$Sky-Watcher Evostar 120ED APO Refractor — image 1$

Sky-Watcher

Sky-Watcher Evostar 120ED APO Refractor

Name: Sky-Watcher Evostar 120ED APO Refractor
Brand: Sky-Watcher

No longer sold

A 120mm ED doublet that pushes refractor aperture into large-scope territory, delivering bright, sharp, high-contrast views for the observer who wants a premium visual refractor without triplet pricing.

88/ 100

Polaris Score

#1 of 8 large ED refractor

See the breakdown ↓

Aperture

120mm

Focal Length

900mm

Focal Ratio

f/7.5

Mount Type

None (OTA only)

Optical Design

ED Doublet Refractor

Weight

6.4 kg

Try in simulator →

No longer sold

Discontinued by the manufacturer (per Sky-Watcher USA). We keep the page for reference — see current alternatives below.

See alternatives ↓

What it's built forOpen these in the simulator →

This telescope was built for sweeping wide.

A short, fast refractor with a generous true field — the whole sword of Orion in one view, star fields that spill past the field stop. It rewards low power and dark skies far more than chasing magnification.

Widest true fieldsTack-sharp to the edge

The view people remember

The Double Cluster, side by side.

Two glittering knots of stars sharing one low-power field — a wide, effortless showpiece that rewards the biggest true field you can throw at it.

See Double Cluster through this telescope →

Where else it shines

Within reach

Orion Nebula

Stronger structure — embedded stars plus dark lanes within the core

Open view →

Easy first target

The Pleiades

Rich field — fainter members fill out the cluster

Open view →

Rewards a dark sky

Andromeda Galaxy

Definite galaxy shape — core stands out against the sky

Open view →

Also excellent on

Saturn

Recognizable disk with subtle markings under steady seeing

Open view →

✦

Tight planetary detail belongs to a longer scope. This one trades reach for a breathtaking field.

01What it's good at

What it's best at — and the trade-offs.

120mm is a lot of refractor aperture, bright enough to resolve tight doubles and show planetary detail few refractors reach

Best at

✓120mm is a lot of refractor aperture, bright enough to resolve tight doubles and show planetary detail few refractors reach

✓The FPL-53 grade ED element controls color extremely well for a doublet, so views stay clean on the Moon and Jupiter

✓At f/7.5 it keeps a reasonable tube length and works well visually and for lunar and planetary imaging

✓It arrives with a quality dual-speed focuser, rings and hardware, so the tube is imaging-ready once mounted

Trade-offs

!The tube is large and front-heavy and needs a genuinely sturdy mount to steady it

!As a doublet a trace of color remains on the brightest targets versus a triplet apo

!f/7.5 and 900mm are slow and long for wide-field deep-sky imaging

!It is an OTA only and needs a mount, diagonal and eyepieces to observe

02In plain English

What These Numbers Mean

120mm · f/7.5 · 900mm FL

Aperture

120 mm

Nearly five inches of ED glass gathers about 44 percent more light than a 100 mm. In an unobstructed refractor that translates into the sharp, high-contrast planetary and double-star views this class is known for.

Focal length

900 mm

A useful middle length: 180x with a 5 mm eyepiece for planets, and a still-usable 28x with a 32 mm eyepiece for clusters. It also suits imaging galaxies and mid-size nebulae with a flattener.

Focal ratio

f/7.5

Moderately fast for a doublet, which keeps exposures reasonable for imaging while leaving only a trace of colour on the brightest stars. A practical balance between visual and photographic use.

Optical design

ED doublet apochromat

One ED element does most of the colour correction work, delivering near-apochromatic results without the weight and cost of a triplet. Faster than the 100ED, so a faint violet halo can appear on Venus or a bright star.

Weight

6.4 kg tube

About 14 lb and long with it. Add rings, diagonal and eyepiece or a camera and you are asking a mid-size mount to hold a substantial lever arm steady.

Mount

OTA only

No mount included, and under-mounting is the usual mistake with a tube this long. Budget for an equatorial in the 15 kg class if you plan to image.

03The Polaris Score

How it scores, and why.

88/100 · #1 of 8 large ED refractor

88/ 100

Sky-Watcher Evostar 120ED APO Refractor

#1 of 8 large ED refractor

Performance

Ease of use

Portability

Upgrade potential

Polaris weighs optical capability, how easy the scope is to live with, how portable it is, and how far it takes you before you outgrow it — not list price or brand.

04Who it's for