Explore Scientific 8x50 Illuminated Right Angle Polar Finder Scope with Illuminator II

An 8x50 right-angle finder scope with an erect-image eyepiece, dual-hemisphere polar alignment reticle, and variable-brightness red LED illumination — built for precise polar alignment on German equatorial mounts without the neck strain of a straight-through polar scope.

The 90° eyepiece lets you look down into the finder instead of crouching behind the mount, and the erect image means what you see matches what’s in the sky — no mirror-reversed confusion. The precision-etched reticle includes star patterns for both hemispheres: a triangular asterism around Polaris for the north, and a polygon pattern around Sigma Octantis for the south. In the north, rotate the eyepiece until the star field matches the reticle, then move the mount until Polaris sits in the small circle under the reticle’s center. Explore Scientific says this gets you very close to the North Celestial Pole, and that imaging needs a more precise alignment, such as the drift method.

Dual-focus adjustment lets you sharpen the objective and eyepiece reticle independently — critical for getting both the stars and the alignment pattern crisp at the same time. The Illuminator II, which Explore Scientific sells as its long-battery-life illuminator, runs on two AAA batteries (not included). The 7° field of view is wide enough to acquire alignment stars quickly.

Mounts on any Explore Scientific finder base (standard, T-shaped, or Hybrid).

Key Features

• 8x50 optics with 7° field of view
• 90° erect-image eyepiece — comfortable, intuitive viewing
• Dual-hemisphere polar alignment reticle (Polaris + Sigma Octantis patterns)
• Dual-focus: independent objective and reticle sharpness
• Illuminator II with variable red LED, AAA batteries
• 200mm × 62mm × 112mm, 1 lb 9.1 oz

Ideal For

• Equatorial mount owners — a quick polar alignment for visual observing, and a close starting point that imagers then refine, for example with the drift method
• Observers who find straight-through polar scopes uncomfortable — the right-angle design eliminates crouching behind the mount