Astro-Physics 10" Maksutov-Cassegrain Telescope

Astro-Physics 10" f/14.6 Maksutov-Cassegrain Telescope (serial no. 12) purchased new from Astro-Physics in 2000. It is in mint condition and was used for observing at a dark site a couple times a year. This Maksutov is a variation of the Gregory design using an elliptical primary and a low-power corrector to achieve the lowest possible central obstruction. This design is coma free and totally diffraction limited from deep infrared to the ultra-violet, a perfect match for today's premium CCD chips. The telescope utilizes a specially tapered fused silica primary in a specially designed aluminum cell and housing to accelerate optics cooling time while set up in the field. This scope performs very well soon after sunset with little cool-down time. The optics were designed by Valery Deryuzhin of Aries Instrument Company in the Ukraine. After receiving the finished optics, Astro-Physics performed additional work on them to increase the performance to AP specs. The optics use aspherical surfaces providing a very flat field of view at the eyepiece. This Maksutov delivers performance easily matching a large permanently mounted APO refractor, and it's very portable, being only 33 lbs. in weight. Clear aperture 10 in., focal ratio ~14.6, focal length 146 in. (3708 mm), field size 3/4 degree, magnification range 62x with 60mm ocular and 927x with 4mm ocular. The mirror coating is a 96% enhanced and protected aluminum and the corrector coating is a broadband multi-coatings on both sides. Included is the original AP transport and storage case, top and bottom mounting brackets MCBRKTKIT (already attached), two secondary light baffles (small and large), two attached QRBASE finder posts, and a AP focuser plug for the tube's internal humidity control.