The new Sharpstar 50EDPH offers a compact and lightweight triplet apo optical tube assembly with a 50mm aperture, 275mm focal length and a native focal ratio of f/5.5. Including the dovetail, it has a weight of only 1kg and, when the dew shield is contracted, it measures 196mm which means that it can easily be attached to most mounts and tripods with its V style dovetail that has 1/4-20 holes.
The triplet air spaced apochromatic design and ED glass offers excellent color correction and clarity for superior astrophotography performance. This helps ensure the telescope does not suffer from chromatic aberration which is notorious for resulting in false color, which helps astro imagers obtain well resolved frames and exposures.
The Sharpstar 50EDPH comes with a 360° rotator and a dual speed rack and pinion focuser that can be locked with a screw for precise focusing. The focuser has a 1:10 precision fine adjustment knob with 60mm of travel length. With a 1.25″ adapter at the rear of the 50EDPH, a diagonal can be attached for visual observation. Sharpstar also includes two sections of 5cm M48 extension tubes which can connect to the eyepiece directly instead of through a diagonal or connected to a planetary camera for imaging.
The Sharpstar 50EDPH’s image circle can support up to an APS-C camera. It can be coupled with the optional, purpose built Sharpstar 0.84x reducer and flattener which comes with an M48 adapter and a built in M48x0.75 2″ filter thread for direct mounting.
Once attached to the 50EDPH OTA, the 0.84x reducer can bring the Sharpstar 50EDPH’s focal ratio down to f/4.6 and the focal length to 230mm while providing field flattening capabilities as well. With a shorter focal ratio, the OTA will have a wider field of view and faster exposure times. These features make the 50EDPH suitable for imaging fast-moving celestial objects, star clusters and large areas of nebulae.
The 0.84x reducer utilizes a quadruplet design and comes in a CNC machined body with threaded metal dust caps to prevent dust and damage to the optics when not in use or traveling. This reducer supports APS-C frame cameras and the backfocus from the M48 thread is a standard 55mm. The body of the reducer weighs 0.53 lb. (0.24kg).
The Sharpstar 50EDPH specifications include:
– Focal Ratio: f/5.5
– Aperture: 50mm
– Number of Refractor Elements: 3 (Triplet)
– Focal Length: 275mm
– Limiting Stellar Magnitude: 10.3
– Focuser Style: Rack & Pinion Dual Speed
– OTA Weight: 1kg
You can learn more about the Sharpstar 50EDPH here.
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