Oh! Gizmo

By Andrew Liszewski

I’m not gonna lie to you people. This latest telescope from Meade is really only designed for people who are very interested in astronomy. The RCX400 comes in either a 20-inch aperture model or a 16-inch model and attaches to a special robotic stand called the MAX Mount. All in all you’re looking at about 500 lbs. of equipment that ensures some of the steadiest star watching you’ve ever enjoyed.

You see one of the problems with watching the stars which becomes especially apparent when you photograph them is the rotation of the Earth. To get a well exposed shot of the night sky you typically need a long exposure and if you combine that with the spinning of the planet you end up with a blurred photo. The solution is to use a robotic telescope mount like this that will ‘track’ the celestial object you’re trying to photograph which basically cancels out the planet’s rotation. Now unfortunately my knowledge of telescopes ends there but I’m pretty sure the RCX400 will appeal to anyone with even the slightest interest in astronomy. That is of course if they can afford it.

If you think one of these would look great on your back porch then that’s an important first step because it means you already have a house you can mortgage. The Meade RCX400 20-inch telescope sells for $39,999 and the MAX Mount is an extra $19,999. (Though you can save a few bucks by going with the 16-inch RCX400 model that’s only $29,999.)

[ Meade RCX400 with MAX Mount ] VIA [ Popular Science ]