Orion Telescopes & Binoculars
Encyclopedia
Orion Optics
For the unrelated North American telescope retailer, go to Orion Telescopes & BinocularsOrion Optics is a telescope manufacturer in Crewe, England in the United Kingdom. They produce a wide range of Newtonian reflectors and advanced Maksutov catadioptric telescopes.A family run firm, Orion Optics...
Orion Telescopes & Binoculars is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
-based retailer of foreign manufactured telescope
Telescope
A telescope is an instrument that aids in the observation of remote objects by collecting electromagnetic radiation . The first known practical telescopes were invented in the Netherlands at the beginning of the 1600s , using glass lenses...
s and other equipment for astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
that also sells some equipment for other areas of interest, such as birdwatching
Birdwatching
Birdwatching or birding is the observation of birds as a recreational activity. It can be done with the naked eye, through a visual enhancement device like binoculars and telescopes, or by listening for bird sounds. Birding often involves a significant auditory component, as many bird species are...
. It operates several retail
Retail
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
stores in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
as well as an online store and a semi-quarterly mail-order catalog. The company is a prominent advertiser in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n astronomy magazines such as Sky & Telescope
Sky & Telescope
Sky & Telescope is a monthly American magazine covering all aspects of amateur astronomy, including the following:*current events in astronomy and space exploration;*events in the amateur astronomy community;...
and Astronomy
Astronomy (magazine)
Astronomy is a monthly American magazine about astronomy. Targeting amateur astronomers for its readers, it contains columns on sky viewing, reader-submitted astrophotographs, and articles on astronomy and astrophysics that are readable by nonscientists....
.
History
Orion Telescopes & Binoculars was founded in 1975 by Tim Gieseler, who served as its only president and CEO. Since January, 2005, it has been owned by ImaginovaImaginova
Imaginova Corporation is a U.S. digital media and commerce company based in New York City. The company, which was started in 1999 as "Space.com" by CNN business anchor Lou Dobbs, later became known as Space Holdings Corp. Dan Stone became President, Chief Executive Officer and a board member in...
, the U.S. conglomorate founded in 1999 by CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
business anchor Lou Dobbs
Lou Dobbs
Louis Carl "Lou" Dobbs is an American journalist, radio host, television host on the Fox Business Network, and author. He anchored CNN's Lou Dobbs Tonight until November 2009 when he announced on the air that he would leave the 24-hour cable news television network.He was born in Texas and lived...
. Between the mid-1990s and 2005, Orion only sold binoculars, telescopes and accessories under the "Orion" brand, but since the Imaginova acquisition, Orion has started to sell non-Orion brand products as well, including Tele Vue
Televue
Tele Vue Optics is a Chester, New York-based astronomical optics company known primarily for its premium brand of speciality eyepieces and apochromatic refractor telescopes...
eyepieces, Celestron
Celestron
Celestron is a company that manufactures and imports telescopes, binoculars, spotting scopes, microscopes, and accessories for their products.-Origins and History:...
8 and 11 inches (279.4 mm) Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes.
In late 2005, Imaginova and Celestron, the latter fresh out of an out-of-court settlement with rival Meade
Meade
Meade Instruments Corporation is a multinational company headquartered in Irvine, California, that manufactures, imports, and distributes telescopes, binoculars, spotting scopes, microscopes, CCD cameras and telescope accessories for the consumer market. It is the world's largest manufacturer of...
over "GoTo"
GoTo (telescopes)
In amateur astronomy, "GoTo" refers to a type of telescope mount and related software which can automatically point a telescope to astronomical objects that the user selects...
telescope technology http://www.secinfo.com/dR7Km.8hv.htm, announced an agreement that would allow Celestron 8, 9.25, and 11 inches (279.4 mm) Schmidt-Cassegrain optical tube assemblies (OTA), painted in metallic gray and using the "Orion" brand (Celestron OTAs are painted either gloss black or semi-gloss matte orange), to be sold with Orion German equatorial mount
Equatorial mount
An equatorial mount is a mount for instruments that follows the rotation of the sky by having one rotational axis parallel to the Earth's axis of rotation. This type of mount is used for astronomical telescopes and cameras...
s and eyepiece accessories.
Products
Orion sells a range of telescopes that they characterized as "beginner", "intermediate" or "advanced", including NewtonianNewtonian
Newtonian refers to the work of Isaac Newton, in particular:* Newtonian mechanics, also known as classical mechanics* Newtonian telescope, a type of reflecting telescope* Newtonian cosmology* Newtonian dynamics...
s, Maksutov
Maksutov telescope
The Maksutov is a catadioptric telescope design that combines a spherical mirror with a weakly negative meniscus lens in a design that takes advantage of all the surfaces being nearly "spherically symmetrical". The negative lens is usually full diameter and placed at the entrance pupil of the...
s, Schmidt-Cassegrains and refractors with or without (sold as optical tube assemblies or "OTA") a variety of mounts. Orion also sells a series of Dobsonian telescope
Dobsonian telescope
A Dobsonian telescope is an alt-azimuth mounted newtonian telescope design popularized by the amateur astronomer John Dobson starting in the 1960s. Dobson's telescopes featured a simplified mechanical design that was easy to manufacture from readily available components to create a large, portable,...
s that come in a "Classic" and "IntelliScope" versions, the latter has upgraded accessories and the ability to indicate astronomical objects to the observer aided by a computerized object database. Orion also sells Dobsonians with GoTo and tracking capabilities.
At the high performance end of their range, Orion has a series of two element apochromatic (apo) refractors manufactured in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
featuring "extra low dispersion
Dispersion (optics)
In optics, dispersion is the phenomenon in which the phase velocity of a wave depends on its frequency, or alternatively when the group velocity depends on the frequency.Media having such a property are termed dispersive media...
" fluorite
Fluorite
Fluorite is a halide mineral composed of calcium fluoride, CaF2. It is an isometric mineral with a cubic habit, though octahedral and more complex isometric forms are not uncommon...
crown glass
Crown glass (optics)
Crown glass is type of optical glass used in lenses and other optical components. It has relatively low refractive index and low dispersion...
in one element of the objective lens. These are marketed as the ED80 (80 mm or 3 inches (76.2 mm) objective at f/7.5), ED100 (100mm or 4 inches (101.6 mm) at f/9) and ED120 (120mm or 4.7 inches (119.4 mm) at f/7.5).
Orion also sells binoculars for astronomical and terrestrial observing, microscope
Microscope
A microscope is an instrument used to see objects that are too small for the naked eye. The science of investigating small objects using such an instrument is called microscopy...
s and monocular spotting scopes of the type used by birdwatchers and marksmen
Shooting
Shooting is the act or process of firing rifles, shotguns or other projectile weapons such as bows or crossbows. Even the firing of artillery, rockets and missiles can be called shooting. A person who specializes in shooting is a marksman...
.