Sky-Watcher Evostar 100 ED APO Refractor Telescope
- Aperture: 102mm (4")
- Focal Ratio: f/9
- Focal Length: 918mm
- Optical Design: Achromatic Refractor
Sky-Watcher Evostar 100 ED APO Refractor Telescope
The Sky Watcher Evostar ED100 is a modestly wide-field telescope offering bright, wide swaths of sky in a single view. It is well suited for wide-field astronomical observation of prominent nebulae, star clusters, and galaxies from a dark-sky location, or can be used as an astrograph for sky photography. As a terrestrial spotting scope or telephoto lens, the Skywatcher ED100's performance is absolutely superb. Ultra high contrast allows the subtlest of details to be easily scrutinized under conditions of good seeing. The petite silhouette of the Sky Watcher Evostar ED100 makes for an excellent compact, portable telescope that travels light and fits a small space.Fortunate indeed is the amateur astronomer with a Sky-Watcher Evostar ED100mm refractor on a clear night with transparent skies and a stable atmosphere. It's the "Black Diamond" of the optic world. Turning the telescope to the Crescent Moon, the Apennine Mountains snap into razor-sharp focus revealing a cornucopia of jagged mountain ridges, canyons, and numerous small craters in ultra high definition. Not far removed, reaching skyward, the crater wall of Archimedes pops into view in bold relief against the smooth flatlands that transverse the distance between it and the Apennine Mountains. This is lunar observing at its best: HD style.
The gas giant Jupiter displays its swirling equatorial bands in high-definition with festoons, and tonality within the bands. The great spot is clearly visible, discreetly contrasted from the surrounding Jovian landscape. Prominent deep-space nebula yield improved definition in gaseous outer extensions. Stars in globular clusters resolve to pinpoints. This is just the beginning of an incredible journey of exploration possible with a Pro ED100.
The Sky Watcher Pro ED100 benefits from the inclusion of Schott glass being used for the positive front Crown element in the objective. Schott is the recognized world leader in glass utilized for precision optical lens systems, including medical instrumentation, and famous-brand camera lenses. While Schott glass is only used in selected models, all other models utilize top-quality, Grade-A glass from perhaps less famous but, nonetheless, highly respected, high-quality glass manufacturers. Each air-to-glass lens surface has exotic anti-reflection metallic coatings applied to ensure optimum light through-put of approaching 99.5%. The proprietary Sky-Watcher Metallic High-Transmission Coatings (MHC) are the finest photon anti-rejection coatings in their class.
The objective lens cell is light-baffled to reject stray, unfocused light. The draw tube is likewise baffled to insure optimum contrast. The tube interior is flat blackened to help prevent unfocused internal light reflections from reaching the focal plane. Optical focus is achieved by means of a mechanically ultra-smooth, backlash-free, precision 2" Crayford rack & pinion focuser-assembly. This focuser offers fine and ultra-fine focusing adjustments. The optical tube material is rolled steel, powder-coated reflective gloss black with gold fleck accent. The front and back cells are cast-aluminum painted white, or black.
The optical tube comes with attachment hardware that allows it to be securely fastened to any Sky-Watcher mount. The quick-release tube rings provided with SkyWatcher Pro ED100 are cast-aluminum, painted white. The ED100 is supplied with backlash-free 2" Crayford focusers and quality foam-lined metal carrying cases as standard equipment. Black Diamond ED100 is also supplied with 8x50mm viewfinder with bracket; 2" 1.25" focuser adaptor; and tube ring attachment hardware for mounting to any Sky-Watcher, or other compatible mounts.
Sky-Watcher Evostar ED100 Refractor OTA Features
- The proprietary Sky-Watcher Metallic High-Transmission Coatings (MHC) are the finest photon anti-rejection coatings in their class.
- The tube interior is flat blackened to help prevent unfocused internal light reflections from reaching the focal plane.
- The optical tube material is rolled steel, powder-coated reflective gloss black with gold fleck accent.
- The optical tube comes with attachment hardware that allows it to be securely fastened to any Sky-Watcher mount.
SPECIFICATIONS
| Alignment Procedure | Manual Alignment |
|---|---|
| Aperture | 100 mm (4") |
| Dew Shield Included | Yes |
| Focal Length | 918mm |
| Focal Ratio | f/9 |
| Free Shipping | Yes |
| Manufacturer | SkyWatcher |
| Optical Design | Doublet |
| OTA Length | 34" |
| OTA Weight | 10 lb. |
| Telescope Series | Watcher Pro |
| Warranty | 1 Year Warranty |
INCLUDED ITEMS
- Sky-Watcher Evostar 100mm ED APO Refractor OTA
- Foam-lined Metal Carrying Case
- 8x50mm Viewfinder with Bracket
- 2” Dielectric Diagonal
- Two 1.25” LE (Long Eye Relief) eyepieces (LE20mm and LE5mm)
- 1.25” Focuser Adaptor
- Tube Ring Attachment Hardware
GALLERY
Customer Reviews
- Reviews
- Questions
Excellent Refractor
I've used refractors costing thousands more and can honestly say thet the optical performance, fit and finish rivals those refractors. The Evostar 100 is definitely a winner and the best deal going in amateur astronomy today!
Very Sharp Views
I bought this over a month ago and finally had a chance to use it. WOW! I have a ***** 110 scope and this one produces better views. I would say it outperforms my 6" Meade Cassegrain as well. I could detect no unusual colors on bright objects and the focuser worked well. First, it is truly portable and worked well with my ***** Porta II mount. I will be dragging this one out to New Mexico and Wyoming and so weight is an important issue. The included case took care of the usual need to rig up something using plastic tubs. It is longer than the ***** 110 so take that into consideration if you travel by air. The only issues are skimpy documentation and the eye relief on the larger eyepiece, but that problem was solved using one of my ***** eyepieces. In summary, I was wary of buying a scope similar in size to the *****, but the improved views are worth it.
Best 100mm in its price range
The optics in this scope are very good. For first light I focused on the moon, Antares, and Saturn since I could see all through the trees in my back yard. I didn't detect any false color using the included eyepieces and collimation looked to be perfect. I thought the 5mm eyepiece did a very nice job on Saturn with a crisp view under less than perfect skies. This scope is my new "grab-n-go." I put it on a ***** Porta Mount II that is rated for 15 lbs. It is a little tricky when using the 5mm eyepiece on a planet so I do recommend slow motion controls when you choose a mount but the 20mm eyepiece (45X) is very easy to use on the Porta Mount II. I think that this is where the scope shines the brightest. Star clusters and bright deep sky objects that occupy around 1 degree or less really look great. I took a picture of the moon with my DSLR at prime focus and am including that in the review. The scope should do nicely for astrophotography on some brighter deep sky objects and I can't wait to try that. If I had to complain, I would note (like others) that the focuser is not the greatest but it does work well. I may replace this in the future. For the price, I highly recommend and for this review feel that 5 stars is appropriate.
My favorite scope!
I've been looking for a lightweight telescope that has superb optics (sharpness, contrast, color correction) yet does not blow my budget. This is the one! The scope fits perfectly in my ancient Celestron Polaris lightweight equatorial mount. Its rock steady. Planetary images are extremely sharp, no green fringe on the edge of the full moon. Saturn shows lots of detail, Cassini Division is an east target. The attached full moon ("Supermoon") shows the quality from the images! Izar (Bootes) is an easy task, showing a simple split in the double star. Epsilon in Lyra (the famous "double-double" shows inky black space between the components. The entire mount and OTA are easily moved around in backyard observing. It's set up and ready to go out the back door to quick views or several hours of happy observing! Thanks for allowing to make this jewel available! Only things I would have added would be a collapsible dew cap and extension in focuser to allow a smaller case for airline trips. That extension could be removed to allow binoviewers to work. Otherwise, I'm an extremely happy customer! --Hal Jandorf Astronomy Professor/Moorpark College
Fantastic optics
Wow the optics on this telescope are phenomenal for this price range. I previously had a much larger non-APO refractor which was a little less expensive (ES AR127). Although the diameter of the lens is 20% smaller on this scope I can see 100% more detail due to the high quality ED glass. The difference is amazing! Even very bright stars such as Sirus are pinpoint sharp in good seeing with almost no color fringe. At 280x, which is far above the recommended magnification for a telescope of this size, I could see nice details in the cloud bands of Jupiter! The included accessories are decent. I like the 5mm eyepiece, but the 20mm eyepiece has minimal eye relief. The right angle finder is a nice touch, especially when the scope is pointed near the zenith, and it is a pleasure to adjust since it uses only 2 screws. The case is strong enough to provide good protection for the telescope and all accessories. Although the focuser is not the highest quality it is fully functional and I've had no problems with it. The paint on the OTA is also high quality. Because the telescope is very light it is easy to handle, especially for those times when you just want a quick view. Overall I'm very pleased with the performance of this telescope.
Good Scope....Bad Focuser
I've had this scope for 6 mos. and use it strictly as a visual instrument. Image quality and contrast are outstanding. Mechanical quality and build is good except for the focuser. I had to replace the cheap Chinese focuser with a JMI EVR1 that I got for half price as a return item. Even so it cost an extra $225 to bring the scope up to an acceptable level of performance. If not for the focuser I would have given this a 5 star rating. So if you buy this scope be aware that eventually you'll need to spend from $150 to $450 to change the focuser unless you don't mind pushing it with your thumb to get it to retract into the tube when the scope is pointed more than about 30 degrees above the horizon.