Explore Scientific ED102 Essential Series Air-Spaced Apochromatic 102mm Triplet Refractor Telescope for Astrophotography Astronomy
Condition: New
Buy Now, Pay Later
As low as
/ mo
Learn more
- – Up to 36-month term if approved
- – No impact on credit
- – Instant approval decision
- – Secure and straightforward checkout
Ready to go? Add this product to your cart and select a plan during checkout.
Payment plans are offered through our trusted finance partners Klarna, Affirm, Afterpay, Apple Pay, and PayTomorrow. No-credit-needed leasing options through Acima may also be available at checkout.
Learn more about financing & leasing here.
Free shipping on this product
30-day returns
Learn more
Returnable until Jan 31, 2026
To qualify for a full refund, items must be returned in their original, unused condition. If an item is returned in a used, damaged, or materially different state, you may be granted a partial refund.
To initiate a return, please visit our Returns Center.
View our full returns policy here.
Availability:
In Stock.
Arrives
Sunday, Mar 29
Recently Viewed
Features
- 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.
- USA SUPPORT: Based in Springdale, Arkansas, USA, you can always be assured of excellent customer service should you ever have an issue or question.
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
Finderscope: Reflex
Item Weight: 12 Pounds
Product Dimensions: 30.4 x 10.7 x 7.9 inches
Item Weight: 12 pounds
Item model number: ES-ED10207-02
Is Discontinued By Manufacturer: No
Date First Available: April 24, 2014
Manufacturer: Explore Scientific
Frequently asked questions
If you place your order now, the estimated arrival date for this product is:
Sunday, Mar 29
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.
To initiate a return, please visit our Returns Center.
View our full returns policy here.
- Klarna Financing
- Affirm Pay in 4
- Affirm Financing
- Afterpay Financing
- PayTomorrow Financing
- Financing through Apple Pay
Learn more about financing & leasing here.
Similar Products
Top Amazon Reviews
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
Sti hav us it, been busy
Reviewed in the United States on August 8, 2023 by JAM
When I unboxed it i found one of the ring's bolt (back one) was not tightened and would not tighten as it was not in line with hole and was stripped (someone at factory must have tried to force it and gave up). So much for quality control. Did return with Amazon and immediately ordered another one. Will give full review when scope gets here next week.
...
show more
Reviewed in the United States on April 20, 2023 by Bill Davidson
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
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 by MSL MSL
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