$Askar 103APO Triplet Air-Spaced Refractor — image 1$

Askar

Askar 103APO Triplet Air-Spaced Refractor

A 103mm air-spaced triplet apo, four inches of colour-free aperture for brighter, higher-resolution imaging and stunning visual views, with a dedicated flattener/reducer to match.

89/ 100

Polaris Score

#2 of 6 imaging APO refractors

See the breakdown ↓

Aperture

103mm

Focal Length

700mm

Focal Ratio

f/6.8

Mount Type

None (OTA only)

Optical Design

Triplet APO

Weight

4.5 kg

From$1,199

Lowest in 90 days

Price tracked by PolarisObserved 7 timesTracking since Aug 2026

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Where to buy

Agena AstroProductsPartnerBest price$1,199→Starizona$1,199→High Point Scientific$1,199→

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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

Andromeda, wider than the Moon.

A vast soft oval with a blazing core — two and a half million light-years of galaxy, spilling well past the field of view under a genuinely dark sky.

See Andromeda Galaxy 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

Whirlpool 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.

Best at

✓103mm of colour-free triplet aperture gathers far more light than a small apo, brighter, more detailed images.

✓An air-spaced FPL-based triplet controls false colour for clean white stars.

✓700mm at f/6.8 frames galaxies and medium nebulae with real resolution.

✓Superb visually too, a four-inch apo is a lifetime instrument.

Trade-offs

!Needs a matched flattener/reducer for flat, corner-sharp fields (sold separately).

!At 4.5kg it demands a solid, well-rated mount.

!OTA only; a mount and camera are extra.

!A triplet takes a little longer to cool than a doublet.

02In plain English

What These Numbers Mean

Aperture

103 mm

Four inches of fully corrected glass, enough for sharp planetary views at 200x and for imaging that reaches genuinely faint nebulosity. It is the point where a refractor stops being a wide-field companion and starts working as a primary telescope.

Focal length

700 mm

A flexible middle ground: wide enough for the larger nebulae on APS-C, long enough to frame galaxies and planetary nebulae with real scale. With reducers and extenders in Askar's system it can be shifted either way.

Focal ratio

f/6.8

Moderately fast. Exposures stay practical, star images are easy to keep tight across the field, and eyepiece demands are gentler than at f/5. A good compromise for someone who both looks and images.

Optical design

Air-spaced triplet APO

Three elements with air gaps, correcting colour across the spectrum so bright stars stay white and blue channels stay sharp. Triplets cool more slowly than doublets, so give it half an hour outside before critical work.

Weight

4.5 kg tube

Around 10 lb, which most mid-range equatorial mounts handle with margin even after a camera and guide scope are attached. It stays a two-hands-and-a-case telescope rather than a project.

Mount

OTA only

You supply the mount. For imaging at 700 mm, a tracking equatorial with autoguiding is the realistic requirement, not an option.

02The Polaris Score

How it scores, and why.

89/ 100

Askar 103APO Triplet Air-Spaced Refractor

#2 of 6 imaging APO refractors

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