To participate in AST 195 you must have a good telescope.

Students who enroll in AST 195 will be using a specific telescope: the Meade Polaris 70mm German Equatorial Refractor (SKU 216001), shown at right—click here for information from Meade about this telescope. All students taking AST 195 are required to use this specific telescope.

The JCTC bookstores are selling the Meade Polaris 70mm. Some students will want to get their telescope through the bookstore—for example, the bookstore can work with students who will be using financial aid money to purchase their telescope, and of course the bookstore is convenient for cash purchases. However, if you do not specifically wish to use the bookstore to purchase your telescope, many vendors sell this telescope, and you can save money by looking elsewhere.

An optional piece of equipment:

In AST 195 you will take a lot of photos through your telescope using a smart phone. The standard way of doing this is to hold the phone by hand. However, some students like to have a phone adapter to hold the phone for them, and Meade makes an adapter that is not too expensive (shown below—click here for information from Meade about this adapter). This is optional equipment.