Sharpstar

Sharpstar 94EDPH Triplet APO

A 94mm f/5.5 triplet ED astrograph shipped with its matched reducer, a strong-value wide-field imaging apo that hits a fast f/4.4 for productive deep-sky work.

86/ 100

Polaris Score

#2 of 8 compact imaging refractor

See the breakdown ↓

Aperture

94mm

Focal Length

517mm

Focal Ratio

f/5.5

Mount Type

None (OTA only)

Optical Design

Triplet APO

Weight

4.5 kg

From$1,814

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Price tracked by PolarisObserved 28 timesTracking since Mar 2026

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Where to buy

High Point ScientificBest price$1,814→

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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 Pleiades, blue and blazing.

A knot of hot young stars wrapped in the faintest haze of reflected light — best at the lowest power, where the whole cluster drops into a single glittering field.

See The Pleiades through this telescope →

Where else it shines

Within reach

Orion Nebula

Stronger structure — embedded stars plus dark lanes within the core

Open view →

Rewards a dark sky

Hercules Cluster

Brighter core with a hint of granulation around the edges

Open view →

Rewards a dark sky

Andromeda Galaxy

Faint elongated smudge — averted vision helps

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.

Best at

✓The three-element ED design controls colour well and, with the included reducer, delivers a flat f/4.4 field

✓517mm at f/5.5 frames larger nebulae and galaxies, a versatile deep-sky focal length

✓94mm of aperture gathers meaningfully more light than the common 72–80mm imaging tubes

✓The matched reducer-flattener is bundled, so the flat, fast field is handled out of the box

Trade-offs

!It is a dedicated astrograph with a narrow visual use case

!517mm keeps small targets small in the frame

!As an OTA it needs a tracking mount, camera and often a guide scope

!The front optics can dew and benefit from a heater

02In plain English

What These Numbers Mean

Aperture

94 mm

Just under four inches of corrected glass gathers roughly 2.4 times the light of a 61 mm astrograph. That is the difference between an hour of integration and two and a half hours for the same signal.

Focal length

517 mm

A wide but not extreme field. Large nebulae still fit an APS-C sensor while galaxies and clusters keep real scale, which makes it a credible single-telescope choice for deep-sky imaging.

Focal ratio

f/5.5

Fast enough for practical exposure times under suburban skies with a dual-band filter, and short enough that guiding demands stay modest. A good balance of speed and forgiveness.

Optical design

Triplet ED apochromat

Three-element correction keeps stars white and blue channels sharp, which matters most on bright stars in wide fields. Pair it with the dedicated flattener or reducer for clean corners.

Weight

4.5 kg tube

About 10 lb, which a compact equatorial or a strain-wave mount carries with margin after camera and guiding are added. Still a one-case travel telescope.

Mount

OTA only

You supply the mount. At 517 mm, autoguiding is worth adding, so plan for a mount with a guider port rather than a bare tracker.

02The Polaris Score

How it scores, and why.

86/ 100

Sharpstar 94EDPH Triplet APO

#2 of 8 compact imaging 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.

03Who it's for