legs keeps your astronomy accessories ready for any exciting discovery.

Keep track of things automatically: For this telescope’s equatorial EQ-3 mount, the tracking motor with item number 4951400 is available as an optional accessory. This eliminates the need to manually track a celestial object set in the telescope. When this motor is installed at the mount, it automatically tracks the celestial object, keeping it in the field of view of the eyepiece. This makes observing the night sky even more comfortable!

Complete equipment for your start in astronomy – the accessories
Unpack and get started straight away – with the extensive accessories, you can immediately set off on your own exploration trip through our solar system. The LED viewfinder allows you to find celestial objects easily and align the beginner's telescope precisely. For this purpose, the viewfinder is mounted parallel to the actual telescope. And this is how it works: Inside, a red dot is projected onto a small ground-glass screen. When you then look through the LED viewfinder, this dot appears to be floating in front of the sky – exactly where your telescope is pointing.

The eyepiece included in the astronomy set is impressive as well. The 26 mm Plössl eyepiece offers a 54x magnification and very good imaging properties. Simple upgrade: Because the tube diameter of 31.7 mm (1.25 inch) corresponds to an international standard for all manufacturers, you can easily extend your astronomy starter set with additional eyepieces. This way you can admire your favourite sights in other magnifications as well. Especially when the telescope is pointed vertically into the sky, the 90-degree star diagonal mirror proves to be very helpful. It allows you to look into the telescope comfortably from the side, even at unfavourable viewing angles.

Fascination Sun – with the Maksutov-Cassegrain beginner's telescope, you can take a close and safe look at our own star. Simply attach the solar filter to the aperture. The sight of sunspots and granulation on the Sun is guaranteed to amaze you!
ATTENTION: Never point the telescope at the Sun without the solar filter!

Capturing breathtaking astronomy moments is easier than ever. Simply place your mobile phone with the smartphone adapter on the eyepiece, take pictures and share the most beautiful snapshots of the Sun, Moon etc. immediately.

FEATURES
Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope for beginners with 100 mm aperture and 1400 mm focal length
Very good for observing Sun, Moon, planets and star clusters
Very compact dimensions, therefore well suited for the balcony or as a travel telescope
Height-adjustable tripod with equatorial EQ3 mount
Precise adjustment through flexible shafts and fine adjustment in both axes
Easy to use, good for beginners
Focal ratio F/14, thus very sharp image and excellent contrast
26 mm eyepiece of the "Plössl" type with 31.7 mm (1.25 inch) sleeve for 54x magnification
Safe solar observation with the included solar filter
Entry into astrophotography with smartphone camera adapter

SCOPE OF DELIVERY
Telescope
Aluminium tripod
Equatorial EQ3 mount
Eyepiece: 26 mm Plössl (1.25 inch socket)
Star diagonal mirror
LED illuminated dot finder
Solar filter
Smartphone camera adapter
Accessory tray
Astronomy software download
Instruction manual

Some items that are showing as in stock are in stock at our holding warehouses, not at the shop. To double check the stock levels at the shop, please contact us on 01909774369 or sales@rothervalleyoptics.co.uk.

The delivery times for most items is 1 - 2 days but again, please double check stock levels on important orders before placing an order via the website.

The delivery costs for courier next day are for mainland UK only. If you live in the Scottish Highlands/Islands, Channel Islands or Northern Ireland, then a shipping surchage will apply. please contact us for prices. Smaller items can still go 1st class via Royal Mail.

Please note that if you are wanting to take advantage of our Saturday and Sunday timed services or next day pre 12 or pre 10:30 services, you MUST check that the stock is here at the shop before placing orders. Also, orders using the Saturday and Sunday services must be placed before 1pm the previous working day. Also, please remember to check that the stock is here at the shop before placing orders. If the stock is not at the shop, we won't be able to ship on any of the timed services. 

Please note International customers will need to contact us for a shipping price prior to ordering via the website. We don't ship all items internationally. It is at our discretion what we ship outside of the UK. This all depends on the size and weight of the items. Please get in touch with us for any postage costs. Please note we do NOT ship telescopes or heavy items outside of the UK. This is due to massive postage costs and problems regarding returns.

If you have any questions regarding stock levels or delivery, please get in touch.

Zygo Interferometer Testing For ED Refractor Telescopes!

We are extremely pleased to announce our Zygo Interferometer is now installed and ready for use! Our experienced staff can test refractor lenses up to 120mm aperture and provide a comprehensive 2 page report showing the optical quality and Strehl ratio, plus much more information. We are using the very latest Zygo MX software to provide a more detailed report compared to other standard reports.

The interferometer is essentially a measuring instrument. Within the interferometer is a calibrated laser that is pointed through the optical test surface, then onto a high quality reference sphere, then back through the test subject then to an internal camera which gives us the measurement on the screen. From this, we can adjust the position of the test optic and the reference sphere to obtain a perfectly calibrated system. The more central the laser to the test optic and then on return, the better and more accurate reading and measurement we can take. This takes a lot of adjustment to get the best results from the optical surface. Once the measurement has been taken, we are provided with a series of results that show the optical quality of the surface plus other information. Continue reading for an explanation of the individual values and you can also see a test report that was done on one of our RVO Horizon 60 OTAs. 

We are offering certain telescopes with a Zygo test at an extra cost. Mainly ED doublets and triplets. All available telescopes with a Zygo test report are listed here. Just select Zygo Test Report from the drop down box at the top of the listing and we will test the optics in house and provide a full 2 page report with your scope. This will show you the optical quality of your telescope optics. We can also offer this service on your refractor telescope. Please get in touch for more details about this. 

At Rother Valley Optics, one thing we pride ourselves on is customer service and quality of our equipment. When we test your telescope, we will ensure that it is of the highest quality otherwise, we will reject the scope under our strict quality control and test another model for your peace of mind. One of the main values to look at when testing a refractor is the Strehl ratio. The higher this number, the higher quality lens you have. At Rother Valley Optics, we will guarantee the highest possible Strehl ratio for your telescope.  We will aim to provide 0.95 Strehl or higher on Takahashi, RVO Horizon, William Optics and many more! Generally, the higher the Strehl ratio, the lower the Astigmatism and Coma meaning a better image quality from your instrument. 

Other measurements such as the PV and RMS are important too. With these measurements, the lower the number the better as it shows less curvature on the lens. The flatter an optical lens, the better it will perform. The PV rating (Peak To Valley) is a measurement from the highest point (Peak) to the lowest point (Valley). From this we get the RMS (Root, Mean, Square). This is a similar figure to the PV and measured exactly the same way. The RMS is basically an average height difference from the PV so again, the lower the better. As you can see form the example below, we measured an RMS of just 0.027 wave which is a very good value.

We also measure the Power with our systems which is essentially the error from the reference sphere to the test optic. The reference sphere we use on our system is a very high quality sphere so the closer to zero the Power, the less error between the 2 elements thus ensuring a higher quality optical surface. 

You will also see some more values such as Astigmatism and Coma. Again, these are measured by the interferometer when we take measurements of the optical surface after adjustment. These are values which ideally would be at 0 but as our test optics are all curved lenses, there will always be astigmatism and coma present. The lower the number, the less of these aberations you will effectively see but with most refractors, you can buy field flatteners which will compensate for the coma anyway. The astigmatisms value is explaining the error between the symmetrical curvature of the lens. Basically, no lens will be perfectly symmetrical, the lower the astigmatism, the more symmetrical the lens surface is. 

Once the Zygo test report has been completed, the optical alignment is thoroughly tested and tuned to ensure they are spot on before they leave us. 

All available telescopes are on the website at the link below and ones we've tested already that are available straight away are also listed.

https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/zygo-tested-refractors.html

Here is an example of the test what we provide. This was a test on one of our Horizon 60 ED OTA's.

For any questions about this amazing new service, please either call 01909774369 or email sales@rothervalleyoptics.co.uk.

Are you interested in this product but would like to speak to someone with some more information? Simply fill in the form below and we will get back to you as soon as we can!

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