Vixen Telescope | Universe Today

Written by Tammy Plotner

What is a Vixen Telescope? What types of telescopes does Vixen make and how are they different from the rest? What is the company like and where do you buy a Vixen Telescope? If you have questions like these, then follow along as we take a closer look at Vixen Telescope…

About Vixen Telescopes

The Vixen Company, Ltd. has manufactured the most respected line of telescopes in Japan for more than half an century where it is the #1 selling brand. Vixen produces a varied selection of telescopes, mounts, binoculars and spotting scopes. Each product is fully inspected to meet Vixen's high standard of quality. The Vixen company derives its name from Santa's reindeer. The company philosophy is to bring happiness to users of Vixen products. When comparing Vixen products to others, you will see the difference. Vixen attaches great importance to flexible ideas and continues to pursue technical advancement in order to make observing more enjoyable. Vixen has created unique, high quality products and was the first to introduce a go-to mount for astronomical telescopes. With a vast product line, Vixen offers products for all user levels. Most Vixen mounts and telescopes are interchangeable. As needs change, the adaptable products make it easy to change equipment. In most cases, users can swap out an optical tube for the next size and go on with your enjoyment of the night sky. Terrestrial observers will also find satisfaction in the workmanship and quality present in the binoculars and spotting scopes. The same technology that was developed to produce telescopes is evident in the quality of Vixen's sports optics. Vixen delivers excellent quality at a reasonable price. If you desire is to purchase a product that will not just function, but will function well and hold up over many years, this is the product for you.

What Kinds Of Vixen Telescopes Are There?

Vixen makes a wide variety of telescopes – from a humble 70mm refractor to an outstanding 13" aperture Maksuktov Cassegrain design. These telescopes range from beginner models up to observatory class instruments for those with very discriminating tastes.

Vixen Achromatic Refractors – The Vixen A70LF series is composed of Achromatic Refractor with 70mm (2.8”) of aperture on a variety of mounts. The Vixen – A80MF is an Achromatic Refractor with 80mm (3.2”) of aperture also offered on a variety of mounts. If you are in the mind to own a quality telescope that is designed for travel, there is nothing better than the A80SS. It’s Vixen's newest short focal length 80mm refractor. This is a great cross-over astronomical and terrestrial scope. The Vixen 140mm NeoAchro, or NA, refractor weighs in at a mere 14.3 pounds…the perfect travel telescope that can pull in deep-sky objects with its generous 5.5" optics and perform beautifully when doing astrophotography or imaging, whether you attach a digital SLR, webcam, planetary imager, or CCD camera.

Vixen ED Refractors – Apochromatic refractors from Vixen have extra-low dispersion (ED) lenses that depresses residual aberration to achieve a high level of performance. The Vixen – ED100SF is for those looking for a combination of large aperture, high quality APO glass. The Vixen – ED103S is a 2 group, 2 element refractor with ED glass to reduce the secondary spectrum and produce sharp images. These scopes have faster focal ratios and a more compact length compared to the prior ED 103S telescope. The new optics are especially good at suppressing the dispersion of violet light, this avoids halos and blooming around images of bright stars. Coupled with a medium f/7.7 focal ratio, the ED “S” series provide a sharp, color-free image of high contrast for both visual and photographic applications. The Vixen – ED103SWT is a 2 group, 2 element refractor with ED glass to reduce the secondary spectrum and produce sharp images. Coupled with a medium f/7.7 focal ratio, the ED “S” series provide a sharp, color-free image of high contrast for both visual and photographic applications. The Vixen – ED115S series is a large 4½" APO and offers high contrast viewing of our solar system and the deep sky. Smaller Vixen – ED80SF series is an entry-level APO refractor features high-grade glass and quality components. Coupled with a medium f/7.5 focal ratio, the ED "S" series provide a sharp, color-free image of high contrast. At only 22.4", this is our ultimate grab-n-go APO travel scope. The Vixen ED 81S is a 2 group, 2 element refractor with ED glass to reduce the secondary spectrum and produce sharp images.

Vixen Catadioptric Reflectors – The Vixen VC200L’s catadioptric VISAC (Vixen Sixth-Order Aspheric Cassegrain) optical system is one of the most sophisticated optical designs available on the market today: free of coma, curvature of field, spherical and chromatic aberration. Especially noteworthy in the Vixen VC200L is its sharpness and flatness at the edge, which far exceeds that of Schmidt-Cassegrain systems of the same aperture. It provides a pinpoint star image less than 15-microns, even at the edge of its 42mm image circle. If you are looking for a photographic catadioptric, the Vixen VC200L is an excellent choice. The Vixen VMC110L is a 110mm (4.33") f/9.4 modified Cassegrain optical tube assembly. The VMC110L is intriguing in its own right, with interesting features including a curved vane secondary mirror spider to reduce diffraction effects, and a correcting meniscus lens just ahead of the secondary mirror, just like its larger cousins, the VMC200L and VMC260L. The Vixen VMC200L is a unique catadioptric optical system. It incorporates a primary mirror and a meniscus corrector just before a secondary mirror. By doing so, light is corrected twice on the optical path. The end result is that spherical aberration and field curvature are corrected to a high degree of optical performance. The Vixen VMC200L’s primary mirror is f/2.5; the compound optical system is f/9.75. This makes the system much more compact and portable than its competition. Like the popular Schmidt-Cassegrain, the Vixen VMC260L is a true all purpose telescope. Despite its long focal length, the tube is only about 50cm (20”) long. As a result the instrument is very portable. With its large aperture of 260mm the Vixen VMC200L collects enough light for serious visual and photographical applications of both the planets and the deep sky. The VMC design is Vixen’s original Maksutov-Cassegrain. The 13" f/13 VMC330L optical tube incorporates precision, all-spherical optics, and a corrective lens is placed in front of the secondary mirror for perfect correction of aberrations. The Vixen VMC95L Modified Cassegrain telescope is intriguing in its own right, with interesting features including a curved vane secondary mirror spider to reduce diffraction effects. Like its larger cousins the VMC110L, VMC200L and VMC260L, the Vixen VMC95L telescope features a meniscus lens just ahead of the Secondary Mirror.

Vixen Newtonian Reflector – The Vixen – R130S Telescope lightweight 5” reflector is a favorite of many new astronomers because it features remarkable light gathering with sharp images for its price and size. The Vixen R150S has an aperture just shy of 6" and a fast focal length of 750mm. The Vixen R200SS is a remarkably fast 200mm (8") f/4 parabolic primary mirror of the Vixen R200SS Newtonian reflector telescopes gives extremely sharp images with no chromatic aberration. The use of state-of-the-art coating technology yields the ideal surface for the R200SS f/4 primary mirror. The visual observer will enjoy wide views of deep sky objects, in fact, actual groups of nebula or star clusters can be viewed at the same time with the wide field Vixen R200SS.

Where Do You Buy A Vixen Telescope?

One thing is for sure… You are going to find a Vixen telescope at a department store. Check on-line for a reputable dealer and choose the Vixen telescope that's right for you!

Filed under: Astronomy