Apochromatic Refractor

William Optics Cat 71

William Optics RedCat 71 First Look

Late last month, William sent me a William Optics RedCat 71 for review purposes. The Cat 71 was designed to be an ultra-flat, well-corrected imaging APO for modern DSLR/mirrorless and dedicated astronomy cameras.  In this post, I’ll provide you with an overview of the telescope’s specs and a few sample images taken with it. Since testing…

refractor telescope for astrophotography

Why You Should Start with a Refractor Telescope

If you’re getting started in deep-sky astrophotography, I believe that a compact apochromatic (APO) refractor telescope is the best possible choice. A compact APO refractor is portable and lightweight, making it a smoother transition from the camera lenses you may be used to. In fact, in many ways, a high-quality apochromat is very much like…

The Explore Scientific ED140 Apo Refractor

The Explore Scientific ED140 Apo Refractor

I am thrilled to tell you that I recently got my hands on a brand new Explore Scientific ED140 CF APO Triplet Refractor. If you’ve been following AstroBackyard for some time now, you’ll know how I feel about APO refractors in terms of astrophotography performance. The refractor telescope design has many unique advantages when it…