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Explore Scientific

Explore Scientific ED102 Essential Series Air-Spaced Apochromatic 102mm Triplet Refractor Telescope for Astrophotography Astronomy

Based on 11 reviews
Condition: New
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$1,099.99

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Arrives Sunday, Nov 8
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At a glance

Condition
New
Model
ES-ED10207-02
Dimensions
30.4"D x 10.7"W x 7.9"H
Weight
12 lb
Optical Tube Length
23.75 in
Focus Type
rack-and-pinion
Finderscope
Reflex
Works with
Camera

Features 5

  • BRILLIANT, HIGH-CONTRAST VIEWS: This refractor telescopes combination of genuine FCD1 HOYA extra-low dispersion (ED) optical glass and proprietary enhanced multi-layer coatings on all optical surfaces produce excellent views filled with stunning details.
  • GREAT FOR ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY: The telescopes 102mm aperture, versatile f/7 focal ratio, and air-spaced triplet optical design that virtually eliminates chromatic aberrations allows users to capture amazing images of the Moon, the planets and bright deep sky treats like nebulae and star clusters.
  • DESIGNED WITH PORTABILITY IN MIND: This refractor, which has a focal length of 714mm, has a retractable dew shield for quick set-up, and comes with a cradle ring that features a built-in handle sculpted for secure handling.
  • COLLIMATION SYSTEM EMPHASIZES PRECISION: The front cell is outfitted with push-pull adjustments to get the best collimation for the tightest stars.

Specs 21

Brand Explore Scientific
Model Name ED102-PMC8-CMBO
Optical Tube Length 23.75 Inches
Eye Piece Lens Description Plossl
Objective Lens Diameter 102 Millimeters
Telescope Mount Description Equatorial Mount
Product Dimensions 30.4"D x 10.7"W x 7.9"H
Focus Type rack-and-pinion

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If you place your order now, the estimated arrival date for this product is: Sunday, Nov 8

Yes, absolutely! You may return this product for a full refund within 30 days of receiving it.

To initiate a return, please visit our Returns Center.

View our full returns policy here.

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Top Amazon Reviews

Excellent scope for good price!!
I have several types of scopes. Several of those are refractor telescopes. This triplet is not the best on the market, however for the price this thing is exactly what you want. I have absolutely no chromatic aberration in stars and moon. The galaxies are crisp, the nebulas have full color range inside your prime focus. THE ONLY things that sets this scope a small amount lower in rank, in my opinion, is the #1 the focuser isn’t incredibly easy to hit the fine tune you may need. There is a bit of slop at the finest focus point causing me to have to back and forth a little to hit the spot. #2 the tube at the focused is mounted with three screw type fasteners. The tube itself is the type with an angled surface that is supposed to pull in right when tightening the screws to mount it. This does not seat properly and causes a slight out of shape star. This is fixed by loosening and pressing in until flush while tightening. Not a big deal but a little annoying to have to figure it out. #3 even with everything perfect in the image train, the airy disc pattern has a little misshape on one edge. Maybe 20degrees at bottom of circle. I think the collimation and or glass isn’t exactly perfect which is kind of expected at this price range and ultimately does not effect the overall image at all that is noticeable. Well worth every dime and quite good compared to others of the same design. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2023 by Heath
Initial Experience with ES 102 Triplet Apo Initial Experience with ES 102 Triplet Apo
Review Image by MSL
I bought the ES 102 triplet apo primarily for a planned venture into astrophotography with the thought of eventually purchasing a larger scope. I also wanted the experience of enjoying some visual observations. I have a lifetime of photographic experience but zero with telescopes. I wanted a high quality, full featured instrument that I could use to learn the basics of astrophotography. Along with the ES 102, I purchased a Celestron AVX mount. The ES arrived quickly and was well packaged. It was considerably more substantial than what I expected from reading reviews and viewing a few on-line videos. There are also quite few initial items that are required but not included with the telescope itself. These include a finder scope, at least one eyepiece, T-adapter and T-ring, neutral density “moon filter” and extension tube. The ES 102 comes with a 1.5” long extension ring which must be installed otherwise even with the included 2” diagonal, the optical path is too short for even visual observing. The ring was also necessary to achieve enough back focus with a T-adapter and extension tube to enable focus at my camera’s sensor plane. It took a day or so of experimenting through a window just to achieve proof of concept both visually and photographically. I was lucky that we had a few clear nights so I took the plunge and brought the scope outside to view a beautiful fall full moon. My crude attempt at aligning the finder scope with the main scope was surprisingly successful, enough so that the moon dramatically appeared in the near center of my 32 mm eyepiece. I removed the diagonal and attached my camera, a Canon 5DSR. After a few camera adjustments I was able to acquire some images and upload them into Bridge, Camera Raw and Photoshop. I’ve attached an image that I acquired after about an hour of camera fiddling. What I didn’t notice were any of the issues that I had anticipated such as difficulty focusing or instability of the image even with a somewhat heavy camera. However, I did notice some backlash with the fine focus knob of the two speed focuser. I improved things a bit by tightening the focuser tension thumbscrew. Overall, I was very satisfied with the results with the ES 102 on my first night out and without even completely reading through manuals for both the telescope and mount. However, with my truly zero telescope background, I’m not in a position to offer any technical pronouncements. All I can say is so far, so good. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on October 16, 2016 Reviewed in the United States on October 16, 2016 by MSL
Awesome Triplet Awesome Triplet
Review Image by M. Gentry
Review Image by M. Gentry
This scope was my first step up from a Celestron 5SE I have which I've used for visual and tried for some astrophotography and I learned fast the SEs have limitations. I started with a Celestron AVX mount but have since switched to a ZWO AM3 mount along with all of the other ZWO equipment, camera, focuser, filter holder etc.. I've also went ahead and put the Explorer Scientific flattener on this although I'm not sure how much that's needed. I've always felt like the stars were tack sharp edge to edge on this scope, very impressive really. Finding the focal length is a little tricky on this scope I assume because it's a triplet but it's doable. Use the 2 included spacers, the flattener and another 55mm worth of extensions. I added a photo to show what it took to get there. Great sized scope for travel too, with the AM3 mount it's a breeze to break down and take you with anywhere you go. I also have the Seestar S50 thinking that would be my travel goto setup but I honestly find I don't use that as much as I thought. Setting this rig up and getting going only takes just a few more minutes and the images are just so much better compared to the Seestar it's not worth the slightly faster setup for me. Overall, considering I do most of my astrophotography from a very heavily light polluted backyard.. at least Bortle 9 and I like to carry my setup with me I find this to be the perfect scope for me. The M42 image I took from my backyard and wasn't more than an hour and a half of data without any light pollution filters processed in PI. Even though this isn't the latest and greatest, trendy scope I see no reason to upgrade. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2024 Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2024 by M. Gentry
Buy it on Sale
Excellent true Apochromatic Refractor. Tried it out on the moon and deep space with ZERO chromatic Aberration. This scope shows up every 6 months or so on sale for 799. Buy it then and it is an UNBEATABLE value. The only less than perfect aspect is the focuser, which is not great. It is usable, but I will eventually replace it for a different focuser. That said, this is still an EXCELLENT scope with its sale price it is a great buy. UPDATE: The focuser has really started to grow on me. Making this even better. I have changed my rating to 5 stars. ZERO REGRET. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2024 by DC Rees
Great Scope
Love this scope! I built an adruino focuser as the focus window is pretty small. I had to use both extension tubes and a field flattener for my DSLR. Using the focuser I can make micro adjustments and get it just right. The only negative could be I have been up late almost every night since it arrived. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on December 6, 2018 by Jeff
Nice APO Refractor
I purchased this APO refractor when it was on sale. It was the best price I could find anywhere and it is a nice telescope.
Reviewed in the United States on June 10, 2023 by Russell H. Cashin
Expensive
Sti hav us it, been busy
Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2023 by JAM
I had heard good things about Explore Scientific
I had heard good things about Explore Scientific, and this scope has not disappointed me. The image is very sharp, and there ar no signs of Chromatic Aberrations which are so common in cheaper scopes. I was most interested in how this scope would perform with a camera, specifically a full frame camera. And whether or not it needed a field flattener. I had looked at manufactures specs., and these topics were not covered. Looked at reviews, and again not covered. Attempt using scope with full frame camera without field flattener: I can see houses on a ridge about 2 miles away and it gave me a target where I could have a house in the middle and a house at the extreme sides. Carefully focusing on the middle house, I took a picture, and I found the houses on the sides were quite blurry. I tied focusing on one of the side houses, without as much success as the middle house, and the middle house went out of focus. So my conclusion is that the field is certainly not flat. I had purchased the Explore Scientific Field Flattener. My concern was whether or not it was wide enough for the full frame camera. It comes with a 2" barrel which then is reduced down to T adapter size (42mm). I would have preferred m48 which would have been slightly wider. I mounted the full frame camera and took the same picture of the houses on the ridge. The blurriness on the edges was about 90% improved. I still had a little, but it was almost gone. The quality of the image was actually stunning. It was far better then what I have seen on other scopes. There was a little bit of not quite vignetting in the 4 corners where the image was a bit darker, but the 42mm tube did not show round corners. I suspect that a 48mm tube would have been better, and I can adjust out the darker corners in post processing. A crop sensor camera would not be subjected to this problem. For this test, I had mounted the scope on a robust tripod which had a Gimball mount. It was able to handle the size and weight of this lens. Next, I will mount it on an equatorial mount and see how this scope does with stars and deep sky objects, which I am expecting it to perform very well. My conclusion is that this is a very good scope. When using a good eyepiece, the image is very good. And when using with a camera, it produces very good images. And I have to conclude that the field flattener is necessary. What I haven't checked out is how well it might do with a field flattener by some other manufacturer. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on July 16, 2015 by Jim H.
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