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APM Professional Telescopes

1m F/8 Ritchey Chrétien with dual Nasmyth Foci, Cape Town (South Africa)

Another large telescope for the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO). An 1m F/8 Alt-Az mounted Ritchey Chrétien for robotic use. It has dual Nasmyth Foci. The main telescopes used for research are located at the SAAO observing station (32°22.795’S 20°48,657’E) near Sutherland in the Northern Cape, a 4-hour drive from Cape Town.

Astronomy is our job

Observatory Telescopes

Big prime focus telescopes for private or public observatories including installation and full service.

Robotic / Remote

Robotic instruments for automatic imaging or telescopes for remote observation.

ASA Telescopes

ASA600 with DDM200

ASA600 OTA is the perfect fit for the ASA direct drive mounts with absolute encoders. As all ASA telescopes the ASA600 is equipped with quartz glass optics from ASA.

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Astrodon 3 nm Narrowband

available diameters

Transmissions diagram

Transmissions diagram OIII

Transmissions diagram SII

Astrodon 3 nm Narrowband Filters - SII filter

If you want the look of Hubble Space Telescope (HST) images, such as the famous “Pillars of Creation” (the Eagle Nebula, Messier 16), then the next filter to consider adding to your collection after H-a and OIII is the SII (es-two) or sulfur filter. The SII filter, like H-a, is a deep red filter near 672 nm. H-a, OIII and SII filters provide that Hubble look for many emission nebulae. Again, tri-color narrowband imaging with these three filters can be done with the moon up, so your equipment is not sitting dormant for several weeks.

Astrodon SII filters have a center bandwidth of 671.6nm

Astrodon 3nm/5 nm Narrowband

H-alpha Filter

OIII Filter

SII Filter

Bring Out The Faint Structures In Nebulae...

H-α (hydrogen-alpha) at 656 nm (nanometers) is deep red in color and the most popular narrowband H-alpha filter. Hydrogen is ubiquitous in the cosmos and is present in emission nebula (North American, Pelican), planetary nebula (Dumbbell, Ring), Wolf-Rayet objects (Crescent, Thor’s Helmet), and supernova remnants (Veil). Many imagers like to present just a black-and-white H-α image of an object. It is has a beauty all by itself, like an Ansel Adams photo. However, most imagers blend their H-α data into their red RGB data to enhance structural detail while maintaining a “natural” look. Therefore, the H-α filter should be your first narrowband addition to your LRGB filters. The basic imaging set of 5 filters becomes LRGBH-α.

Astrodon H-alpha filters have a center bandwidth of 656.3 nm

Astrodon Narrowband astrophotography filters set a new bar of performance and durability for imaging and research. We offer 5 nm and ultra-narrow 3 nm bandwidths.

Astrodon Narrowband filters set a new bar of performance and durability for imaging and research.

The narrow 5 and 3 nm bandwidths enhance the contrast of emission targets by lowering your background signal. The guaranteed >90% transmittance at the emission wavelength provides you with the highest signal available.

This guaranty is expensive to manufacture for such spectrally narrow filters, but it assures you in writing on each filter box that you will get what you paid for. These two factors combine to provide you with the highest contrast available.

Our latest narrowband filters are typically achieving >95-98% transmittance. Astrodon Narrowband filters are renowned for minimizing halos around bright stars, even for long exposures of 30-45 minutes typical of narrowband imaging in astrophotography. Lastly, Astrodon Narrowband filters are coated to the edge of the part and are edge blackened. This is critical to minimize stray light for a filter that blocks most light except for the narrow bandpass.

Astrodon Narrowband filters for imaging are all about contrast. What do we mean by this?

Contrast brings out faint features by reducing the background - the narrower the filter, the better. The problem is keeping the signal (%T at the emission line) constant as the filter becomes spectrally narrower.

This is why our >90%T guarantee is so important, even though it becomes very costly to manufacture. But, this assures you that you can take advantage of the improved contrast with our narrower filters compared to the much less expensive 7- 8.5 nm filters on the market. You can see the increase in contrast in the sequence of equal-exposure images of the Crescent Nebula (NGC 6888) taken on the same system and on the same night. As the bandwidth becomes narrower, the nebula "pops" out of the background, as does the faint surrounding nebulosity.

Actually, the >90%T is a legacy specification, since new production technologies employed over the past 3-4 years routinely produces 97-98%T at the emission wavelengths.

Random tests of a competitor's low-cost 7 nm H-α filter showed %T values ranging from 86% down to 71%. Random selection of 5 nm Astrodon filters measured %T values at the H-α emission wavelength of 93, 98, 97 and 98%.

You will never know that you are using their 71% filter compared to a 97% Astrodon filter because they do not guarantee this important performance parameter. They recently came out with a 3.5 nm H-α narrowband filter and those results are even worse, ranging from 3-70% at the emission wavelength. Similarly, analysis of different 2016 lots of Astrodon 3 nm H-α filters measured 97, 97, 97 and 96%T.

Yes, our filters are more expensive, but you always know what you are getting with Astrodon Narrowband filters - the best performance in the market - guaranteed. Our recent blueshift data show that Astrodon 3 and 5 nm filters can be used with nearly all systems as fast as f/3.5 with virtually no loss in emission signal, so you do not need to buy custom "upshifted" filters if you have both fast and slow systems.

Step up to the quality and performance of Astrodon narrowband filters.

Astrodon 3 nm Narrowband OIII Filter

The next filter to complement your LRGBH-a set is an oxygen filter. OIII (“ohthree”) emits light near 500 nm and is a blue-green- or teal-colored filter. Many of my images of planetary nebula and supernova remnants are taken only with H-a and OIII filters. They show great structural detail, but have natural colors, looking like an RGB image.

Astrodon OIII filters have a center bandwidth of 500.1 nm.

Astrodon Narrowband Astrophotography Filters for astrophotography set a new bar of performance and durability for imaging and research. The narrow 5 and 3 nm bandwidths enhance contrast of emission targets by lowering your background signal. The guaranteed >90% transmittance at the emission wavelength provides you with the highest signal available.

Melotte15 1

Melotte 15 courtesy Tolga Gumusayak
FLI Kepler KL4040 camera

Our products are characterised by quality.

Remote telescope in use
Our project near Munich. 600mm RC tube on a DDM100 mount. As observation platform a dome from Astroshell with 3m diameter. The complete system is designed as a remote telescope.
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SBIG CCD/CMOS Cameras
Our most popular camera, the SBIG Aluma AC4040 is a large format Scientific CMOS camera, featuring a 16.8 megapixel sensor with 9 micron pixels. The camera is compatible with the StarChaser SC-4 Guider and optional AO-X Adaptive Optics accessories. The Aluma AC4040 is available in Front Illuminated (FSI) and ultra-sensitive Back-Illuminated (BSI) versions. BSI versions are offered with VIS-NIR and UV-VIS optical coating options.
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Shelyak Spectrometer
The UVEX is the most versatile instrument in the range. Achromatic by design, it can explore far into the ultraviolet and infrared – at the very limits of what today’s cameras can achieve. The interchangeable gratings (in option) allow different resolutions. Combined with its motorization module, it can be operated remotely. The motorization integrates the control of the calibration module (equivalent to the SPOX module). So it’s easy to do your dark, flats and calibration images remotely. The motorized UVEX is the ultimate version of the UVEX, allowing remote operation. You can remotely control the central wavelength (grating angle) and adjust the spectroscope’s focus.
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Astroshell Domes
The Clamshell dome is the preferred observatory dome for LASER COMMUNICATION and BIG-APERTURE telescopes. It is not necessary to synchronize the telescope with the dome. Both "shutters" can be moved and positioned independently to allow wind shading of the optical group. All of our domes are equipped with rugged belt drive systems powered by high performance DC or AC motors and feature industrial grade gears. If you need fast dome opening, we offer a special fast opening shutter drive system. Built up individually or in combined with the SRQ-200 DIMM station, our clamshell dome is the way to go for successful astronomy! CLAMSHELL DOMES provide an unparalleled 360/180 degree field of view for an absolutely breathtaking nighttime experience. When this observatory dome opens, you are truly among the stars!
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ASA Direct Drive Technology
New design based on 15 years of experience with Direct Drive mounts. Ready for the most demanding applications in pointing and tracking accuracy, like laser comunication, satellite tracking and general astronomical research.
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APM Professional Telescopes

1m F/8 Ritchey Chrétien with dual Nasmyth Foci, Cape Town (South Africa)

Another large telescope for the South African Astronomical Observatory (SAAO). An 1m F/8 Alt-Az mounted Ritchey Chrétien for robotic use. It has dual Nasmyth Foci. The main telescopes used for research are located at the SAAO observing station (32°22.795’S 20°48,657’E) near Sutherland in the Northern Cape, a 4-hour drive from Cape Town.

Our Team

Markus Ludes CEO
Markus Ludes CEO has been managing APM Telescopes for more than 30 years.
Dr. (Ing.) Diethard Jakobs, Manager and Controller
Dr. (Ing.) Diethard Jakobs Managing Director and Controller at APM Telescopes. He is responsible for planning and execution of major projects.
Angelika Jakobs
Angelika Katharina Jakobs International Relations
Daniela Lambert
Daniela Lambert Assistant to the management
Michael Conrad
Michael Conrad Distribution
Andreas Pietsch
Product Manager Andreas Pietsch great passion is astronomy. At APM Telescopes, he mainly takes care of astrophotography. He has a lot of experience in this field. He also knows a lot about building and operating large telescopes.