SKY-WATCHER PRO 120ED APO REFRACTOR: Serious Amateurs will Love the SW 120mm ED-APO Refractor Sky-Watcher high-performance ED-APO refractors offer premium optical performance for the discriminating amateur astronomer. Refractors are coveted for their superb contrast, high-definition, and coal-black sky background that make stars appear like diamonds imbedded in black velvet. SW APO refractors utilize the most modern optical glasses and fabricating techniques to deliver the ultimate in high-fidelity astronomical imaging. Subtle details pop as never seen before in telescopes of lesser optical capability. Observing with the Sky-Watcher PRO 120ED APO Refractor The additional aperture compared to a 100mm diameter lens provides a dramatic increase in resolution and a heighten sense of seeing lunar and planetary surface phenomenon in seemingly 3D high-definition. Touring the Moon…the rugged Southern Highlands of the lunar surface are rich in craters. To the southeast the famous crater Theophilus is 65 miles across. The raised triple-peaked central area is striking to observe in your SW 120ED. The crater has massive walls and the basin is 14,000 thousand feet deep. One of the southernmost craters, Clavius, is a very large crater 145 miles across. It is located south of Tycho. In this same area can be found craters Maginus and Longomotanus which are also very worthy of exploration. To the north, the young crater Tycho dominates the southern lunar landscape. Named after the famous Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe, it is a spectacular sight with very high-rimmed walls. Your SW120ED will provide an impressive view. North of Tycho appearing brightly in a basin is the famous Rupes Rect (the Straight Wall), an 800 foot mountain that is a “must see" for amateur astronomers. Your SW 120ED will show it clearly and sharply the way you want to see it. On the north end of Mare Nubium, almost on the lunar N-S and E-W center line can be found 3 craters grouped together: Arzachel a young impact crater 60 miles across and 13,000 feet deep shows a terraced structure and a system of channel-like narrow depressions in its basin called “rilles". Nearby are Alphonsus, a 70 mile wide crater, and Ptolemaus a prominent ancient crater 90 miles across with a heavily worn dark interior. The Earth’s Moon offers a treasure trove of fascinating detail to explore with your SW 120ED-APO EQ5 PRO. We have only featured a relative few examples of what is available. The views you will experience are so clear and sharp it might just feel like a veritable space-walk. Planets are spectacular…the inner solar-system presents the colorful rusty-red planet Mars. Mars is a challenge for amateur astronomers, but your SW 120ED will show some very interesting detail. Olympus Mons a volcanic crater 375-miles across and 16-miles high is just one of the quests your capable SW120ED can tackle. Nirgal Vallis is a channel 600 miles long that responds well to the razor sharp contrast provided by the SW 120ED. The Grand Canyon of Mars, Valles Mariners, dwarfs that of our Earth’s Grand Canyon, but it still requires superb optics to view even though it is 150 miles wide and 4 miles deep. When prominent, the gleaming white Mars’ polar cap is in stark contrast to the redish-orange surface landscape of the rest of the planet. The SW 120ED will show you this detail like you want to see it. The gas giant Jupiter displays its swirling equatorial bands in high-definition with festoons, and tonality within the bands. With regular observation you will be able to follow storms and disturbances cross the planet in the southern equatorial band. Saturn’s storied surface phenomenon is simply stunnin