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Fabulous complete astronomy starter kit featuring the amazing fully computerised Meade 2080 high-technology 80mm refractor and a complete kit of accessories for just £244.99 inc UK p&p.

Fully computerised 80mm telescope kit Complete with computerised Autostar hand controller, 2 eyepieces, 2x Barlow lens (FREE extra see top banner) electronic red dot finder and illustrated guide book set, this stunning telescope package will give you amazing views of the Moon, planets, stars and nebulae, and whatīs more - itīll show you hundreds of such objects from your own back-garden at the merest touch of a button!

Click the link below to read a review of the Meade 2080 80mm GOTO telescope by Graham Ellis:

Review: Meade DS-2080AT LNT GOTO computerised refractor telescope

As recommended by Sir Patrick Moore! Anyone who has read the great astronomy books by Sir Patrick or watched the Sky at Night will know that he often recommends a good quality 3" or 75mm refractor as a minimum ideal astronomy instrument. The Meade 80 is a 80mm (or 3.25" - in old money) refractor so the Meade 2080 generously exceeds Sir Patrick's advice. And the optical qulity isn't just good, it's excellent! The pin sharp 80mm optical design features Meade's trusted air-spaced achromatic doublet system. The sophisticated compound lens system uses two lenses of slightly different glass type combined with a very small precision controlled air gap between the lens elements to produce an optical system that produces bright, sharp, high contrast images with a high degree of colour fidelity - ideal for viewing planets and other colour and detail rich targets.

The Meade 2080 has a fully computerised mounting, once set up (it takes just a few minutes) the Meade 2080 knows the location of over 1400 of the sky's most exciting targets - and can take you straight to them at the touch of a button.

How it works.

The telescope uses two ultra high-precision motors (like the ones used in the most sophisticated colour ink-jet printers, only much more powerful) that work in synchronization with an electronic brain that steers the telescope to any object in the sky that you select from the illuminated menu driven handset. It automatically compensates for the constant rotation of the Earth too, so that the object (planet, galaxy etc) appears stationary in the eyepiece and allows you to study it in detail.

Your personal on-board expert!

We know this might sound too good to be true, but it really is like having the brain and knowledge of Patrick Moore or Carl Sagan built in to the telescope, ready to dispense tireless expertise and guidance every time you want it! And if you think it sounds almost too simple and will take away the fun of finding out and learning about the universe for yourself: think again. The best quickest way to learn about almost anything is with the aid of an expert and patient teacher. The Meade 2080 is just that, a patient PhD-caliber teacher that will let you learn at your leisure and have great fun doing it.

If you or someone you know has always wanted a top quality telescope for astronomy observation but was worried about the challenge of finding the things you want to see in the night sky, then the Meade 2080 80mm is the ideal scope.

Accessories included in the kit

Autostar hand controller: total computer control system, automatically finds planets, stars, comets, etc, and identify interesting targets appearing in the night sky.

LNT Level-North-Time module: This clever patented Meade automated technology helps you to set up the telescope without any complicated measurements of setting ready to explore the whole Universe as though you had the experience of a professional astronomer - your very first night out under the stars!

All the accessories you need are included: Includes 2 premium quality eyepieces: and we add a quality Meade 2x Barlow FREE - giving you a total of 4 magnifications from low-power wide angle (for big targets and deep sky viewing) through to 180x high-power for plants and exploring the fine detail of Lunar craters and mountains.

The included eyepieces and Barlow lens offers a wide range of magnifications from 32x up to 180x.

aluminium field tripod.

Meade PC planetarium software on CDROM.

Also included:

Electronic red dot LED finder: the easy-to-use finder has two brightness levels and can be used day or night.

Star diagonal: Allows comfortable viewing of the night sky without neck ache by holding the eyepiece at an angle of 90 degrees to the telescope.

With its handsome pre-assembled, aluminium adjustable tripod, the Meade 2080 can be up and ready to use in a matter of minutes. The unique Autostar alignment technology and the included electronic finder scope with a red LED (see picture 3) makes aligning and setting up a breeze.

A wonderful first-time astronomical scope, the Meade 2080 can also be used as a great, high powered land-based spotting telescope with optional erect-image diagonal (see recommended accessories, below left).

Meade 2080 80mm features

Red dot finder The SmartFinder electronic LED finder scope helps with alignment and accurately locating objects. It's a clever little gadget that you switch on and it appears to project a red dot on the sky - simply place the red dot on the target you wish to look at! (The red dot finder can even be used during the day to find terrestrial targets). And of course, if you want to know exactly where something the automatic system has found for you actually is, relative to stars you can see with the naked eye - simply check the position with the red dot finder!

The telescope features a quick-release cradle mount for quick no-tools set up.

The sturdy aluminium full-height field tripod has a useful accessory tray that stays conveniently attached to the centre stay for easy set-up and break down.

Reliable patented Meade Autostar computer-control technology.

The on-board target database allows the telescope to effortlessly locate over 1400 celestial objects, including planets, galaxies, nebulae, comets and even made made satellites.

Ultra-simple alignment allows you to align the telescope in seconds, making for a fast and easy set-up process.

Flash upgradeable hand-set for downloading product updates over the Internet

And as an extra bonus, to make sure you can see what you are doing without spoiling your dark-adapted vision, we've included a special red LED torch FREE that only emits red light of a wavelength that will not reduce the eyes' dark-adapted sensitivity.

This outfit is one of our best-ever GOTO telescope astronomy starter kits - in fact, all you will need to supply is a clear night!

SPECIFICATIONS

OPTICAL DESIGN: Refractor

APERTURE: 80 mm (3.25 in)

FOCAL LENGTH: 800 mm

MOUNT: Motorised & Computerised Alt-azimuth

EYEPIECE 1: 25 mm

MAGNIFICATION 1 32x and 64x (with Barlow)

EYEPIECE 2: 9 mm

MAGNIFICATION 2 88x and 180x(with Barlow)

TRIPOD: Aluminium

OPTICAL RESOLVING POWER: 1.6 arc seconds

LIGHT GATHERING POWER 132 x naked-eye

OPTICAL COATINGS Fully-Coated

AUTOSTAR COMPUTER HAND CONTROL Fully Computerized / Flash Upgradeable

SLEW SPEEDS Nine slew speeds: 4°/sec, 2°/sec, 1°/sec, .5°/sec, 32x, 16x, 8x, 4x, 2x

DATABASE 1471 Object Database

What can you see with the Meade 80mm GOTO telescope?

At low to medium power, the ancient landscape of the Moon becomes a fabulously intricate panorama of craters, rays and rills. At higher powers, individual crater systems can be explored. The planet Mars will show many details on its surface, and the polar cap can be seen during ideal observing conditions. At good observing times, when observed at just 50x or higher magnification, the planet Jupiter will appear as a banded disc larger in size than you normally see the full Moon with the unaided eye! The cloud belts of Jupiter will show ever changing detail that will show drift across the planet's face in just a few minutes. The four main moons of Jupiter can be seen orbiting the giant planet, sometimes casting shadows onto Jupiter's dense cloudy atmosphere. The planet Saturn will show its magnificent ring system and its bright famous moon Titan. These are just a few of the things that can be seen in our own solar system with the Meade 2080 computerised telescope. Outside of our solar system, exotic targets ranging from star factories or nurseries to star grave yards can be seen. Outside our galaxy hundreds of island universes can be found - from your own back-garden galaxies millions of light-years distant can be seen with this truly amazing telescope.