We've finally done it! After much consideration and anticipation, we’re thrilled to announce the latest addition to our astronomy toolkit—the Skywatcher Pro Series 150mm Maksutov Cassegrain! This marks a significant step forward in our journey towards planetary imaging, an area where our current refractors (like the 50ED and 62ED) struggle to deliver the magnification and detail we need.

This particular model is from the classic Gold series, the predecessor to today’s Skymax, and we managed to snag it used but in pristine, like-new condition for only $500 AUD. For context, the current Skymax version retails between $1,300 and $1,400 AUD here in Australia, so we couldn’t pass up this bargain! According to the previous owner, it was old new stock from a distributor, sitting on a shelf for quite some time—until now!

Our initial impression, despite the clouds rolling in (of course!), has us eagerly awaiting its first proper "first light" session. Maksutov Cassegrains are known for their excellent contrast, which we’re hoping will reveal more planetary details than we’ve seen before. While we’re not quite ready to challenge Damien Peach (our favourite planetary imager) and his C14 SCT just yet, we’re confident this scope will be a game-changer for us.

While the Skywatcher Pro Series 150mm Maksutov Cassegrain OTA weighs in at just around 6kg, it’s right on the edge of what our trusty Skywatcher EQ3-2 mount can handle for visual use. This has us thinking that a budget mount upgrade might be in our near future! We’re leaning toward something sturdier, perhaps an EQ5, though we’ll likely keep an eye out for a good deal on a used one. Whatever we decide, you can be sure we’ll keep you updated with a full review of the new setup!

Stay tuned for an in-depth review as soon as the weather cooperates! We’ve already snuck a peek at the moon between some fleeting clouds, and we can’t wait to share more about how this scope performs.

Clear Skies!