Apochromatic Refractor Telescope

"The apochromatic refractor telescope. They are the big, bad, and by far the best telescope you will ever own. Period!"

Nothing screams astronomy like a refractor telescope.  Likewise, nothing will make an amateur or professional astronomer drool faster than the thought of looking through an apochromatic refractor telescope.  And for good reason.  They are simply the best.

The APO is famous for its totally color corrected optical system and delivering jaw dropping, razor sharp images.  But is all the stuff you read about APOs just hype?  Not a chance!  Here is why.

Red, green and blue light (the three main food groups of the electromagnetic color spectrum) are really different frequencies of light.  So?  So plenty.  A refractor uses a series of lenses on the business end of the telescope to bend the incoming light toward you eye.  The problem is that light waves of different frequencies bend at slightly different rates as they pass through the lenses.  If the difference in "bending" is not adjusted for, you will see a great looking object through the telescope, but it will be surrounded by a pretty awful rainbow of colors.

This rainbow effect is commonly called chromatic abberation.  Pretty fancy name for a rainbow, huh?  To eliminate this problem, the achromatic refractor telescope is usually are designed with three or more glass elements.  These various lens elements are optically designed to bring the varying light frequencies into perfect alignment.  Hence.  No rainbow.  All that is left are stunning images, high contrast and amazing detail.

The downside?  An apochromatic refractor telescope ain't cheap.  But it is a small price to pay considering you will get to use this telescope for the rest of your life.  Perfect views, no less.  Plus, you will be the envy of your astronomy club and your friends. APOs may not make you rich or famous, but everyone will assume you are.