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Astro-Tech 16 inch
Truss-Dobsonian Telescope

Like all Dobsonian reflectors, this very complete 16" Astro-Tech truss-tube Dob gives you more light-gathering for your dollar than any other telescope type. Its very large 16" aperture gathers four times the light of an 8" scope (and almost 3400 times as much as the sharpest dark-adapted eye)! The result? It shows you very faint deep space objects that are simply invisible in smaller scopes. And color is often visible in the brighter nebulas. With a visual limiting magnitude of 15.5, this 16" Astro-Tech is ideal for observing faint nebulas, galaxies, and star clusters from a dark sky site – all the faint fuzzies outside the solar system that fascinate us.

Despite its large aperture, the 16" Astro-Tech Dobsonian is easy to get to your favorite observing site, whether that be your own back yard or a dark sky site miles out of town. Unlike a bulky Sonotube or metal tube Dobs, you don’t need a van or small truck to transport this big 16" scope to the dark sky sites it needs to perform at its best. The 16" Astro-Tech breaks down into a few compact components that fit into virtually any car trunk or into the back seat of just about any compact car. It weighs only 134 pounds fully assembled. Assemble the AT16D in just a few minutes, with no tools needed, and you’re ready for an evening of fascinating viewing at your favorite dark sky location.

The first component is the 14 pound aluminum upper cage containing the diagonal mirror, 2" focuser, and 8 x 50mm right angle erect image finderscope. Second is the 60 pound aluminum mirror tub holding the primary mirror in its 18-point flotation cell. Three light-weight (6 pounds total) but very rigid single strut aluminum truss tubes connect the secondary cage to the mirror tub. They have die-cast brackets with curved notches that mate with projections on the cage and tub rims by means of large hand-tighten knobs, making assembly easy. Finally, there’s the 54 pound laminated particle board base (rocker box) in which the mirror tub sits.

With 1/12th wave surface accuracy, the performance of the BK7 optical glass mirrors of the 16" Astro-Tech Dobsonian is guaranteed to be diffraction limited – for sharp high contrast images of nebulas, galaxies, and star clusters. Planetary images are also sharp and crisp, although a neutral density filter is certainly required to allow glare-free observing. The mirrors are overcoated with quartz for long life.

Because of its compact individual component sizes and reasonably light component weights, the 16" Astro-Tech can easily be transported and assembled by one dedicated individual, although two people will generally make it easier to assemble aluminum upper cage to the truss tubes. Set-up time is only about 15-20 minutes.

The 16" Astro-Tech Dobsonian is designed for visual observing only – to show you as much of the night skies in as much detail as possible. Under dark skies, color becomes visible to the eye in many nebulas. The Orion Nebula becomes a glowing blue-green mass of filaments, often tinged with red and yellow for the keen-eyed observer from a dark sky site. With a resolving power of 0.29 arc seconds, globular clusters can often be resolved to their cores in good seeing, with each cluster becoming a vivid ball of tiny individual stars instead of a hazy blur. Knottings and structure in the arms of the Whirlpool Galaxy become clear. Mighty globular clusters in the distant Andromeda Galaxy begin to reach the threshold of visibility for the exceptionally keen-eyed observer.

As with any large aperture telescope, the performance of the 16" Astro-Tech Dobsonian on faint objects will be markedly improved by a dark sky observing site. Light-polluted city and suburban sites are not recommended as the primary observing site with any 16" scope. Such light polluted sites require a light pollution filter to take even limited advantage of its immense light-gathering.

While it is in deep space observing of galaxies and nebulas from a dark sky observing site that the 16" Astro-Tech Dobsonian excels, significant planetary and lunar observing is also within its capability. Small details in the atmospheres of Jupiter and Saturn and on the surface of Mars reveal themselves at high powers given suitably good seeing. All you need is steady skies and a neutral density eyepiece filter to cut down the immense brightness of solar system objects seen through this immense “light bucket."

The 218 pound shipping weight 16" Astro-Tech Dobsonian is shipped freight-free directly to you via air freight.

Simply-made, but with precision optics, this Astro-Tech 16" Dobsonian reflector will reward you with thousands of bright deep space views and years of trouble-free observing enjoyment.

This 16" Astro-Tech Dobsonian reflector has:

• 1/12th wave p-to-p wave BK-7 optics
• 18-point primary mirror floatation system
• innovative three-strut truss-tube design
• dual-speed 2" Crayford focuser with 1.25" adapter
• innovative ball-bearing altitude motion with clutch
• smooth roller-bearing azimuth motion
• tube balance system and cooling fan
• 8 x 50mm R.A.C.I. finderscope
• 2" 30mm SuperView eyepiece and 1.25" 9mm Plössl eyepiece
• laser collimator, eyepiece tray, Moon filter
• free air shipping

Price $2395.00 with FREE AIR SHIPPING