Meade Coronado 0.5 Angstrom Personal Solar Telescope (PST)

1-800-447-1001
Email Us

Why Buy From Orion

30 Day Money Back Guarantee
Safe & Secure Shopping
Next Day Shipping
Easy Returns
Sale Price Guarantee
Free Technical Support

More Information

Coronado 0.5 Angstrom Personal Solar Telescope

Free Standard Shipping

Quantity:

More Shipping Information

Specialized "H-alpha" solar telescope safely reveals dramatic prominences, flares, filaments, granularity, plages, and other solar phenomena
Internal etalon filter combines with the 40mm external etalon to reduce the bandpass down to an impressive 0.5 Angstroms for increased surface detail compared with wider bandpass filters.
Internal blocking filters reject all unwanted and harmful radiation, for completely safe viewing
Weighs only 3 lbs., so requires only a small telescope mount or sturdy camera tripod for support

Learn more

Item # 55712

Mfg Model # 0.5PST

Add to Wish List

Email Friend

More Info

The Sun's got a lot going on, and the Meade Coronado Personal Solar Telescope will show it to you. By zeroing in on the far end of the Sun's visible light spectrum - the hydrogen-alpha line at 656.3nm to be exact - the PST reveals a star rolling with violent, ever-changing activity. Best of all, the PST's innovative design allows H-alpha solar viewing for a breakthrough price.

Designed and Manufactured in North America.

With the PST you will witness eruptions in the solar atmosphere called flares and the dramatic streamers known as prominences that shoot out from the Sun's edge. You'll also see a solar disk mottled with granularity and dark, snaking filaments. Active regions containing migrating sunspots and bright, irregularly shaped plages add to the incredible detail.This compact 40mm f/10 refractor combines an internal filter called an etalon with a second thread-on external etalon which transmits only the primary wavelength of light emitted by hydrogen (656.3nm) in the solar chromosphere, where all the action occurs. This "double-stacking" of the two etalon filters produces a bandpass of 0.5 Angstrom, allowing for even more detailed, higher contrast views of the solar surface compared with wider bandpass filters.

The telescope is just 15" long and weighs only 3 lbs., so it needs only a small telescope mount or a sturdy camera tripod for support. A 1/4" -20 mounting socket under the scope's rear housing provides the attachment point.

The PST will show you how dynamic our nearest star really is, with some surface phenomena changing over several minutes time! Get a Meade Coronado Personal Solar telescope today and get in on the action!

Features a 40mm diameter dedicated Ha optical system with 30mm internal etalon primary blocking filter, 40mm external etalon, and incorporated focuser and bandpass fine adjustment controls and built in solar viewfinder. 400mm focal length, f/10 focal ratio, and includes an 18mm Pl�ssl eyepiece. Tripod not included.

The gold CEMAX eyepieces can also be purchased separately. A focusing knob keeps the image sharp and a tuning collar allows the contrast to be adjusted on selected surface details. A clever Sun-finder window near the eyepiece provides a safe way to aim the telescope.

Mounting options include use on a standard photo tripod (scope is threaded for a standard camera 1/4-20 mounting bolt), Infinity AZS, or the Meade DSM mount with computerized Autostar and GoTo technology. A custom hard case is available separately.

Coronado assures that all solar filters and solar telescopes are tested at specialized labs that are accredited to verify compliance with the ISO 12312-2 safety specifications for solar viewing.

Warranty

Limited Warranty against defects in materials or workmanship for five years from date of purchase. This warranty is provided by Meade for the benefit of the original retail purchaser only. For complete warranty details contact Meade at 800-626-3233.

Warning

Please note this product was not designed or intended by the manufacturer for use by a child 12 years of age or younger.

Product Support

Visit our product support section for instruction manuals and more

Specs

Best for viewing

Solar
User level

User level

Beginner Level - Suited for a wide range of uses, these products are simple to operate and set up. Some initial assembly may be required depending on the type of product. Optical instruments with this rating will have very good optical and mechanical quality. Great for families, young people, and folks who don't want to mess with equipment and complexity. Beginning level telescopes will show you countless lunar craters, Saturn's rings and a myriad of star clusters and nebulae! Referring to the manual is recommended.

Intermediate Level - These products offer higher performance and more advanced features than Level 1: Beginner models. They typically take a bit longer to learn and need some set-up or adjustments. But anyone with the slightest technical bent will have no problem getting familiar with these models. Referring to the manual is recommended.

Advanced Level - These products provide the best performance but may require more skill to master and appreciate. Optical instruments with this rating have exceptionally fine optics and mechanics. Some are easy to use but might be on the large or heavy side. Some are intended for specialized uses. These products will appeal to the more technically inclined. Referring to the manual is highly recommended.

Intermediate
Optical design

Optical design

Reflector telescopes use a pair of large and small mirrors to direct incoming light to the eyepiece. Refractor telescopes refract, or "bend" incoming light to a focus by means of an objective lens. Cassegrain telescopes, such as Maksutov-Cassegrains, "fold" incoming light using two mirrors and a front "corrector" lens.

Refractor
Optical diameter

Optical diameter

For telescopes, the optical diameter (also known as aperture) is the size of a telescope's main light-collecting lens or primary mirror, measured in millimeters or inches. Telescopes with larger optical diameters collect more light, which leads to an increase in brightness and image resolution compared to smaller instruments.

For binoculars, the optical diameter (also known as objective lens diameter) is the size of each of the front-facing objective lenses of a binocular measured in millimeters. Binoculars with larger objective lenses collect more light, which increases image resolution and brightness. Binoculars with larger objective lenses are recommended for low light situations, and binoculars with at least 50mm or larger objective lenses are recommended for pleasing astronomical observations at night.

40mm
Focal length

Focal length

The distance from the center of a curved mirror or lens at which parallel light rays converge to a single point. The focal length is an inherent specification of a mirror or lens and is one of the factors in determining resultant magnification for a telescope (along with the focal length of the eyepiece being used).

400mm
Focal ratio

Focal ratio

The focal ratio of an optical system is the ratio of a telescope's focal length to its aperture. Short focal ratios (f/5, f/4.5) produce wide fields of view and small image scales, while long focal lengths produce narrower fields of views and larger image scales.

f/10.0
Glass material

Glass material

Refractors use glass lenses to focus the light, and the glass material plays an important role in the quality of the resulting image. Standard achromatic refractors routinely use Crown and Flint for the two elements, but more expensive apochromatic refractors can use ED (extra low dispersion) glass for one or more of the lenses. Reflector mirrors are made from glass with different levels of thermal expansion. Standard mirrors are made from material such as Soda-Lime Plate glass and BK-7 glass. Glass with Pyrex or other low thermal expansion material will not change shape as dramatically during the cool-down period, resulting in more stable images during this period.

Crown/Flint
Eyepieces

Plossl 18.0mm (1.25")
Magnification with included eyepieces

22x
Resolving power

Resolving power

The theoretical resolving power of a telescope can be calculated with the following formula: Resolving power (in arc seconds) = 4.56 divided by aperture of telescope (in inches). In metric units, this is: Resolving power (in arc seconds) = 116 divided by aperture of telescope (in millimeters). Note that the formula is independent of the telescope type or model, and is based only upon the aperture of the telescope. So the larger the telescope's aperture, the more it is capable of resolving. This is important to keep in mind when observing astronomical objects which require high resolution for best viewing, such as planets and double stars. However, it is usually atmospheric seeing conditions (not the telescope) which limits the actual resolving power on a given night; rarely is resolution less than one arc-second possible from even the best viewing locations on Earth.

2.90arc*sec
Lowest useful magnification

Lowest useful magnification

Lowest useful magnification is the power at which the exit pupil becomes 7mm in diameter. Powers below this can still be reached with the telescope to give wider fields of view, but the image no longer becomes brighter at a lower power. This is due to the fact that the exit pupil of the telescope (the beam of light exiting the eyepiece) is now larger than the average person's dark adapted pupil, and no more light can fit into the eye.

6x
Highest useful magnification

Highest useful magnification

The highest practical limit is different from the often used "highest theoretical magnification" specification. The "theoretical" limit generally is 50x the aperture of the scope in inches (2x the aperture in mm). So for example, an 80mm refractor is capable of 160x, and a 10" telescope is theoretically capable of 500x magnification. But after approximately 300x, theory breaks down and real world problems take over. The atmosphere above us is constantly in motion, and it will distort the image seen through the telescope. This effect may not be noticeable at lower powers, but at higher powers the atmosphere will dramatically blur the object, reducing the quality of the image. On a good night (a night where the air above is steady and the stars aren't twinkling), the practical upper limit of a large telescope is 300x, even thought the theoretical limit may be much higher. This doesn't mean the scope will never be able to reach those higher "theoretical" powers - there will be that rare night where the atmosphere is perfectly still and the scope can be pushed past it's practical limit, but those nights will be few and far between.

80x
Highest theoretical magnification

80x
Limiting stellar magnitude

Limiting stellar magnitude

The limiting stellar magnitude is a measure of the faintest star you can see through the telescope.

10.7
Optical quality

Optical quality

"Diffraction Limited" means that the limits of image detail are determined by the physical properties of light, and not by optical defects in the telescope.

Diffraction limited
Finder scope

None
Focuser

Internal
Mount type

Optical Tube without Mount
Latitude range

Latitude range

The latitude range refers to the usable range on the EQ mount's latitude axis. If you live above or below the latitude specified, the mount may not be able to polar align properly because of interference with the counterweight shaft or the polar axis housing.
Tube material

Aluminum
Length of optical tube

20.0 in.
Weight, optical tube

3.2 lbs.
Weight, mount/tripod

3.0 lbs.
Weight, fully assembled

3.0 lbs.
Additional included accessories

Sun-finder window built into housing
Other features

Includes external 40mm etalon filter, Two etalons together product 0.5 Angstrom bandpass, Contrast tuning adjustment ring
Warranty

Warranty

This warranty gives you specific legal rights. It is not intended to remove or restrict your other legal rights under applicable local consumer law; your state or national statutory consumer rights governing the sale of consumer goods remain fully applicable.

Five year
T-max Tuner

No

Shipping Info

Orders received by 1pm Eastern Standard Time for in-stock items ship the same business day. Order received after noon will ship the next business day. When an item is not in-stock we will ship it as soon as it becomes available. Typically in-stock items will ship first and backordered items will follow as soon as they are available. You have the option in check out to request that your order ship complete, if you'd prefer.

A per-item shipping charge (in addition to the standard shipping and handling charge) applies to this product due to its size and weight. This charge varies based on the shipping method.

Standard Delivery: $0.00
Standard Delivery to Canada: $20.00
3 Day Delivery: $35.00
2 Day Delivery: $35.00
Next Day Delivery: $50.00

SHIPPING RESTRICTIONS APPLY FOR THIS PRODUCT

This product is available to ship Standard delivery US except for delivery to Alaska and Hawaii. Delivery is available to APO/DPO/FPO addresses. Delivery is not available to US territories/protectorates. Delivery is available to Canada.

Reviews