Product details
Celestron C 700 – 180 mm Maksutov-Cassegrain Telescope OTA
The C 700 Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope is a specialized instrument designed for detailed, high contrast views of smaller celestial objects like the planets.
With the Maksutov-Cassegrain optical tube, this telescope will provide unparalleled views of the planets and up-close views of the lunar surface, including craters and maria, Maks are also well suited to hunting smaller deep sky objects with higher surface brightness, such as globular clusters and planetary nebulae. Astronomers located in urban areas will appreciate the Mak´s ability to bring out more contrast in celestial objects.
Maksutov-Cassegrain Optical Design
The Mak is a catadioptric telescope, which means the optical design includes both a lens and a mirror. The light coming through a Mak passes through the corrector lens to the primary mirror and back to a spherical secondary mirror before it hits your eyepiece. Images are bright, sharp, and virtually free of chromatic aberration.
The Maksutov-Cassegrain´s optical design offers several unique benefits. Instead of a secondary mirror, the Mak features a ´secondary spot´ of reflective coating applied directly to the inside of the corrector plate. Because of this, the telescope does not require frequent collimation like a Schmidt-Cassegrain. Also, the secondary spot is significantly smaller than a traditional Schmidt-Cassegrain secondary mirror, giving the Mak its signature high-contrast views.
One important thing to note about Maksutov-Cassegrain telescopes is that the larger, heavier Maksutov corrector plate takes longer to cool down and adjust to ambient air temperature compared to a Schmidt-Cassegrain of the same aperture.
Accessories Included
The CGEM II 700 Mak comes complete with a 2″ visual back, a 2″ star diagonal with 1.25″ adapter, a 28 mm wide-field 2″ eyepiece, and a large 8×50 straight-through finderscope. The optical tube accommodates the larger 2″ accessories, such as 2″ Barlow lenses, the 2″ eyepiece and filter kit, and larger wide-field eyepieces.
StarBright XLT Technology
StarBright XLT is Celestron?s revolutionary optical coating system that outperforms any other coating in the commercial telescope market. There are three major components that make up their StarBright XLT high-transmission optical system design:
