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Ships from: Orion Telescopes & Binoculars Sold by: Orion Telescopes & Binoculars
Orion StarMax 90mm TableTop Maksutov-Cassegrain Telescope Small But Powerful Portable Telescope for Adult & Family Stargazing of Moon, Planets & More
Purchase options and add-ons
Brand | Orion |
Optical Tube Length | 11.1 Inches |
Eye Piece Lens Description | Bertele |
Objective Lens Diameter | 90 Millimeters |
Telescope Mount Description | Altazimuth Mount |
Product Dimensions | 19.5"D x 10.5"W x 10.5"H |
Focus Type | Manual Focus |
Finderscope | Reflex |
Item Weight | 6.5 Pounds |
Number of Batteries | 1 Lithium Metal batteries required. (included) |
About this item
- This grab-and-go TableTop Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope provides powerful views of the Moon and bright planets such as Jupiter, Saturn, and Mars
- Weighing just 6.5 lbs. assembled, this compact telescope and base can be taken just about anywhere to provide great views of the night sky while on road-trips, camping, or the short trip out to the backyard
- 90mm aperture Maksutov-Cassegrain telescope gathers enough light for beautiful views of brighter deep space objects like globular clusters, nebulas, and many bright galaxies
- Nifty tabletop base provides a stable viewing foundation you can set on any sturdy table, or even attach it to a field tripod with a 3/8" or 1/4"-20 threaded post
- Includes two 1.25" eyepieces (25mm and 10mm focal lengths), EZ Finder II reflex sight for easy aiming, 90 degree mirror diagonal for comfortable night sky viewing, and more!
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Product Description
Optical design | Maksutov-Cassegrain |
Optical diameter | 90mm |
Focal length | 1250mm |
Focal ratio | f/13.9 |
Optics type | Spherical |
Magnification with eyepieces | 62x, 125x |
Eyepieces | Bertele 20.0mm,10.0mm (1.25") |
Magnification with eyepieces | 62x, 125x |
Resolving power | 1.29arc*sec |
Lowest useful magnification | 13x |
Highest useful magnification | 180x |
Finder scope | EZ Finder II |
Focuser | Internal |
Diagonal degrees | 1.25" 90° Mirror Star |
Mount type | Altazimuth |
Weight, fully assembled | 6.2 lbs. |
This pint-sized powerhouse provides surprisingly big views, making the StarMax 90mm TableTop Maksutov-Cassegrain a fantastic first telescope or a pleasantly portable grab-and-go second telescope.
The long 1250mm focal length (f/13.9) Mak-Cass optics give the StarMax 90 some serious power -- in a tube that's just 11" long. The included 20mm and 10mm 4-element eyepieces yield powers of 62.5x and 125x magnification, respectively, to get in tight on your targets. You'll enjoy bright, detailed views of the battered lunar landscape, Saturn's picturesque rings, and Jupiter's meandering moons. Friends and family members will be wowed by the sights of well-resolved open and globular star clusters as well as brighter Messier nebulas.
Focusing the telescope is easy by simply turning the large focusing knob on the rear of the telescope.Set the compact StarMax 90 on a table, or even on the hood of your car, and comfortably view the heavens to your heart's content. And if there isn't a table handy, you can attach the StarMax 90's altazimuth base to an optional field tripod via the threaded 3/8"-16 socket on the bottom of the base. It's super versatile.
The StarMax 90mm TableTop Maksutov-Cassegrain comes with an array of great accessories. In addition to the two multi-coated, 4-element eyepieces mentioned above, you'll get a glare-reducing Orion Moon filter that brings out incredible lunar detail. The EZ Finder II red dot scope helps with finding your target object. You also get Orion's MoonMap 260 to help you identify some 260 lunar features as you observe them.
One other feature of the StarMax 90 that is worth noting: Its optics never need adjusting, unlike with reflector telescopes, for example. The StarMax's Maksutov-Cassegrain optics are precisely aligned at the factory and fixed in place to insure maximum image sharpness.Ultra-portable and very powerful, the take-anywhere Orion StarMax 90mm TableTop Maksutov-Cassegain is ready for your viewing pleasure.
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This Item Orion StarMax 90mm TableTop Maksutov-Cassegrain Telescope Small But Powerful Portable Telescope for Adult & Family Stargazing of Moon, Planets & More | Recommendations | dummy | dummy | dummy | dummy | |
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Price | $279.99$279.99 | $369.99$369.99 | $279.99$279.99 | $159.99$159.99 | $199.99$199.99 | $129.99$129.99 |
Delivery | Get it Apr 2 - 3 | Get it as soon as Sunday, Mar 31 | Get it as soon as Sunday, Mar 31 | Get it as soon as Sunday, Mar 31 | Get it as soon as Sunday, Mar 31 | Get it as soon as Sunday, Mar 31 |
Customer Ratings | ||||||
Portability | 4.6 | — | 5.0 | 4.7 | 4.7 | 4.6 |
Easy to use | 4.2 | — | 4.3 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.5 |
Value for money | 4.5 | — | — | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.4 |
For beginners | — | — | 3.6 | 4.6 | 4.6 | 4.6 |
Sold By | Orion Telescopes & Binoculars | Horox | SVBONY Direct | DoubleSun | DoubleSun | DoubleSun |
focus type | Manual Focus | Manual Focus | Manual Focus | Manual Focus | Manual Focus | Manual Focus |
eye piece lens | Bertele | 10mm*1 20mm*1 | Plossl | — | Barlow | — |
objective lens diameter | 90 millimeters | 80 millimeters | 105 millimeters | 60 millimeters | 70 millimeters | 60 millimeters |
telescope mount | Altazimuth Mount | — | Equatorial Mount | — | — | Altazimuth Mount |
lens coating | — | — | — | Fully Multi-Coated | Fully Multi-Coated | Fully Coated |
power source | — | — | Catadioptric Telescope | Adapter | — | Adapter |
finderscope | Reflex | Reflex | Reflex | Reflex | Reflex | Reflex |
Product guides and documents
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Product information
Product Dimensions | 19.5 x 10.5 x 10.5 inches |
---|---|
Item Weight | 6.5 pounds |
ASIN | B002JO06PO |
Item model number | 10022 |
Batteries | 1 Lithium Metal batteries required. (included) |
Customer Reviews |
4.3 out of 5 stars |
Best Sellers Rank | #1,890 in Camera & Photo Products (See Top 100 in Camera & Photo Products) #31 in Catadioptric Telescopes |
Is Discontinued By Manufacturer | No |
Date First Available | June 17, 2003 |
Manufacturer | Orion |
Warranty & Support
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Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers like the portability, size and ease of use of the telescope. For example, they mention that it's a great little scope, easy to set up and that it gives great views of the moon, rings and moons of Saturn, Jupiter and Venus. That said, opinions are mixed on the quality.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers like the view of the telescope. They say the views of the moon are very sharp, stunning, and detailed. They also say it's easy to use and a great true beginner scope. Customers also mention that it provides great views of large clusters like Pleiades and the Beehive.
"...The views of the Moon were very sharp (sharper than my 10 inch dobsonian) and wasn't too bright, which can be a problem when viewing the Moon with..." Read more
"...The moon is amazing and easy to see and you can focus on a few craters at a time the the Barlow 2x...." Read more
"...if you are a beginner; now, don't get me wrong they are impressive to look through, but the lack of a computerized mounts and their large size is..." Read more
"...The star cluster Pleiades is a fantastic sight- rather than the 6-7 stars you can see on a clear night with the naked eye outside the city, even..." Read more
Customers find the telescope portable, easy to handle, and set up. They say it's small enough for portability, yet the lens that takes in light is huge. They also say it can easily be put in your car to take to a good spot. Customers also say that it performs great for its compact size and is easy to store.
"...Its easy to take anywhere and can easily be put in your car to take to a good spot with dark skies...." Read more
"...Also a plus for having this small compact scope, is that wind doesn't have as big of an influence on moving the scope around!..." Read more
"...It's small enough for portability but the lens that takes in light is huge. It is light in weight. Looks and feels to be made of quality materials...." Read more
"This is a fun little quality scope! Easy to use and very portable.Exactly aligned on the mirrors and easy to set the finder scope...." Read more
Customers like the size of the telescope. For example, they mention it's a nice little scope, has a good magnification, and is portable. Some say the lens that takes in light is huge, but it'll still fit in a backpack. Overall, most are happy with the compact design and find it convenient to use.
"...I can fit the optical tube, the mount, a travel tripod (a Dolica TX570B150SL) and all the accessories I need in a 20" x 10"x 7" camera..." Read more
"...The compact design has been very convient and makes you want to use it more than a huge telescope as many have written...." Read more
"...It's small enough for portability but the lens that takes in light is huge. It is light in weight. Looks and feels to be made of quality materials...." Read more
"...This table-top mounted scope makes a fantastic spotting scope. However, I bought it for astronomy, and this is where the mount is a liability...." Read more
Customers like the build quality of the telescope. They mention that it is easy to use, has good optical quality, and is sturdy enough for its compact size.
"...Its simple and easy for anyone to use and when used on a table its quite stable. However, the table top mount only has 3 small legs on its base...." Read more
"...The scope in itself is nicely built and whatnot; but that's where nice things end for this guy...." Read more
"...The supplied eyepieces seem to be of good quality and I have no complaints there either...." Read more
"...Some people wrote the swivel stand is cheap and were unhappy with it...." Read more
Customers find the telescope easy to use. They say it is simple and easy for anyone to use, and is good for beginners. They also say the red dot is easy to find and takes seconds. Customers also mention that the telescope is easy fix and is convenient.
"...If I had one small criticism of the Starmax it would be the mount. Its simple and easy for anyone to use and when used on a table its quite stable...." Read more
"...No more!Very impressed with this go to scope. Easy, fun, and just pleased for the value of this starmax 90.Would highly recommend...." Read more
"...The ease and convenience of grab-n-go is not to be underestimated, and for some nice quick lunar observing it is perfect...." Read more
"For a budget scope, it can't be beat. It's portable, easy to use and setup...." Read more
Customers find the telescope worth the price. They say the optics are pretty good for the price point.
"...Very impressed with this go to scope. Easy, fun, and just pleased for the value of this starmax 90.Would highly recommend...." Read more
"...The Orion StarMax 90mm is portable and the optics are pretty good for the price point...." Read more
"...If you want a decent quality telescope at a reasonable price, this is your best bet...." Read more
"It is a great telescope for the price. Do not expect too much from it, but the moon views are amazing, and the planets ok." Read more
Customers are satisfied with the appearance of the telescope. They mention that it is light, nice, gorgeous, and easy to handle. The Ez Finder II makes it extremely easy to find objects, and the design and value of the product are excellent. Customers also appreciate the crisp, clear views of the moon, Saturn's rings, and Jupiter.
"...I am glad I didn't waste my money! The Ez Finder II makes it extremely ez (ha ha) to find objects...." Read more
"...Jupiter is amazing! First night out I saw the cloud bands with the four brightest moons circling. The Orion nebula is pleasing also...." Read more
"...The moon was awesome, but I quickly bored of that, just too easy. So I had to find out what planets I could see. Jupiter. WOW...." Read more
"...It was gorgeous! Can't wait to check out Jupiter or Saturn!..." Read more
Customers are mixed about the quality of the telescope. Some mention it's very usable, excellent, and does an amazing job for a small, portable scope. However, others say they had trouble with focusing and the finderscope is subpar.
"...Overall it's still very usable and I am content. I have considered buying an equatorial mount which would probably be the best fix...." Read more
"...large park that does have some dark spots, and the Newtonian performed surprisingly well there- especially after I got a decent Barlow & Plossl..." Read more
"...before, and in general when looking at very bright stuff the scope was rather bad, had a lot of "fog like in the entire view", the image is now dark..." Read more
"Great telescope but since I got it, I had issues with sight finder laser working. Super frustrating" Read more
Reviews with images
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Top reviews
Top reviews from the United States
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Optical Performance:
I tested the scope on the Moon, Jupiter, the Orion Nebula, and a few open star clusters from a urban/suburban location. When viewing the Orion Nebula I was able to see a decent amount of nebulosity and some very faint level of detail, but of course, with its 90mm aperture, you can't expect to be able to see as much as you would with a larger scope. But the Starmax still showed enough of the nebula for it to be an good view. The stars clusters, M41 and M50, both showed a nice view with many stars visible with the use of the low power eyepiece. The Starmax, being a Mak-Cas design, has a relatively narrow field of view, but I still was able to find deep sky objects without much trouble. However I will likely consider purchasing and even lower magnification eyepiece for use with the Starmax to make hunting down faint objects easier. The Moon and Jupiter is where the Starmax really shined. The views of the Moon were very sharp (sharper than my 10 inch dobsonian) and wasn't too bright, which can be a problem when viewing the Moon with larger scopes. Jupiter was very sharp as well with lots of detail visible both with the 25mm and 10mm eyepieces. On a good night with stable atmosphere I was able to see several cloud bands even on low power. I would say that the Starmax does best with lunar and planetary viewing, but can also show users decent views of the brighter deep sky objects (for example the objects in the Messier catalog).
Mount:
If I had one small criticism of the Starmax it would be the mount. Its simple and easy for anyone to use and when used on a table its quite stable. However, the table top mount only has 3 small legs on its base. This means that it can be toppled over if you aren't careful and you push the telescope the wrong way. This almost happened to me the first night I used it. Its not a major problem if you use the scope and the mount correctly, but you might want to be aware of this if you plan on having small children use the Starmax. Most of the time when you are using the telescope away from home you won't have a table to use and you will want to tripod mount the Starmax. Since the mount has a tripod adapter on the bottom its easy to do, but its not the most stable of configurations. I use a Dolica ultra compact travel tripod with the Starmax and its usable, but you have to give the scope a few seconds to stabilize after you move it or touch it. I put up with the shakiness in exchange for portability, but I recommend using the most heavy duty tripod you are willing to carry around when using the Starmax.
Overall I think the Starmax 90mm is a great buy for anyone looking for a first telescope (especially if you are interesting in viewing the moon and planets) or anyone who already has a larger telescope and wants a small scope to travel with or one that can be set up quickly.
This is an excellent quality scope and I couldn't be happier. The compact design has been very convient and makes you want to use it more than a huge telescope as many have written. Don't be deceived by how portable and short this telescope is and think it will produce cheap images because that's simply not true. I bought a 2x Barlow and think it tops off this scope very nicely. The extra magnification is still great quality expect the 10mm with the Barlow can be borderline distorted on some nights. Also a plus for having this small compact scope, is that wind doesn't have as big of an influence on moving the scope around! I live in west Texas and didn't think of the size of the scope and wind but realized very quickly that I bought the right scope while easily viewing the night's sky on a typical windy night.
What can you see with this scope you may be asking as I did. With the given 25 mm and 10 mm lenses, you can easily see Jupiter and all four moons. The cloud bands are fairly easy to see and every once in a while I can see the famous red storm but it only shows up as a tiny speck even with Barlow 2x. Saturn and its ring is also easily seen but don't expect to see the Cassini Division in the ring or if you do it will be extremely tiny. The moon is amazing and easy to see and you can focus on a few craters at a time the the Barlow 2x. Bought the variable moon filter and have been pleased but definitely not required for great visualization of the moon. I have tried to look at Mars and Venus and they show up more as a bright off colored speck so far with little to no features and kinda boring honestly. Not sure how well nebulas visualize in this scope because I have only tried a few times in an in-town setting with street lights near my house. So far from what I can tell Orion's Nebula shows up more as a small bright cloud/bright area.
Some people wrote the swivel stand is cheap and were unhappy with it. I can see perhaps why some may say it is kinda cheap but I think it's not at all a bad stand or poor quality. Seems like an appropriate stand that will last so don't be turned off by those reviews.
Only thing I get a little frustrated with is trying to follow the objects around as they go up or down out of my field of view. Somebody or a few people wrote it can feel kinda jerky moving the telescope up and down and throw the image around etc... This is true. You can alleviate some of this problem by loosening the bolt holding it on the stand but it's extremely easy to have the scope too loose where it slips down or too tight and jerky and not sure if there is a perfect happy medium given this bolt on design. Overall it's still very usable and I am content. I have considered buying an equatorial mount which would probably be the best fix. We can't expect a bolt on system such as comes with this stand to function 100% smoothly as something as a mechanical turning of an equitorial mount. But the give design still functions quit well and am pleased enough and would say it's very usable.
Before purchasing this scope I was intimidated at if I would be able to locate and pull the desired object into the scope's field of view. I was very tempted to buy a "go to" or GPS scope. I am glad I didn't waste my money! The Ez Finder II makes it extremely ez (ha ha) to find objects. Furthermore I discovered iPhone has several free or cheap apps that you can download that allows you to just hold your phone up towards the nights sky to find objects or even at your feet to see what stars/objects are on the other side of the earth! Great apps that take pressure off of you for knowing what's what to get a good start at astronomy.
I attached a picture that I tried to take while holding my iPhone up the to eye piece (extremely hard to do which is why i can't get a good pic of Jupiter to show yet). I believe this pic was taken with Barlow 2x and the given 10mm and a variable moon filter.
This is an excellent quality scope and I couldn't be happier. The compact design has been very convient and makes you want to use it more than a huge telescope as many have written. Don't be deceived by how portable and short this telescope is and think it will produce cheap images because that's simply not true. I bought a 2x Barlow and think it tops off this scope very nicely. The extra magnification is still great quality expect the 10mm with the Barlow can be borderline distorted on some nights. Also a plus for having this small compact scope, is that wind doesn't have as big of an influence on moving the scope around! I live in west Texas and didn't think of the size of the scope and wind but realized very quickly that I bought the right scope while easily viewing the night's sky on a typical windy night.
What can you see with this scope you may be asking as I did. With the given 25 mm and 10 mm lenses, you can easily see Jupiter and all four moons. The cloud bands are fairly easy to see and every once in a while I can see the famous red storm but it only shows up as a tiny speck even with Barlow 2x. Saturn and its ring is also easily seen but don't expect to see the Cassini Division in the ring or if you do it will be extremely tiny. The moon is amazing and easy to see and you can focus on a few craters at a time the the Barlow 2x. Bought the variable moon filter and have been pleased but definitely not required for great visualization of the moon. I have tried to look at Mars and Venus and they show up more as a bright off colored speck so far with little to no features and kinda boring honestly. Not sure how well nebulas visualize in this scope because I have only tried a few times in an in-town setting with street lights near my house. So far from what I can tell Orion's Nebula shows up more as a small bright cloud/bright area.
Some people wrote the swivel stand is cheap and were unhappy with it. I can see perhaps why some may say it is kinda cheap but I think it's not at all a bad stand or poor quality. Seems like an appropriate stand that will last so don't be turned off by those reviews.
Only thing I get a little frustrated with is trying to follow the objects around as they go up or down out of my field of view. Somebody or a few people wrote it can feel kinda jerky moving the telescope up and down and throw the image around etc... This is true. You can alleviate some of this problem by loosening the bolt holding it on the stand but it's extremely easy to have the scope too loose where it slips down or too tight and jerky and not sure if there is a perfect happy medium given this bolt on design. Overall it's still very usable and I am content. I have considered buying an equatorial mount which would probably be the best fix. We can't expect a bolt on system such as comes with this stand to function 100% smoothly as something as a mechanical turning of an equitorial mount. But the give design still functions quit well and am pleased enough and would say it's very usable.
Before purchasing this scope I was intimidated at if I would be able to locate and pull the desired object into the scope's field of view. I was very tempted to buy a "go to" or GPS scope. I am glad I didn't waste my money! The Ez Finder II makes it extremely ez (ha ha) to find objects. Furthermore I discovered iPhone has several free or cheap apps that you can download that allows you to just hold your phone up towards the nights sky to find objects or even at your feet to see what stars/objects are on the other side of the earth! Great apps that take pressure off of you for knowing what's what to get a good start at astronomy.
I attached a picture that I tried to take while holding my iPhone up the to eye piece (extremely hard to do which is why i can't get a good pic of Jupiter to show yet). I believe this pic was taken with Barlow 2x and the given 10mm and a variable moon filter.
Top reviews from other countries
Reviewed in the Netherlands on July 6, 2022
Reviewed in Canada on September 14, 2019
Nach langen Recherchen hab ich mich für dieses Teleskop entschieden. Grund: Preis-/Leistungsverhältnis, denn ich werde keine langen Stunden am Abend damit verbringen, sondern hier und da den Mond und Planeten beobachten.
Mein Traum: endlich mal die Ringe des Saturns und die Jupitermonde nebst Jupiter erkennen. Was ist das Ergebnis: nach gelungenem sehr schnellen Zusammenbau habe ich zuerst den Jupiter mit dem 19mm, dann mit dem 9mm Okular beobachtet. Wow, den Jupiter mit den Farbtönungen gut erkannt und die 4 Monde! Jetzt gespannt den Saturn gesucht und tatsächlich, auch das klappt besser als erhofft. Dann noch einige Krater des Mondes untersucht, einfach überwältigend! Mars und Venus auch zu sehen bekommen, wobei sehr viel sieht man hier (noch) nicht.
Mittlerweile habe ich hochwertigere Okulare dazu gekauft , was das Ganze noch besser aussehen lässt.
Was man als Laie nicht unterschätzen darf, es gibt hier keine automatische Nachführung, man muss somit manuell ständig nachführen. Man glaubt gar nicht, wie schnell die Planeten wieder aus dem Sichtfeld verschwinden. Aber ansonsten legt man gleich wieder Zweihundert oder mehr Euronen drauf, das wollte ich nicht.
Ich bin jetzt erst am Anfang auf meiner kleinen Reise durch unser Sonnensystem, aber mit diesem Teleskop ist es ein Vergnügen und sehr zu empfehlen.
Noch ein Vorteil ist das Gewicht, alles in allem keine 5 Kilo, somit leicht zu transportieren im Rucksack, so wie ich das wollte.