SKU: 13744941905

Explore Scientific AR102 102mm f/6.5 Doublet Refractor Telescope

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Description

Explore Scientific AR102 102mm f/6.5 Doublet Refractor TelescopeIf you've been observing with a 60mm or 70mm starter scope and wondering why galaxies and nebulae never look like the photos, aperture is the answer and the Explore Scientific AR102 puts a fully equipped 4 inch refractor with an 8x50 finderscope, 2" dielectric diagonal, and dual speed Crayford focuser in your hands for $300. This air spaced doublet achromat gathers 2. 4x more light than an 80mm scope, turning faint fuzzies into defined structure at

If you've been observing with a 60mm or 70mm starter scope and wondering why galaxies and nebulae never look like the photos, aperture is the answer — and the Explore Scientific AR102 puts a fully equipped 4-inch refractor with an 8x50 finderscope, 2" dielectric diagonal, and dual-speed Crayford focuser in your hands for $300. This air-spaced doublet achromat gathers 2.4x more light than an 80mm scope, turning faint fuzzies into defined structure at the eyepiece.


Key Features
  • 102mm Air-Spaced Crown-and-Flint Doublet – Classic achromatic design with fully multi-coated optics delivers bright, high-contrast views with 1.14 arcsecond resolution and a 12.5 limiting magnitude
  • Fast f/6.5 Focal Ratio – 663mm focal length provides wide-field deep-sky views while still resolving lunar craters and planetary detail at moderate magnifications
  • 2" Dual-Speed Crayford-Style Focuser – Zero-image-shift design with 10:1 fine focus ratio and adjustable tension for smooth, precise focusing at any magnification
  • 8x50 Straight-Through Finderscope Included – High-quality optical finder with 6-point adjustable bracket for quick, accurate star-hopping — no additional purchase needed
  • 99% Reflective 2" Dielectric Diagonal Included – Premium diagonal with brass compression ring maximizes light throughput and contrast right out of the box
  • Lightweight and Portable – 11.5 lbs and 25.5" of tube make this easy to transport to star parties, outreach events, and dark-sky sites
  • Cradle Rings with Carry Handle – Felt-lined rings provide secure mounting and easy balance adjustments, with a built-in handle for safe transport
  • Vixen-Style Dovetail – Compatible with most alt-azimuth and equatorial mounts for flexible setup options

Ideal For
  • Visual observers upgrading from a smaller scope who want a noticeable jump in brightness and detail — the 102mm aperture pulls in nearly twice the light of a 70mm refractor, revealing structure in nebulae, galaxies, and star clusters that smaller scopes can't show
  • Star party and outreach organizers who need a reliable, impressive scope that sets up fast — the included finderscope, diagonal, and Crayford focuser mean you're observing within minutes with no extra accessories to buy
  • Budget-conscious astronomers who want quality optics without paying APO prices — the AR102 delivers sharp, contrast-rich views at a fraction of the cost of an ED or triplet refractor
  • Lunar and planetary observers who enjoy scanning craters, cloud bands, and ring detail at moderate magnifications — the f/6.5 focal ratio strikes a balance between wide-field sweeps and detailed close-up views

Accessories & Compatibility

Want more aperture? The AR127 steps up to 127mm for brighter views and higher resolution, and the AR152 delivers the brightest images in the AR Series with a full 6 inches of aperture. Looking for color-free APO performance? The ED102 Essential Series steps up to an air-spaced triplet with HOYA FCD1 extra-low dispersion glass, eliminating the chromatic aberration inherent in achromatic designs.

Note: No eyepieces are included — the AR102 is designed for observers who want to choose their own. See our recommended eyepieces below.


Recommended Eyepieces

We recommend the Explore Scientific 52° Series Waterproof Eyepieces — each is fully sealed, nitrogen-purged, and built for years of reliable use:

  • 25mm (27x) – Wide-field scanning of the Orion Nebula, Andromeda Galaxy, and Pleiades star cluster with a bright, expansive view
  • 20mm (33x) – A versatile mid-range magnification for exploring galaxies, nebulae, and open clusters with good detail and field of view
  • 10mm (66x) – Sharp planetary views and double-star splitting, with bright, contrast-rich deep-sky detail
  • 4.5mm (147x) – High-power lunar and planetary detail — Saturn's rings, Jupiter's cloud bands, and intricate lunar craters

If you're starting out, the 25mm delivers bright, sweeping views that make deep-sky objects easy to find. Add the 10mm for a versatile mid-high power option, then build from there.

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SKU: 13744941905

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Marc Jenkins
Dallas, US
★★★★★ 4
Good book minus Containers chapter.
Format: Paperback
Great book with useful information. However, I gave it 4 starts due to the "Containers" chapter. Very poorly written chapter. In fact, if you get this book, just ignore the container chapter as it will only waste your time and can be better spent using other sources.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2025
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Jean P.
Grantham, US
★★★★★ 4
Portable format
Format: Paperback
It is a good book , the only inconvenient some links provided did not work and it doesn’t have a portable format available online
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Reviewed in the United States on April 9, 2025
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tommy the runion
Natrona Heights, US
★★★★★ 4
Good book that will help with your RHCSA, But...
Format: Kindle
...watch out for typos and problems with some of the explanations in some parts of the book. I bought this book (kindle version) and used it to pass the RHCSA. The book is clearly tailored for the RHCSA and to be fair does live up to that reputation. There are a lot of exercises and examples that clearly outline what the author is trying to convey. Examples are clear to understand and if you do the exercises yourself, then you are well on your way to passing the RHCSA. However, there are a lot of typos big and small and I did send them to the author with the assumption that it would benefit others with the corrections (especially the kindle version). The author was responsive at the beginning acknowledging the errors. I did not check whether they have been fixed or not. I just went through the content after making note of the typos and with the understanding that he would fix it. The topics are well covered and explained. Three topics that could have been better covered are SELinux, AutoFS and Containers. The explanation uses excessive word-o-logy that leaves somebody new to SELinux with tons of confusion and more questions. I used youtube resources to prep myself on the how and why (Ed Walsh on a youtube channel clearly explains the need for SELinux - I have not seen a better explanation than Ed's anywhere else). The author's coverage of AutoFS is again excessive word-o-logy that is a confusing mess. The examples are fine, but the explanation uses confusing rhetoric that can leave you messed up with NFS and AutoFS setup. I read explanations on direct and indirect mappings and watched a couple of youtube videos before I understood what the author was trying to convey. I pointed out both of these to the author. The container chapter is missing explanations or examples that the reader is well advised to take note. DIY labs 22-3 and 22-4 relate to rootless containers and therefore has to be launched as a regular user. Both labs require that you launch rootless, persistent data containers with folders under /. However, the author does not mention in any of his examples that this type of container requires you to "chown" the folders under root to belong to the user. If you launch a rootless container with this setup as a regular user without "chown"ing, (even with full DAC permissions for everybody) then SELinux does not want to apply the correct context type (container_t to the shared folder). For both these DIYs, if you make a folder anywhere other than areas that a regular user can write or has access, then you will need to "chown" it to the user before launching the rootless container, otherwise this has to be launched as a root container not rootless. I pointed this out to the author. I did not hear from him. Further, container questions (20,21,22) in mock exam #3 has user60 with a NFS mounted home folder. The questions relate to launching rootless containers as user60 with a NFS mounted home folder. SELinux barfs when it encounters the home folder with a type context as "nfs_t" for user60. It suggests workarounds that did not work for me. I googled it and the latest versions of podman seem to have some fix for the errors associated with a home folder on a NFS server. I tried to research this issue further but had an exam scheduled within days. Therefore, I requested the author for clarification/help. Here again, I did not hear from him. Luckily, I did not have to work on any such scenarios on the real test. Still, the book is a good reference to the topics on the test and is pretty useful. Although I had to refer to other resources for some chapters, the examples and mock exams are very good.
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Reviewed in the United States on June 12, 2023
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RG
Charlottesville, US
★★★★★ 5
Excellent Study Bundle! Don't Let Negative Reviews Fool You!
Format: Paperback
I received the four books in a box, and they arrived brand new and exactly as described. These books are truly great for learning and easy to follow. I was almost discouraged from ordering because of some of the negative reviews, but I'm so glad I decided to see for myself and ordered this bundle deal. While the internal pictures and screenshots are not high definition or in color, they are perfectly easy to view and follow along. The author does an excellent job of guiding you, telling you exactly what to look at within the picture to follow along and understand the concepts. All the screenshots are spot-on and very readable. This is my first set of A+ books from Sybex, and I have the two main study books, the review guide, and the practice questions book. Wow! What else can I ask for? I used to rely on the big books with the golden covers, but they didn't have the latest editions. Too bad for them—this is a huge gain for me! Thank you, Sybex and Authors!
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Reviewed in the United States on November 12, 2025
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SEMAJ SAWL III
Waukegan, US
★★★★★ 5
Great fully encompassing training
Format: Paperback
Covers all the questions , scenarios for multiple A+ exam options
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Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2026

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