Discover the wonders of the universe with the Altair 70 ED Triplet APO Refractor Telescope. This high-quality telescope combines advanced optics and precision engineering to provide breathtaking views of celestial objects. Whether you're a beginner or an experienced astronomer, the Altair 70 ED Triplet APO is the perfect instrument for capturing stunning images of distant galaxies, star clusters, and nebulae. Its compact size and lightweight design make it portable and easy to set up, allowing you to explore the night sky from anywhere. Experience the thrill of stargazing like never before with the Altair 70 ED Triplet APO Refractor Telescope.

Imaging: An ideal portable wide-field imaging scope, the sharp optics an excellent colour correction are especially desirable for astro imagers. The optional dedicated 0.8x reducer-flattener produces a flat field for small pixel CMOS cameras up to APS-C and slightly larger size with rear M48 thread and 55mm spacing to sensor. Lunar imaging with high speed CMOS is particularly rewarding with excellent colour control and sharpness. Solar imaging with Daystar Quark or the Altair Imaging/Visual Solar Wedge with it's adjustable brightness settings will produce extremely sharp images of sunspots, and the solar surface.

Visual observing: Detail is easily visible on the larger planets such as Jupiter, with both the four principle moons and main cloud belts easily visible at high power. Saturn's rings and thousands of lunar craters, as well as volcanic plains and mountain ranges are all easily visible. Add a high quality Altair Solar Wedge or Daystar Quark Hydrogen Alpha solar eyepiece, and you have the perfect 70mm solar observing system. Detail and structure within sunspots is easily visible with white light solar filters, or for higher contrast, the Altair Solar Wedge. Viewing bright extended deepsky objects or star-clouds with a low power eyepiece is very rewarding too, with the inherent contrast of a high quality refractor giving objects that visual "pop" against a dark background. We recommend the Altair ULTRAFLAT range of eyepieces with this telescope.

Focuser: The light weight dual speed 2" Rack and Pinion Geared focuser gives a good balance between lifting power and stability for heavy accessories. The focuser has a 2" rear accessory port with a zero-flex 3-thumbscrew compression ring. The dedicated 0.8x reducer / flattener fits directly to the focuser, achieved by unscrewing the compression fit assembly. The camera rotator is retained.  A 2"-1.25" adaptor with compression ring and dust plug are included.

Grab 'n go portability: The Altair 70 EDT-F Triplet APO is a great "grab 'n go" portable telescope-kit for visual observing or astro-photography. The telescope is about the same size as a telephoto camera lens (39cm / 2.85kg) with dew-shield retracted, so it will easily fit in your camera bag.

Mounting the Altair 70 EDT-F Triplet APO: Designed to fit most mounts which support "Vixen/Synta-format " dovetails such as the Skywatcher EQ5, and so-on will fit directly. A standard tripod thread also makes this instrument compatible with most photo tripods on the market.

Using the Altair 70 EDT-F Triplet APO on a camera tripod as a spotter: Attaching the telescope to a photo or video tripod mount takes seconds by means of the 1/4" photo thread on the dovetail-base. A photo-tripod is perfect for grab and go visual astronomy, digi-scoping and use as a terrestrial spotting scope with superior astro-eyepieces. Astro telescopes have higher quality optics than spotting scopes, permitting higher powers before image breakdown, however they display a reversed, upside down image. Therefore, to use your Altair 70 EDT-F Triplet APO as a spotting scope, simply plug in the Altair 1.25" 45 degree erect image prism diagonal and add an eyepiece, for an upright, correctly orientated image. There are few if any spotting scopes which compare to a triplet refractors with FPL-53 ED glass element when it comes to colour correction and sharpness at high powers.

Specifications

• Optical tube with air-spaced 70mm F6 ED Triplet Apochromat lens system (420mm focal length)
• FPL53 ED/SD glass element and mating elements housed in a precision adjustable CNC machined lens cell and carefully adjusted for best performance.
• Optical test report in 352nm green light included with every scope. Minimum Strehl ratio 0.95.
• Super-high transmission coating (STM Coating) on all air to glass surfaces.
• Resolving Power (Dawes Limit) 1.6 arc seconds
• Visual Limiting Magnitude 11.5 maximum
• Weight approx. 2.85kg, OTA length with dew-shield retracted, 39cm.
• Precision CNC machined components and tube made from light, tough aluminium alloy with matte powder coat. Retractable lens shade / dew shield.
• 2" "Rack 'n Pinion" Geared dual speed focuser with 1:10 micro-focuser.
• 2" to 1.25" reducer with brass compression rings included.
• Camera rotator for easier photographic composition.
• The "X-Ring" grips the optical tube firmly for easy addition of accessories like the Altair MG32 MiniGuider or MG60 Guide Scope.
• An optional mini arca format clamp is available (product code MINICLAMP-ARCA), allowing you to mount the Altair 60mm Guider (product code MG60-VABAR) on the top handle/rail
• Special mounting base with dovetail profile to fit most telescope mounts and 1/4"-20 Photo tripod threads for use with photo or video tripods.