| Type | Corporation |
|---|---|
| Industry | Technology |
| Founded | 1988 |
| Headquarters | Richmond, British Columbia, Canada |
| Website | http://www.sky-watcher.net |
Sky-Watcher is one of the biggest worldwide producers of amateur telescopes and astronomical equipment like eyepieces and mounts.
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The company was founded in 1988 as Synta Optics, at first producing only eyepieces. In 1992, the head office changed position to Suzhou (Jiangsu) in China. Their first telescopes (4.5“ (114mm) -Newtonians) were distributed by Celestron and Tasco. In 1993, the first refracting telescopes were produced. In 1999, the brand „Sky-Watcher“ was established to sell Synta optics from then on under an own label. The head office was in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada. From 2000 the first dobsonians were produced, then in 2001 the first Maksutov-Cassegrain, and in 2004 the first ED-APO. In 2005, an American affiliated company of Synta bought the company Celestron. Since 2008 there has been cooperation with Schott AG, a German manufacturer of high-quality industrial glass.
Sky-Watcher's product line-up contains telescopes from 2.4“ (60mm) up to 14“ (355mm) aperture with manual, motor-driven or GoTo mounts. Since 2008, Sky-Watcher has been the only worldwide manufacturer of FlexTube-dobsonians with collapsible tubes, a patent-registered design.
Products include telescopes, spotting scopes, mounts, and many accessories.
Sky-Watcher has eleven model series of telescopes. These are listed below.
The Equinox series are relatively affordable Extra-low dispersion (ED) apochromatic refractors in Optical Tube Assembly (OTA) between 66 and 120 millimetres (2.6 - 4.72 in), suitable for astrophotography. The smaller apertures have medium focal ratios and the larger ones have long focal ratios. These telescopes have black-coloured tubes.
The Pro Series telescopes include two-element air-spaced OTA ED FPL-53 fluorite apochromatic refractors between 80 and 120 mm (3.15 - 4.72 in) with long focal ratios, also suitable for astrophotography, as well as OTA Maksutovs with very long focal ratios and apertures of 150 and 180 mm (5.91 and 7.09 in). They are presented in gold-coloured tubes.
The Refractors series are multi-coated achromatic refractors between 70 and 150 mm (2.76 - 5.91 in). They are available in alt-azimuth mounting for smaller apertures, and equatorial mounting for larger ones. They have long focal ratios, and are constructed with a blue aluminum tube.
The Reflectors series telescopes are reflectors aluminized and overcoated with silicon dioxide, available in 76 to 254 mm sizes (2.99 – 10 in). All but the smallest size are presented in equatorial mounting; the smallest one in Alt-azimuth. They are available in short, medium, and long focal ratios. They are made with blue aluminum tubes. Newer models feature a black sparkling finish called "Black Diamond".
Table Top telescopes have a 13" (330 mm) high equatorial mount, designed to be extremely portable. They include a 76 mm (2.99") reflector and an 80 mm (3.15") refractor of short and medium focal lengths respectively, as well as a long-focal length 90 mm (3.54") Maksutov. They are presented in blue-coloured tubes.
The Solid-Tube Dobsonians are Dobsonian-mounted Newtonian reflectors available in 153 mm (6.02 in), 203 mm (7.99 in), and 254 mm (10 in) models. They have thin 0.5 mm (0.02 in)-thick secondary mirror supports, tension control handles, and the 10" version is made from Pyrex glass. They have long, medium, and short focal ratios respectively, in order of increasing aperture. They have white-coloured tubes.
The Collapsible Dobsonians are Dobsonian-mounted Newtonian reflectors available in 200 mm (7.87 in), 254 mm (10 in), and 305 mm (12 in) models. They are similar in design to the Solid-Tube Dobsonians but have black-colored tubes with the middle section of the tube replaced with struts. The struts allow the top portion of the tube to collapse down on the bottom portion, decreasing the tube length when in storage or being transported. The Collapsible Dobsonians also feature Crayford focusers instead of the traditional rack and pinion focuser that was included with the Solid-Tube Dobsonians.
The Short-Tube Refractors series are multi-coated two-element air-spaced Rich Field achromatic refractors with focal ratios that allow them to have short and compact tube lengths. They are available in Alt-azimuth versions for smaller apertures and equatorial mounts for larger ones, and are available in 70 to 150 mm (2.76 - 5.91 in) apertures. They are presented with blue tubes, and are suited for terrestrial photography as well as astrophotography in the larger versions.
The Maksutov-Cassegrain telescopes are compact portable multi-coated Maksutov-Cassegrains. They are sold in equatorial mounts and are available in 90 – 127 mm (3.54 – 5 in) apertures. They have very long focal ratios and are sold in blue aluminum tubes. As with the Newtonians, newer ones can have the "Black Diamond" finish.
The Auto-Tracking series telescopes are motorized alt-azimuth telescopes, allowing the user to automatically track celestial objects. They are available in 70 and 80 mm (2.76 and 3.15 in) apertures for refractors with medium, long, and very long focal ratios, as reflectors with 76 and 114 mm (2.99 and 4.49 in) apertures and have long and short focal ratios respectively, as well as in 80 mm (3.15 in) Maksutov form with a very long focal ratio. They are sold in blue tubes with red-dot style reflector sight finders.
Sky-Watcher Spotting scopes come in three different designs. Maksutov Spottings are sold as Maksutov telescopes available in 80 – 127 mm (3.15 – 5 in) apertures, and are sold as OTA with very long focal ratios and red-dot style reflector sight finders. They are constructed with blue tubes and include a carrying bag. ST1545 and ST2060 spotting scopes are wide-angle and available in 50 and 60 mm (1.97 and 2.36 in) sizes with 15-45x and 20-60x zoom respectively. They are sold with tripod attachment capability and a camera adapter and blue tubes. Digital spotting scopes are a multi-purpose digital camera, spotting scope, and telescope. They have a 70mm (2.36") refractor design at 14x with zoom capability between 6x and 22x, and have many features including an optional solar filter, video capability, and a tripod adaptor.
Sky-Watcher mounts include AZ1, AZ2, and AZ3 alt-azimuth mounts; EQ1, EQ2, EQ3-2, EQ5, EQ6, EQ6 SYNTREK, and HEQ5 SYNTREK equatorial mounts, NEQ3 SYNSCAN, EQ5 SYNSCAN, HEQ5 PRO, and EQ6 PRO GO-TO mounts, Auto-Tracking mounts and multi-function mounts.