Lazzarotti Optics is now producing an innovative series of telescopes for discriminating observers and imagers who need the very best tool for planetary observation and imaging.

It’s called the GLADIUS.

The GLADIUS features a classical DALL-KIRKHAM optical system exclusively designed to deliver the very best performance for HIGH RESOLUTION imaging, both visual and digital.

With an high quality optical set far exceeding the diffraction limit and a tiny 20% central obstruction, the GLADIUS suffers from none of the optical compromises you see with every single commercial SCT on the market whose optical quality is quite random. Any GLADIUS produced by Lazzarotti Optics comes with an individual star test clearly showing the optical quality.

Every part of the GLADIUS has been designed to work at its best in any observing condition.
Optically redundant parts have been eliminated to produce an incredibly lightweight instrument which is easy to handle and transport, both at home and abroad.

• TUBELESS DESIGN

• In many ways the tube is the least useful part of a telescope. It's basic purpose is to keep the optics in place. But it's a very expensive item because, strictly speaking, special paint and accurate baffles are both required to eliminate incidental light.
  
  
  
• Expensive carbon fiber materials are sometimes used to make the tube rigid enough, but such tubes are very hard to cool down because the carbon fiber acts as an insulating material. Get rid of the tube and you instantly eliminate heat plumes and spirals: even when the telescope has been outdoors for just half an hour or less! And, provided the temperature gap isn't too large, no ghost reflections will be seen because the air surrounding the optics cannot reflect light! This means you can get up and imaging faster.
  
  
  
• Extraneous light isn’t an issue either: the GLADIUS is designed to gather only on-axis light. No off-axis light can disturb your view at the eyepiece. With the gladius the background sky level is as dark as seen with the naked eye - or even better if there is some external light source interfering with your naked eye view. We can achieve this performance thanks to our custom black velvet wrapped around every critical surface along the light path. This is the most effective material known for blocking extraneous light. Paint simply isn’t up to the job because sooner or later dew will inevitably make painted surfaces shiny. But velvet absorbs moisture!
  
  
• Under average humidity conditions our mirrors will only dew after many hours of exposure to the night sky - especially the primary mirror thanks to its high thermal inertia which keeps the glass slightly warmer than the air. In any case the new dewshield (optional with the CF250) or an heater belt will ensure dry mirrors over a whole night of observing.
  

• OPTICAL FEATURES

• Our primary and secondary mirrors are made of the finest Pyrex® 7740. The new primary mirror flat shape has been preferred over conical blanks to avoid any sort of astigmatism caused by the thin edge which is so hard to control when figuring the conical blank. The effective central obstruction is 20% in all versions of the GLADIUS.
  
  
• Both mirrors come with a classic multi-layer 88% reflective aluminum coating with a protective hardened layer of SiO2. This quartz layer is specially enhanced to protect the mirror from direct contact with the open air.
  
  
• Note that a D-K f/25 optical system is much easier to use thanks to a far higher tolerance to misalignment of the mirrors than any SCT, Newtonian and - above all  - RC system working at f/10 will allow.
  
  
  
• Furthermore, this optical system does not require additional elements to produce the right focal length for imaging. The average digital camera equipped with a small-pixel sensor (typically 4.5-6 microns) is the perfect solution for imaging with the GLADIUS (CCD cameras with larger pixel size may require a small amount of image amplification when the seeing is very good.)
  The field of view is perfectly corrected up to 13mm, so most cameras up to 1.4-2 Mpixel can be used with no problems.
  
  
• This means there is literally nothing in the way of truly high quality imaging: no more expensive barlows to reach that all-important image scale; no more wasted photons from glass dispersion or refraction; no more ridiculously long optical trains causing image shift and flexure.
  
  
  
• Remember: if it isn't there it can't cause problems!
  With the GLADIUS there are only two reflections between the planets and your chip or eyepiece!
  
  
  
• Collimation is easily performed by adjusting the secondary mirror with the usual 3 collimation knobs and a central pulling screw. The primary mirror is completely fixed and comes perfectly aligned straight from the factory.
  
  
  

• LATEST NEWS
  

• NEW LOW PRICE! The GLADIUS is now offered at the lowest price ever despite several innovations were carried in! Check UNITRON ITALIA website to discover how amazing is the new price!
  

• The primary mirror is now protected by a lightweight carbon fiber shield which prevents fingerprints and moisture. The shield can be added and removed by hand in a very simply way with no tools. The shield position is such that no boundary layers are usually seen during the final mirror cooling down. Any way, this should be used in critical conditions only. The shield is included with the new GLADIUS CF315 version and it can be purchased apart with the GLADIUS  CF250.
  
  
• The primary mirror cap now features a built-in mask to reduce the full aperture down to 230mm (9")  in case of poor seeing. This is also helpful to get safe solar observations together with an Herschel prism + ND filters fitted into the focuser.
  
  
• The GLADIUS CF315 is now equipped with the Baader Planetarium SteelTrack 2" focuser replacing the early FeatherTouch focuser. The price is much lower, not the performance!
  

• The secondary mirror is now held by a sectioned tube made by carbon fiber to improve the GLADIUS overall stability. By optical side, this support acts as the early aluminum ring with no difference at all in terms of diffraction. Both the diameter and the thickness aren't changed.

• A new pair of carbon fiber "swords" are now running aside the rail to dampen high frequencies vibrations in case of windy conditions and mounts delivering vibrations. These can be removed when the telescope must be broken down in 2 parts. Lenght is 98cm and weight is about 50g each.
  

• The primary and secondary will be held by a rigid but lightweight frame of carbon fiber.
  This innovative solution has some interesting benefits:
  
  
  1.  An even more rigid structure - Any residual or previously negligible flexure or torsion is now entirely eliminated;
  2.  An even more lightweight scope - The new frame makes the scope 2.5 kg lighter;
  3.  A telescope even easier to carry - The new frame now allows the scope to be broken down into two parts;
  4.  An even more immune telescope to focus loss - The carbon fiber frame maintains exactly the same length regardless of temperature shifts.

• As before, all components are precision machined to ensure perfect collimation in any position - especially around the angle of the ecliptic where the GLADIUS chiefly does its work. Obviously, the two parts can be disassembled and assembled keeping safe the mirror alignement.
  
  
• A standard Losmandy G-type dovetail allows the telescope to be fitted to most equatorial mountings on the market.

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Exclusive dealer worldwide:

Via F.lli Dandolo, 10 - 50135 Firenze
Tel. 055-667065   Fax. 055-6241337

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