![]() In Summary, the Orion XT8 is a great mid-range telescope which balances price and performance quite well. Significant detail (albeit without much color) of the gas and dust was visible, along with a bright trapezium. Moving eastward to M42, the views were breathtaking for such a relatively small telescope. The view of M31 provided a fuzzy patch that clearly stood out from the background stars. I did switch from the stock 25mm to a lower power 40mm eyepiece, as M31 does tend to benefit from lower power eyepieces, at least visually. Star-hopping to M31 was fairly trivial, via Alpheratz (In Pegasus). ![]() Saving the best for last, I pointed the XT8 at M42 (Orion Nebula) and M31 (Andromeda Galaxy). While the view from an 8″ telescope can’t compare to the views of Jupiter from Voyager or the Hubble, the detail revealed is still quite impressive. Moving eastward to Jupiter revealed a delightful view of a few of Jupiter’s atmospheric bands, as well as the Galilean moons. Despite being close to the horizon, the view of lunar craters in the eyepiece were crisp and clear. At the time of testing, the Moon was in a waning crescent phase and the XT8 brought out some great views of lunar craters near the terminator. Putting the XT8 through a short observing session, I was able to obtain great views of the Moon, Jupiter, the Orion Nebula (M42), and the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). The focuser offers smooth operation with very little image “wobble”. The eyepiece holder features thumbscrews which do a good job of holding eyepieces in place. Once the telescope is pointed at an object, making focus and/or eyepiece adjustments are fairly trivial. When setting up the XT8 for this review, I aligned my Telrad finder and the telescope itself with Jupiter.Īfter aligning the finder, using the XT8 is simply a matter of moving the optical tube to whatever objects are desired. Generally, using a very bright object (newcomers may want help with this step) in the finder makes the process of alignment easier and faster. Depending on what finder setup is used, aligning the finder may take just a few minutes, or slightly longer. Once assembled and put in place at an observing location, operation of the XT8 is fairly straight forward. At around 40lbs total weight, some users of the scope may prefer to carry the optical tube and base assemblies separately. The mount base does include a carrying handle. Adjusting the optical tube in altitude was equally effortless and the tension springs provided enough tension to maintain position (even pointed at the horizon) without making the tube difficult to raise or lower. Once assembled the mount base is quite sturdy and allowed for smooth rotation of the optical tube, due to the Teflon azimuth bearings. With a helper, the XT8 could probably be assembled in ten minutes. The shipping box for the optical tube was adequate, but as with any piece of delicate equipment – there can never be enough padding.Īssembling the XT8 took about half an hour by myself. The shipping box for the mount base was well thought out, minimizing potential damage to the base components. ![]() One for the optical tube, and a second for the dobsonian mount base. While the EZ Finder II isn’t a terribly bad “red-dot” finder, some observers may see fit to replace the stock finder with something like a “correct image” finder scope, a laser pointer, or even a Telrad non-magnified finder. The XT8 features Orion’s EZ Finder II sight. The XT8 does come with a 25mm 1.25″ Plossl eyepiece which performs well as a medium-power eyepiece in the XT8. New observers (or those on a budget) will find the included 2″ to 1.25″ eyepiece adapter allows the use of 1.25″ eyepieces with no noticeable wiggle/slop. Advanced observers will enjoy the XT8’s 2″ focuser, which allows for larger eyepieces, or even a “T” adapter for short-exposure astrophotography. With a focal length of 1200mm, this gives a focal ratio of f/5.9. The XT8 features an 8″ (203mm) primary mirror. For starters, let’s look at the raw specifications for the XT8.
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