BEST SELLERS

This excellent, ultra-light, refractor telescope kit from Celestron™ and the National Park Service Foundation comes with a custom backpack so you can tote it to where you can actually see stars. Offers super-fast, no-tool set-up, and weighs just 16 oz. Has a 60mm objective, 5X24 finder scope, a collapsible tripod that extends from 16” to 48”, a 1.25” moon filter, 8mm and 20mm eyepieces, a 3X Barlow lens, a 45-degree erecting prism for land viewing (so you can spy on the bad guys!), a compass and a tiny white LED flashlight with (3) button-cell batteries.

…with my little handheld 2-draw captains telescope. (Image is right side up) So can you. Measures 1-1/2” dia and extends from 12-1/4” to 15” in black and white metal, with some plastic. Has a 30mm objective lens and rated at 30X magnification, but the actual magnification is closer to 20X. Focus adjusts by sliding the 2-3/4” extension, which takes a little getting used to, but works like a charm. Includes a lens cap and a zippered black carrying case with a wrist strap. In case you’re wondering why we haven’t mentioned it yet, OK, yes, it’s a telescoping telescope. You didn’t think we’d let that one slip by, did you?

How about three extra hands? This multi-purpose workstation tool has a large 3X, 3-1/2" dia LED-lighted magnifier on a 10" gooseneck (you add 4 "AA" batteries), a soldering-iron stand, cleaning sponge plus steel wool, a canister of flux paste, a pair of  alligator clips with ball-socket mounts on the ends of a 4" rod  plus an extra hand with a third alligator clip on a 10" gooseneck. It all weighs in at a stable 3+ lbs and has a 7-1/4" x 6-3/4" base so you won't need fourth hand to hold it upright.

Nothing wrong with a standard compact-case mirror, but this expanded version offers a whole lot more mirror, and it’s lighted to boot. Has (2) 3-3/8” dia mirrors, (1) regular and (1) X10 magnification, with a light ring around each. Unit opens and closes like a standard compact but also has an extendable neck so you can stack the mirrors like an “8”. Case measures about 5” dia overall x 1/34” tall with a nice white finish. You supply (3) “AAA” batteries.

For the shaving kit, the campground or the kids, nothing says no nasty glass shards like plexiglass. This unframed, unbreakable, back-surfaced mirror is 3" x 2-1/2" x 3/32" thick. Please note that there is a protective film covering the front of the mirror which you need to peel off before using.

A recipe from the Elizabethan Cable Food Network? No, just a couple of samples from our collection of (48) specimens preserved for your classroom examination, with (4) well-labeled specimens on each of (12) standard-size slides. You get animal, plant, insect, textile, and pollen and spore specimens, including camel hair, camellia leaf, plant louse, fruit fly, fern spore, bee wing, nylon, wool, lily pollen, bamboo shoot, goldfish scale, and three dozen more, including our homonymic favorite, hare hair. Grades three and up.

Al Luebbers, our founder, collected glass. Not glass like you'd find on a knick-knack shelf, but optical glass. Lenses, prisms, reticles and filters, for example. Focus on the filters. Many of his filters came out of military surplus, and this is for-real stuff. We mean many are solid dyed optical glass, ground and polished to flatness standards that were probably excessive. Others are from the old days in photographic optics, and their standards were even tighter than your militaristic Uncle's. We've found that photographers, artists, and optical designers still have an occasional need for good glass filters, so we're making a list of some goodies. As always, don't be timid about calling for quotes on quantities. If we have 'em, we'll sell 'em. Just don't sell them back. Please!

This extremely good quality folding jeweler's loupe is in polished aluminum and folds into a protective cover. It measures 1-5/8" x 13/16" and is teardrop-shaped when closed. Doublet lens, 18mm dia, 10X, lit by (2) very bright white LEDs, powered by (3) button-cell batteries that are included. It has a small loop for a chain, and comes in a plastic case with a small tool for accessing the batteries.

Sometimes being a lightweight is a good thing—like when you have to carry it in a bag slung over your shoulder. This extendable camera tripod weighs next to nothing, extends to 50” and collapses down to 16”. Has a (3)-axis swivel pan head and a bubble level, a quick release plate, quick-release leg locks and rubber grip feet. Can handle a 2-1/2-lb load capacity and you won’t even notice that you’re carrying it in the included black case.

The sport of the future? No, cork-lined polystyrene boxes for holding microscope slides, complete with numbered slots and inventory sheets on the lids. The boxes are 8-3/4" x 6-3/4" x 1-1/3" with hinged lids. They are stackable, and you might get them in a variety of colors.

Mini scientists need appropriately sized lab equipment, and, what a coincidence, we have a Mini Duo Scope from My First Lab™ that's sure to delight your child. It's two microscopes in one, and won Creative Child Magazine's Product of the Year Award. Has 40X, 100X and 400X magnification, top and bottom LED illumination, and includes more than (40) pieces and accessories, including brine shrimp eggs and yeast specimens. Ages 8 and up, and requires (2) AA batteries. Today, the Mini Duo. Tomorrow, the Large Hadron? Hey, it could happen.

Optimize the power of your microscope and get the sharpest possible image with a drop of clear, colorless immersion oil between the lens and your slide. This 0.5 oz tube of low-viscosity Resolve® Immersion Oil from Richard-Allan Scientific has a refractive index of 1.5150. It is non-drying and non-hardening, and will not damage lenses or valuable slides. But it will definitely enhance your view!

One wiseacre assumed we meant any package leaving our shipping room that once had a glass object in it. That is a malicious rumor. . . Ground glass is thin plate glass, the surface of which has been physically ground or acid-etched to create a grainy, grayish, opaque surface. Use it to produce an image from a lens or lens system. Even a simple magnifier, held between the ground glass and, say, a window, will produce an image of the window scene on the ground glass. Ground glass has another magical property: it is opaque to any object viewed at a distance, but not if that object is in direct contact with the glass surface. A necessary element of your optical education. 3-1/2" x 4-3/8" x 1/16" thick.

For students or professionals, this Celestron® Deluxe Handheld Digital Microscope that captures still images and videos is a terrific computer accessory. Plug the USB 2.0 cable into your computer's port and take advantage of the built-in, upgraded 2MP CMOS sensor, 10X to 150X magnification, and 8-LED illumination. It features a 1 sec. to 1/1000 sec shutter speed, 1920x1080, 1280x720 and 640x480 resolutions, max 30fps videos, 10mm to 150mm manual focus and a 2 element glass lens with IR Cut and EFL 158mm. The 4-oz, 4-1/4" x 1-1/4" dia scope may be handheld, or slipped into its metal stand for steadier viewing. Works with Windows 7/8/10 and MAC OSX 10.12 and up. Very cool.

Take a look pretty much anyplace with this 1-1/8" dia glass inspection mirror on a ball & socket universal joint mounted on the end of a 5-draw rod that extends from 4-3/4” to 21-1/2” long. Also good for doing dental inspections on alligators.

These 9mm dia  plano-convex (PCx)glass lenses have an appx. 154mm focal length, and are perfect for arts and crafts projects, or for making the worlds tiniest telescope. May have a few small chips but we will sort them as best as we can. Call about larger quantity discounts!

You bought one of our excellent microscopes - now you need interesting, good-quality slides. You need our Microscope Accessory Kit. The kit includes The World of the Microscope, a well-illustrated 48-page book that explains the instrument and how to use it. You get supplies to create your own slides, including a box of (72) standard glass slides, about 1" x 3", with ground edges; tweezers with which to position your specimens; a 4" glass dropper with a rubber bulb from which to drop small amounts of liquid onto the specimens; and (100) square pieces of #1 thickness cover glass to place over them. A great way to get focused.

Paul, the guy with vision around here, calls these the binocs to get if you're stepping up your binocular game. From Celestron®, they're Nature DX Series 8 x 42 and lightweight at about 22 oz with BaK-4 prisms, fully multi-coated optics, twist-up eyecups, 7.4 degree angular field of view (FOV), 6.5 ft near focus, linear FOV of 388 feet at 1000 yards, 17.5mm eye relief, 5.2mm exit pupil for brighter images and phase-coated optics. They're completely waterproof and nitrogen-purged to prevent fogging and are "perfect for birding" per Paul. Measure an easy-to-handle 5.3" x 4.9" x 2" and come with a case, neckstrap and chamois.