Tele Vue Optics is a

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

-based

astronomical Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest include ...

optics Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of optical instruments, instruments that use or Photodetector, detect it. Optics usually describes t ...

company A company, abbreviated as co., is a Legal personality, legal entity representing an association of legal people, whether Natural person, natural, Juridical person, juridical or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members ...

known primarily for its premium brand of speciality

eyepiece An eyepiece, or ocular lens, is a type of lens that is attached to a variety of optical devices such as Optical telescope, telescopes and microscopes. It is named because it is usually the lens that is closest to the eye when someone looks thro ...

s and

apochromatic An apochromat, or apochromatic lens (apo), is a photographic or other lens that has better correction of chromatic and spherical aberration than the much more common achromat lenses. The prefix ''apo-'' comes from the Greek preposition ''ἀ ...

refractor telescope A refracting telescope (also called a refractor) is a type of optical telescope that uses a lens (optics), lens as its objective (optics), objective to form an image (also referred to a dioptrics, dioptric telescope). The refracting telescope d ...

s. Founded in 1977 b
Al Nagler
an optical engineer from

The Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

who designed simulators used in the

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

program, the company originally made projection lenses for large projection-screen

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

s, but is well known in the astronomy community for its products. Prior to October 1, 2006, Tele Vue's corporate headquarters has also served as the primary distribution point for Vixen America, a subsidiary of the Japan-based Vixen corporation, with the two companies building equipment that are compatible with each other, especially the Tele Vue refractor with Vixen's "sphinx" "go-to" mount. Although the company is no longer the principal distributor, Vixen America still maintains its address at Tele Vue's New York location.

Refractor telescopes

Tele Vue once manufactured a 5" refracting telescope named the MPT, the Multi-Purpose Telescope. It had a fast f/4 ratio, and had an adjustable diaphragm that ranged from f/4 to f/20. Only a small number were made, with the last being kept by Televue to use as a final optical quality control for all eyepieces they make. Recent examples of this telescope have sold for well into 5 figures. Today, Tele Vue's apochromatic refractor telescopes, which have reduced

chromatic aberration In optics, chromatic aberration (CA), also called chromatic distortion, color aberration, color fringing, or purple fringing, is a failure of a lens to focus all colors to the same point. It is caused by dispersion: the refractive index of the ...

, come in diameters ranging from 60mm (2.4 inches) to 127mm (5 inches). The imaging system ("is" series) telescopes are designed primarily for

astrophotography Astrophotography, also known as astronomical imaging, is the photography or imaging of astronomical objects, celestial events, or areas of the night sky. The first photograph of an astronomical object (the Moon) was taken in 1839, but it was no ...

Eyepieces

The Tele Vue range includes Plossl, Nagler, and zoom eyepieces. They started with a variety of Plossl eyepieces for amateur astronomers. The introduction of the original Nagler 13mm Type 1 in 1982 with its wide field of view and an equally high price soon made their mark. Using different combinations of

lenses A lens is a transmissive optical device that focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements''), ...

of different types of high index optical glasses, the eyepieces produce, respectively, a 50°, 62°, 68°, 72°, 82°, 100°, and 110° apparent field-of-view. Tele Vue calls the 82°, 100°, and 110° apparent fields-of-view a "spacewalk" experience. Wider apparent fields of view are helpful in viewing

star clusters A star cluster is a group of stars held together by self-gravitation. Two main types of star clusters can be distinguished: globular clusters, tight groups of ten thousand to millions of old stars which are gravitationally bound; and open cluste ...

galaxies A galaxy is a system of stars, stellar remnants, interstellar gas, dust, and dark matter bound together by gravity. The word is derived from the Greek ' (), literally 'milky', a reference to the Milky Way galaxy that contains the Solar Sys ...

and

nebulae A nebula (; or nebulas) is a distinct luminescent part of interstellar medium, which can consist of ionized, neutral, or molecular hydrogen and also cosmic dust. Nebulae are often star-forming regions, such as in the Pillars of Creation in th ...

, especially large emission nebulae like the

Orion Nebula The Orion Nebula (also known as Messier 42, M42, or NGC 1976) is a diffuse nebula in the Milky Way situated south of Orion's Belt in the Orion (constellation), constellation of Orion, and is known as the middle "star" in the "sword" of Orion. It ...

, but the real reason for wide fields of view is to allow the same true field of view as is found in a lower power, narrower FOV eyepiece. This increases effective contrast and aids in visibility of certain details. Additionally, Tele Vue eyepieces are well corrected for most aberrations, providing edge to edge pinpoint stars, and are well suited to use in popular "fast" telescopes. The most expensive Tele Vue eyepiece is the Ethos line, which consists of eight eyepieces known for excellent image quality and ultra-wide 100 degree fields, which can retail for from $500 to $800 or more. At the North East Astronomy Forum 2010, they revealed the Ethos SX, a 3.7mm focal length

with an even greater 110° apparent field-of-view. In 2011, a new line of eyepieces was introduced called the Delos. These eyepieces are based on the Ethos but have a smaller field of view of 72°. Instead, they boast a comfortable 20mm eye relief. Some Tele Vue eyepieces are over half a foot long and weigh over two pounds.

Mounts

Tele Vue sells several alt-azimuth mounts and tripods.

Accessories

Tele Vue also manufactures special

nebula A nebula (; or nebulas) is a distinct luminescent part of interstellar medium, which can consist of ionized, neutral, or molecular hydrogen and also cosmic dust. Nebulae are often star-forming regions, such as in the Pillars of Creation in ...

filters Filtration is a physical process that separates solid matter and fluid from a mixture. Filter, filtering, filters or filtration may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * Filter (higher-order function), in functional programming * Fil ...

, Barlow lenses, special image amplifiers known as Powermates, the "Paracorr"

coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to Nociception, respond normally to Pain, painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal Circadian rhythm, sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate ...

-corrector for "fast" (f/5 and below)

Newtonian telescope The Newtonian telescope, also called the Newtonian reflector or just a Newtonian, is a type of reflecting telescope invented by the English scientist Sir Isaac Newton, using a concave primary mirror and a flat diagonal secondary mirror. Newto ...

s, and the "Dioptrx," a special lens that fits over most Tele Vue eyepieces to correct eyesight

astigmatism Astigmatism is a type of refractive error due to rotational asymmetry in the eye's refractive power. The lens and cornea of an eye without astigmatism are nearly spherical, with only a single radius of curvature, and any refractive errors ...

. In 2019, Tele Vue partnered with the Tactical Night Vision Company to offer a Night Vision System for astronomical observing.

References

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External links

TeleVue.com
Companies based in Orange County, New York Telescope manufacturers