$Askar 140APO Triplet Air-Spaced Refractor — image 1$

Askar

Askar 140APO Triplet Air-Spaced Refractor

A 140mm air-spaced triplet that pushes serious refractor aperture into reach, working as both a high-end visual instrument and a long-focal-length imaging platform at a price the premium brands cannot match.

89/ 100

Polaris Score

#1 of 5 large triplet apo

See the breakdown ↓

Aperture

140mm

Focal Length

980mm

Focal Ratio

f/7

Mount Type

None (OTA only)

Optical Design

Triplet APO

Weight

8.5 kg

From$2,499

Lowest in 90 days

Price tracked by PolarisObserved 7 timesTracking since Aug 2026

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Where to buy

Agena AstroProductsPartnerBest price$2,499→Starizona$2,499→High Point Scientific$2,499→

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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 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

Atmospheric bands or polar caps visible depending on the planet

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 air-spaced triplet controls color to the point that even the brightest planets and stars show no meaningful fringing

✓140mm at f/7 delivers high-resolution visual views and a focal length that frames galaxies and nebulae for imaging

✓Dedicated Askar reducer and flattener options tune the same tube for wide imaging or native visual use

✓A robust dual-speed focuser holds heavy cameras square without slipping

Trade-offs

!At 8.5kg it demands a heavy, stable mount to reach its potential

!A large triplet takes longer to cool than a smaller apo

!The best imaging results need the matched reducer or flattener, sold separately

!The size and weight make it a deliberate setup, not a spontaneous one

02In plain English

What These Numbers Mean

Aperture

140 mm

Five and a half inches of apochromatic glass, which is large for a refractor. Visually it gives the kind of contrast-rich planetary and lunar views that need a much larger reflector to match, and it has the light grasp for demanding deep-sky work.

Focal length

980 mm

Close to a metre, so galaxies, globulars and compact nebulae frame well and 250x is comfortable visually. Large emission nebulae will need a reducer or a second, shorter telescope.

Focal ratio

f/7

A moderate ratio that keeps colour correction easy and eyepieces well behaved. For imaging it sits in the practical middle: not fast, but not punishing either, especially with a reducer.

Optical design

Air-spaced triplet APO

Three-element correction across a large aperture, where colour error would otherwise be obvious. The mass of glass means a genuinely long thermal settling time, so put it outside early.

Weight

8.5 kg tube

About 19 lb bare and noticeably long. Mounting it is a deliberate lift rather than a casual one, and a heavy tripod is part of the purchase.

Mount

OTA only

You supply the mount, and this tube deserves a substantial one. Expect an EQ6-class equatorial or better before the views and the images match what the optics can do.

02The Polaris Score

How it scores, and why.

89/ 100

Askar 140APO Triplet Air-Spaced Refractor

#1 of 5 large triplet apo

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