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OPT offers 8 Inch Telescopes in a variety of optical designs from a number of brands including Celestron, TPO, Meade, Sky-Watcher, and more! Whether you're looking for a complete telescope system, or just an optical tube, OPT has you covered.
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By moving up to the world of 8-inch telescopes, you open the door to a new dimension of resolution and viewing. Every object viewed through a smaller scope will suddenly appear in more vivid detail thanks to more light-gathering power. Our 8-inch telescope selection includes brands like Meade, TPO, and Celestron, as well as numerous optics designs and mount types to fit every need.
If you’re looking for a reliable beginner setup with huge capabilities, an 8-inch Newtonian telescope is a great option. Newtonians like the TPO 8” f/4 Reflecting OTA Telescope make wide-field optics accessible to those with smaller budgets. Cheaper than a Ritchey Chretien (RC) design, this Newtonian lets you mount your DSLR or small webcam to the side of the tube and capture stunning images thanks to a large, sturdy primary mirror with easy collimation.
The Celestron Starsense Explorer puts an 8-inch Dobsonian telescope in the hands of advanced hobbyist astronomers. More nimble than a regular Newt, the Dobsonian is perfect for visual astronomy. This Celestron 8-inch telescope includes smartphone-compatible software, which lets you quickly find different objects in the night sky, making it an affordable and time-saving choice for beginners as well. Our lineup also includes other manual Dobsonians for those who feel comfortable with (or are eager to learn) some “analog” star-searching.
We also carry other optical builds, such as the Meade 8” ACF LX90 Telescope, which uses a modified SCT design. This unit delivers a coma-free field of view and razor-sharp imaging from edge to edge. This puts observatory-level visuals in the hands of the budget-conscious amateur. Thanks to ultra-high transmission coating on the mirror, galaxies, nebulae, and stars will appear brighter than ever before.
If you’re looking for full capabilities, consider digitizing your 8-inch reflector telescope. For example, the Celestron NexStar 8SE combines portability and versatility with user-friendly electronics to automatically find over 40,000 objects in the night sky. With a Schmidt Cassegrain design and a generous focal length of 2.032m, you can view objects like the Pleiades Cluster, Andromeda Galaxy, Orion Nebula, and other deep-sky objects.
One thing you will not find in our selection is an 8-inch refractor telescope. While refractors have certain advantages over reflectors, large aperture sizes are not one of them. Lenses over 6 inches become prohibitively expensive to manufacture, putting refracting 8-inch telescopes out of reach for most amateur astronomers.
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Still have questions? We have answers.
An 8-inch aperture telescope lets you view deep-sky objects like the Andromeda Galaxy, Orion Nebula, and Pleiades Cluster. You can also view surface details of Mars and the Moon, and gas clouds on Jupiter.
8-inch telescopes don’t necessarily let you see farther; rather, they let you see dimmer objects. Something could be dim because it’s very far away, but it could also be dim because it’s close and small.
