Astronomy * Meade 12'' LX200GPS-SMT SCT w/ Standard Coatings - MEA 1210-50-30 - Astronomy
Meade? 12'' and 14'' LX200GPS Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescopes Large apertures combined with a dazzling array of state-of-the-art LX200GPS features, including 145,000-object database, Zero Image-Shift Microfocuser, GPS Alignment, and High-Precision Pointing. The large light-collecting apertures of Meade 12'' and 14'' LX200GPS telescopes enable levels of resolution and image brightness that satisfy the advanced requirements of the serious amateur, as well as those of many school or college research programs. The 12'' model, for example, gathers 44% more light than Meade 10'' Schmidt- Cassegrains; the 14'' LX200GPS has 96% more light collecting area than the 10'' telescope. Meade 12'' and 14'' LX200GPS Schmidt-Cassegrains include all of the features of the 8'' and 10'' models: accurate GPS alignment; onboard 145,000-object database accessible in seconds through the Autostar II hand controller; 4-speed Zero Image-Shift Microfocuser; High-Precision Pointing to within one arcminute; and much more. And yet, notwithstanding all of their high-performance features, Meade 12'' and 14'' LX200GPS telescopes are readily transportable for use in the field. The telescopes? progressive-tension primary mirror lock, in conjunction with the Zero Image-Shift Microfocuser, cancels any residual image-shift during focusing. In addition the mirror lock results in even more precise long-distance GO TO slews of the telescope, since the large mass of the telescope?s primary mirror is locked in position. ?We have been using Meade telescopes since our inception with remarkable success. We began with your 8-inch LX200 and now have one of your 12-inch LX200 models permanently mounted in our observatory. This instrument has proven to be extremely reliable and has allowed us to successfully conduct viewing opportunities for thousands of our Hawaii residents. It has also served us well for our 15 to 25 sections of astronomy classes we offer each academic year and has been an excellent research instrument for our undergraduate astronomy projects. During November, 1997, a group of astronomers from Hopkins Observatory at Williams College in Massachusetts flew out to use our observatory for the occultation of the 10th-magnitude star Tycho 651672 by Neptune?s 13th-magnitude satellite, Triton. The astronomers attached their imaging system to the 12-inch Meade LX200. The telescope acquired Neptune and resolved Triton easily; tracking was excellent. The entire system worked flawlessly. The 12-inch Meade LX200 successfully took 8000 images of Triton as it ran unattended, with the Hopkins imaging system attached, during the 17-minute occultation. We were the only observatory in Hawaii to get images of this event. Your company has enabled the small college to open a world of excitement, discovery, and meaningful undergraduate research at a cost easily within our reach.? ? Fritz Osell, Director, Leeward Community College Observatory, Pearl City, Hawaii. Observing with the 12'' LX200GPS: The adv
mea12105030 - - AS-MEA 1210-50-30