William Optics Pleiades 181 f/5.5 7-Element Astrograph

[TerryMcK]

Not much on the specifications of this yet but the price is an eye watering US$18800 with some UK retailers having a provision price of £19000 which sadly puts it way out of my price range.

 

I wonder what the Cosmos Steering Wheel is!

 

The scope looks handsome in my preferred red but blue is available too. Interestingly these photos show it with a conventional focuser rather than the new WO WIFD (WO INTERNAL FOCUS DESIGN) seen on Cats and other Pleiades scopes.

 

 

 

 

[AstronomyUkraine]

 

4 hours ago, TerryMcK said:

I wonder what the Cosmos Steering Wheel is!

My guess is it could be a handle to help lifting the scope onto a mount. With 7 glass elements incorporated into the scope, it will be quite a heavy lump, and will need a very sturdy mount to hold it for imaging.

[TerryMcK]

17 minutes ago, AstronomyUkraine said:

 

My guess is it could be a handle to help lifting the scope onto a mount. With 7 glass elements incorporated into the scope, it will be quite a heavy lump, and will need a very sturdy mount to hold it for imaging.

Very true Brian. The mount shown in the photos appears to be an Astro-Physics 1600GTO which has a load capacity of 100KG. That also has a hefty price tag of around US$15000.

Maybe the Cosmos Steering wheel is for a mini crane to help lifting the scope onto the mount 😂

[Nightspore]

 

[AstronomyUkraine]

41 minutes ago, TerryMcK said:

Maybe the Cosmos Steering wheel is for a mini crane to help lifting the scope onto the mount 😂

Yeah, it's definitely not a travel scope. 😂 The nearest specs for a scope of this size was the Tecnosky 180, that only has 3 glass elements and weighs in at 19kg.

[Nightspore]

My 235mm (9.25") Celestron Evolution has a big handle. 

 

 

It needs it!

[Anaximander]

On 4/16/2024 at 6:37 AM, TerryMcK said:

I wonder what the Cosmos Steering Wheel is!

Do you think it could be for rotating the focuser for framing? Seems rather large though.

[TerryMcK]

6 hours ago, Anaximander said:

Do you think it could be for rotating the focuser for framing? Seems rather large though.

Maybe it is a frame/camera rotator yes. No doubt WO will explain its on their website in time.

[RaDec]

10 hours ago, TerryMcK said:

Maybe it is a frame/camera rotator yes. No doubt WO will explain its on their website in time.

It's obvious guys, that thing has so much mass, you use the wheel to rotate the cosmos to fit your frame!!

[RaDec]

On 4/16/2024 at 11:22 AM, Nightspore said:

 

This is utterly brilliant, I was transfixed for the entirety!! So few notes/chords, such complexity, such repetition and absolutely compelling. I love it!!

[Nightspore]

39 minutes ago, RaDec said:

This is utterly brilliant, I was transfixed for the entirety!! So few notes/chords, such complexity, such repetition and absolutely compelling. I love it!!