The Stargazer's Choice -- Best-Selling introductory telescope for Over 25 Years! -- The original Edmund Scientific Astroscan is an inexpensive, high-performance telescope that is easy-to-use, maintenance-free and completely portable. Its wide field of view, beautiful images and ease of use make it an excellent telescope for beginner and expert stargazers alike. -- The heart of the Astroscan is its 1/8 wave, overcoated primary parabolic mirror. Where other telescopes use an inexpensive spherical mirror, the Astroscan's parabolic mirror has a deeper, more complex figure that focuses all incoming light rays to the same point. This results in crisp, clear images without any of distorting effects of spherical mirror aberration. -- The Astroscan is a Newtonian Rich-Field reflector that provides a breathtaking 3 degrees (or six full astroscan telescope moons) of field, literally making this instrument an open window to the universe. The wide field-of-view makes finding astronomical objects far easier than with other telescopes and allows for the best views of deep sky objects, or groups of objects, that won't even fit into the fields of other telescopes. -- With the optional Barlow Lens (available separately or included in the Deluxe Package), you can view Saturn's rings and the Cloud bands of Jupiter. The Astroscan really excels, though, when you turn it to deep sky objects like galaxies, nebulae and star clusters...the Pleiades are truly stunning! At higher magnifications, the Astroscan's images are crisp, clear and powerful. -- The Astroscan has a unique design that won it the 1976 Industrial Design Award. Its creative design has eliminated the cumbersome and complicated mounts typical of most telescopes. Simply place its padded base on any firm, flat surface and you are immediately ready to observe. Its motions are positive and natural, with nothing to tighten or adjust. It's simple enough for a child to use the first time out. -- Other Features for Astronomical Excellence Include: -- *