Sky-Watcher is a commercial

distribution company Distribution (or place) is one of the four elements of the marketing mix. Distribution is the process of making a product or service available for the consumer or business user who needs it. This can be done directly by the producer or service p ...

established in 1999 by the

Synta Technology Corporation of Taiwan Synta Technology Corporation of Taiwan (Synta Taiwan), also known as Synta, is a manufacturer of telescopes and optical components headquartered in Taoyuan, Taiwan. Overview Synta Technology Corporation was founded in Taoyuan, Taiwan around 1980 b ...

(Synta Taiwan) that markets

telescopes A telescope is a device used to observe distant objects by their emission, absorption, or reflection of electromagnetic radiation. Originally meaning only an optical instrument using lenses, curved mirrors, or a combination of both to observe ...

and astronomical equipment, like mounts and

eyepiece An eyepiece, or ocular lens, is a type of lens that is attached to a variety of optical devices such as telescopes and microscopes. It is named because it is usually the lens that is closest to the eye when someone looks through the device. The ...

s, aimed at the amateur astronomical market. The products are manufactured at Synta Taiwan's Suzhou Synta Optical Technology Co., Ltd. in Suzhou (Jiangsu), China. The brand is distributed in Canada and Europe and, in the late 2000s, extended to the USA market.Reuters - press release, Synta Optical Technology and Celestron Announce a New Telescope Supplier in the US. Thu 22 May 2008 7:18pm EDT

Company history

In 1999, the brand "Sky-Watcher" was established to sell Synta Taiwan's optics with head offices in

Richmond, British Columbia Richmond is a coastal city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada. It occupies almost the entirety of Lulu Island (excluding Queensborough), between the two estuarine distributaries of the Fraser River. Encompassing the adja ...

, Canada. From 2000, the first dobsonians were produced, then in 2001 the first Maksutov–Cassegrains, and in 2004 their first Apochromat ED-APO refracting telescopes. Sky-Watcher's product line-up contains telescopes from 2.4" (60 mm) up to 16" (406 mm)

aperture In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and focal length of an optical system determine the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. An ...

with manual, motor-driven, or GoTo mounts. Since 2008, Sky-Watcher has manufactured dobsonians with collapsible tubes, a product line they call FlexTube-dobsonians.

Products

Products include telescopes, spotting scopes, mounts, and many accessories.

Telescopes

Sky-Watcher has eleven model series of telescopes. These are listed below.

Esprit

Esprit 80ED, 100ED, 120ED and 150ED Super APO refractors have a doublet field flattener to get a flat field and minimize aberration and distortion. Their wide 48mm opener ensures a larger and clearer aperture and also extremely minimized halation. Connect the triplet and doublet field flattener with a high-precision thin thread to keep the optical axis perpendicular to the image.

Equinox

The Equinox series are relatively affordable Extra-low Dispersion (ED)

apochromat An apochromat, or apochromatic lens (apo), is a photographic or other lens that has better correction of chromatic and spherical aberration than the much more common achromat lenses. Explanation Chromatic aberration is the phenomenon of differen ...

ic refractors in Optical Tube Assembly (OTA) between 66 mm and 120 mm (2.60" - 4.72"), suitable for

astrophotography Astrophotography, also known as astronomical imaging, is the photography or imaging of astronomical objects, celestial events, or areas of the night sky. The first photograph of an astronomical object (the Moon) was taken in 1840, but it was no ...

. The smaller apertures have medium focal ratios and the larger ones have long focal ratios. These telescopes have black-colored tubes.

ED Refractors Series

The pro series telescopes include two-element air-spaced OTA ED apochromatic refractors between 80 mm and 120 mm (3.15–4.72") with long focal ratios, also suitable for astrophotography, as well as OTA Maksutovs with very long focal ratios and apertures of 150 mm and 180 mm (5.91" and 7.09"). They are presented in Black Diamond tubes.

Refractors

The refractors series are multi-coated

achromat An achromatic lens or achromat is a lens that is designed to limit the effects of chromatic and spherical aberration. Achromatic lenses are corrected to bring two wavelengths (typically red and blue) into focus on the same plane. The most comm ...

ic refractors between 70 and 150 mm (2.76–5.91"). They are available in alt-azimuth mounting for smaller apertures and equatorial mounting for larger ones. They have long focal ratios and are constructed with a black

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It ha ...

tube.

Reflectors

The Reflector series telescopes are reflectors with optics aluminized and overcoated with

silicon dioxide Silicon dioxide, also known as silica, is an oxide of silicon with the chemical formula , most commonly found in nature as quartz and in various living organisms. In many parts of the world, silica is the major constituent of sand. Silica is one ...

, available in 76 mm to 254 mm sizes (2.99–10.00"). All but the smallest size are presented in equatorial mounting; the smallest one in Alt-azimuth. They are available in short, medium, and long focal ratios and chiefly parabolic mirrors. They are made with Black Diamond aluminum tubes. The 130 to 200 mm aperture parabolic mirror scopes are available with shorter tubes and dual-speed

Crayford focuser The Crayford focuser is a simplified focusing mechanism for amateur astronomical telescopes. Crayford focusers are considered superior to entry-level rack and pinion focusers, normally found in this type of device. Instead of the rack and pinio ...

s and are optimised for astrophotography.

Table top

Tabletop telescopes have a 13" (330 mm) high equatorial mount, designed to be extremely portable. They include 130 mm (5.10") and 80 mm (3.15") refractors of short and medium focal lengths respectively, as well as a long-focal length 90 mm (3.54") Maksutov. They are presented in variable-colored tubes.

Solid-tube Dobsonians

The Solid-tube (traditional)

Dobsonian A Dobsonian telescope is an altazimuth-mounted Newtonian telescope design popularized by John Dobson in 1965 and credited with vastly increasing the size of telescopes available to amateur astronomers. Dobson's telescopes featured a simplified ...

s are Dobsonian-mounted Newtonian reflectors available in 153 mm (6"), 203 mm (8"), 254 mm (10"), and 305 mm (12") models. They have thin 0.5 mm (0.02")-thick secondary mirror supports, tension control handles, and the 10" - 12" version is made from

Pyrex Pyrex (trademarked as ''PYREX'' and ''pyrex'') is a brand introduced by Corning Inc. in 1915 for a line of clear, low-thermal-expansion borosilicate glass used for laboratory glassware and kitchenware. It was later expanded to include kitchenwa ...

glass. They have long, medium, and short focal ratios respectively, in order of increasing aperture. They have white-colored tubes.

Collapsible Dobsonians

The Collapsible Dobsonians are Dobsonian-mounted Newtonian reflectors available in 200 mm (8"), 254 mm (10"), 305 mm (12") and 406 mm (16") models. They are similar in design to the Solid-Tube Dobsonians but have black-colored tubes with the middle section of the tube replaced with struts. The struts allow the top portion of the tube to collapse down on the bottom portion, decreasing the tube length when in storage or being transported. The Collapsible Dobsonians also feature

s instead of the traditional rack and pinion focuser that was included with the Solid-tube Dobsonians.

Short-tube Refractors

The Short-tube Refractors series are multi-coated two-element air-spaced

Rich Field Rich Field is a former World War I military airfield, located in Waco, Texas, near what is now the intersection of Bosque Boulevard and 41st Street. It operated as a training field for the Air Service, United States Army from 1917 until 1919. Th ...

achromatic refractors with focal ratios that allow them to have short and compact tube lengths. They are available in Alt-azimuth versions for smaller apertures and equatorial mounts for larger ones, and are available in 70 mm to 150 mm (2.76" - 5.91") apertures. They are presented with blue tubes, and are suited for terrestrial photography as well as astrophotography in the larger versions.

Maksutov–Cassegrains

The Maksutov–Cassegrain telescopes are compact portable multi-coated Maksutov–Cassegrains. They are sold in equatorial mounts and are available in 90–180 mm (3.54–7") apertures. They have very long focal ratios and are sold in blue aluminum tubes. As with the Newtonians, newer ones can have the "Black Diamond" finish.

Auto-tracking

The auto-tracking series telescopes are motorized alt-azimuth telescopes, allowing the user to automatically track celestial objects. They are available in 70 mm and 80 mm (2.76" and 3.15") apertures for refractors with medium, long, and very long focal ratios, as reflectors with 76 mm and 114 mm (2.99" and 4.49") apertures and have long and short focal ratios respectively, as well as in 80 mm (3.15") Maksutov form with a very long focal ratio. They are sold in blue tubes with red-dot style

reflector sight A reflector sight or reflex sight is an optical sight that allows the user to look through a partially reflecting glass element and see an illuminated projection of an aiming point or some other image superimposed on the field of view. These sig ...

finders.

Spotting scopes

Sky-Watcher spotting scopes come in three different designs. Maksutov Spottings are sold as Maksutov telescopes available in 80–127 mm (3.15–5") apertures, and are sold as OTA with very long focal ratios and red-dot style reflector sight finders. They are constructed with blue tubes and include a carrying bag. ST1545 and ST2060 spotting scopes are wide-angle and available in 50 mm and 60 mm (1.97" and 2.36") sizes with 15–45x and 20–60x zoom respectively. They are sold with tripod attachment capability and a camera adapter and blue tubes. Digital spotting scopes are a multi-purpose

digital camera A digital camera is a camera that captures photographs in digital memory. Most cameras produced today are digital, largely replacing those that capture images on photographic film. Digital cameras are now widely incorporated into mobile devices ...

, spotting scope, and telescope. They have a 70 mm (2.36") refractor design at 14x with zoom capability between 6x and 22x, and have many features including an optional solar filter, video capability, and a tripod adaptor.

Mounts

Alt-azimuth mount: AZ1, AZ2, AZ3, and AZ4 Equatorial mount: EQ1, EQ2, EQ3, and EQ5 SynScan GoTo mount: EQ3 SynScan, EQ5 SynScan, HEQ5, EQ6, AZ-EQ5, AZ-EQ6 and EQ8 Equatorial travel mount: Star adventurer, Star adventurer mini, Star adventurer 2i WiFi, Star adventurer GTI Multi-Purpose mount: AllView mount, and Virtuoso mount

References

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External links

Official Sky-Watcher International website

Official Canadian website

Sky-Watcher U.S.A Telescopes and Optics
Telescope manufacturers Companies based in Suzhou Chinese companies established in 1999 Chinese brands Taiwanese brands