Glossary | Telescopes | General | Series | SkyQuest

The Dobsonian telescopes in the SkyQuest series are perfect for the purely visual observation of the night sky. They are suitable for both beginners and advanced amateur astronomers.

Orion offers these Dobsonian telescopes ranging from small 5-inch, to mirror optics with 16-inch diameter - that's over 40 centimetres! The large optics in the SkyQuest series are available in a truss tube design, so that they can be more easily transported.

With Dobsonian telescopes, the Earth’s rotation is traditionally manually tracked. The observer searches for and finds objects using a star map. However, Orion also offers SkyQuest Dobsonians with an electronic helper called Intelliscope, which indicates in which direction the telescope should be moved in order to point at the desired object (PushTo). The SkyQuest Dobsonians are even available with motors and computer control (GoTo), so that manual tracking is not required.

These telescopes’ Newtonian optics are of Orion’s customary high quality: the mirror is made of a low thermal expansion glass, so that it remains stable during cooling and during temperature fluctuations. The top-quality coating is highly reflective. Focusing on the models up to a 150mm aperture is via a 1.25" rack and pinion drive, from 203mm aperture a 2" Crayford focuser is used. In the PLUS version the focuser also has a fine adjustment.

The Dobsonian base turns on smoothly running Teflon bearings (polytetrafluoroethylene, PTFE). This allows the telescope to move smoothly without jerking, ensuring relaxed observing. The tube holds its position because it is suspended in perfect balance.

The components of the telescope are easy to handle and light, so that the telescope remains easily transportable and can be set up in just a few steps and without any specialist knowledge or tools.