Sky-Watcher MC102 StarQuest II 102/1300 Telescope

The StarQuest series are lightweight, portable grab-and-go telescopes that combine high-quality Sky-Watcher optics with a newly designed, precision-crafted equatorial mount. This mount features a high-quality, precision 60-tooth gearing in the DEC axis and 93-tooth in the RA axis, and excellent stability with a maximum payload of up to 3 kg. With the equatorial mount, once properly aligned with Polaris, you can easily track objects moving across the night sky using the precision, slow-motion control knobs.

Optical system

A telescope consisting of a spherical meniscus corrector (negative meniscus lens made of crown glass), a primary mirror and a secondary mirror placed on the inner part of the meniscus. Telescopes of this type have reduced coma, astigmatism and usually show only residual chromatic aberration. They provide sensationally sharp and clear images. Due to their significant focal length and low light intensity, they are perfect for observing the Moon and planets. This telescope collects about 200 times more light than the human eye at night, providing the possibility of observing objects up to almost 11.7 magnitudes (with naked eye visibility up to 6 magnitudes). The size of the mirror is also related to the optical resolution, which in this telescope allows resolving stars that are more than 1.4" apart.


Astronomical observations


1. The Solar System
• objects on the lunar surface larger than 2-3 km;
• sunspots and their structure;
• all planets of the solar system;
• phases of Mercury and Venus
• Mars shield
• Jupiter's equatorial belts and the Galilean moons
• the rings of Saturn and several of the planet's smaller moons
• Uranus and Neptune
• the movement of asteroids against the background of stars
• observations of bright comets


2. Stars
• about 1.3 million stars in the entire sky, with a brightness of about 11.7 magnitude
• double and multiple stars separated by an angular distance of more than 1.4".
• the colors of the brightest stars

3. Nebula objects
• almost all Messier catalog objects
• hundreds of globular clusters
• hundreds of open clusters
• brighter nebulae
• brighter galaxies


4. Ground observations
A telescope with this type of optics is not well suited for terrestrial observations. To invert the image, you need to use a prism angle attachment, which will invert the image to a natural (straight) one. Together with the angle attachment and the appropriate mount on which it is placed, it can be used as a simple device for terrestrial observations.


Technical parameters:

• telescope optical system: Maksutov-Cassegrain
• type of mounting: parallactic
• aperture: 102 mm
• focal length: 1300 mm
• aperture: f/12.7
• star range: 12.5 magnitude
• maximum usable magnification: 204x
• maximum resolving power (Rayleigh): 1.40"
• maximum resolving power (Dawes): 1.14"
• aggregate capacity: 212x
• tube weight: 1.9 kg
• assembly weight: 2.7 kg
• tube length: 280 mm
• tube diameter: 120 mm
• type of stand: steel
• assembly control: micro-motion knobs
• type of eyepiece: SCT/MAK
• Focuser diameter: 1.25"
• central obstruction: 32%
• mounting rail: Vixen