Orion Telescopes

Orion is one of the top manufacturers when it comes to high quality telescopes today, offering a large selection of brand name telescopes including Celestron and Schmidt-Cassegrain models. The Orion company has been manufacturing and selling both telescopes and binoculars since back in 1975. Since 2005, the company has been owned by Imaginova, a media and consumer product business based on space, science and technological innovation. Orion telescopes currently range in price from $25 to $$3000 or more, and make excellent gifts for the astronomy enthusiast, whether it be a friend, family, colleague or yourself!

Orion offers a wide variety of both reflactor and reflector models of telescopes.

Refractor telescopes are those which use lenses to form an image. Refractor scopes are considered great items for novices and beginners. They are smaller, more portable in size and tend to provide crisp, high-contrast detailed views of the Moon, planets and other items in the night's sky! Refractor telescopes by Orion include the SkyView Pro EON, the Sirius EON and the StarSeeker.

Reflector telescopes use mirrors to form an image. Reflector telescopes tend to be bulky/bigger in size, and their mirrors also may require occasional alignment. However, they are usually more economical to build in larger size modelds, making their prices affordable. Reflector telescope models include the SkyQuest & StarBlast series.

The Orion Dobsonian Telescope models include the SkyQuest XX12 and less expensive Starblast models such as the 4.5 Astro Reflector model (pictured). Dobsonians contain reflector optical tubes for viewing purposes. What makes the Dobsonian telescopes unique is that they lack a tripod. Instead they use a low-profile, swiveling base made of altazimuth. They come in sizes 10 inches and larger, and are generally low-priced yet able to gather a lot of light for vieiwing the night sky!

Cassegrain Telescopes use both mirrors and lenses in their design to make a more compact tube.  Orion carries a nice selection of Schmidt-Cassegrain & Maksutov-Cassegrain telescopes in all sorts of sizes, including the 6" F/9 Ritchey-Chretien Astrograph Telescope and the StarMax 127mm Equatorial Mak-Cass Telescope.  All of the Cassegrain telescopes offered by Orion feature front-correcting lenses to ensure a sharper image.  The Schmidt models are great for adding in extra accessories, while Maksutov models are best for "grab and go" viewing.

In addition to all the great Orion telescope models mentioned, they also make solar telescopes. These specialized scopes are for viewing solar phenomena such as filaments, flares and plagues. They have specially made filters called "etalons" inside to prevent harmful radiation from damaging the human eye, making for extremely safe viewing of the sun and it's bursts and blasts! The Meade Coronado Personal and high-end SolarMax models are amongst the latest solar telescope offerings by Orion.

Perhaps the greatest innovation in modern sky viewing technology is the GoTo & Computerized types of scopes.  These telescopes allow users to simply type in coordinates for viewing a precise part of the sky.  Orion carries both beginner (Orion StarSeeker 130mm GoTo Reflector Telescope) and more high-end models (Orion Atlas 190 EQ-G GoTo Mak-Newt Telescope).  Depending on which type you get, some of the telescopes must be moved manually by the user based on a controller readout.  Other computerized models will move using their electric motor to automatically get your viewing target in site!