Meade’s new, larger 80mm diameter ETX delivers more light-gathering for increased image brightness and greater detail. Moon craters by the hundreds, cloud belts on Jupiter, and Saturn’s rings are just the beginning of what can be seen with this telescope.  Backpack model includes lightweight tripod and deluxe durable backpack.

Meade’s brainy AutoStar computer solves the stargazer’s two biggest challenges in navigating the heavens with a computer telescope: aligning the telescope with the night sky and finding celestial phenomenon in the vast starry firmament. Right out of the box with a simple initialization, AutoStar makes finding the sky’s elusive jewels virtually as easy as pushing a few buttons. Observe land or over 1400 sky objects in stunning high resolution, and learn about the sky with Meade’s extensive astro-library.

The AutoStar computer controller automatically guides your telescope to over 1400 objects. View planets, stars, galaxies, and nebulas all at the push of a button. Don’t know what to see on a particular night? Don’t worry. Just select the Tonight’s Best™ tour and AutoStar will automatically take you on a guided tour of the best planets, stars, nebulas and other objects out that particular night. Want to know more about what you’re looking at? The LCD display teaches you about what you’re viewing with details like distance, temperature, mass, and historical information. AutoStar is your guide to the universe.

Any astronomer will tell you that light gathering-not power-is what matters. A small, crisp image is better than a large hazy one. Meade’s 1.25" diameter Super Plössl eyepieces provide wider fields of view, allowing you to see more of the sky at greater magnifications.

Software on DVD + Instructional Video AutoStar Suite Astronomer Edition software will help you learn the night sky. It displays more than 10,000 celestial objects including planets, stars, galaxies and nebulas. You can print out star charts and even plan your observing sessions. It operates on any Windows® based PC.