What is the real focal length of the Askar SQA60 Pro?

Askar states 276 mm. The ASIAIR plate solutions written into 209 of my 216 subs read 277.6 to 278.7 mm (median 278), about 0.7 percent longer. With 3.76 micron pixels the scale is 2.79 arcsec per pixel and the ASI2600MM Air frames 4.84 x 3.24 degrees of sky.

Does the SQA60 Pro cover a full-frame sensor?

Every capture on this page is the APS-C ASI2600MM Air (23.5 x 15.7 mm); no full-frame frame through it exists on disk, so the corners of a 44 mm circle are untested here.

Which camera, mount and filters I used with the SQA60 Pro

By the headers of all 216 subs: the ZWO ASI2600MM Air at -10 C, gain 0, offset 50, 180 s subs, on the ZWO AM3N, an ASI120MM Mini guide camera, a ZWO EAF (FOCUSPOS on every sub). By my narration: the Scorpio 3 nm HSO filter set for the four narrowband targets and a ZWO LRGB set for Andromeda, in a ZWO filter wheel.

How does the SQA60 Pro compare with the ToupTek Hope D60?

Most recently I reviewed the ToupTek Hope D60 telescope which I'm a huge fan of so it'll be interesting today to see how this Askar SQA60 Pro compares against it, especially since the ToupTek Hope D60 telescope is a lot more affordable in comparison. The two are side by side on the terrace table in In the hand and column by column in the comparison table (the Hope D60 scored 84 on my board and is £749 at Dark Clear Skies, 13 Sep 2026). I did not image the same target through both on the same nights, so there is no measured comparison.

How much does the Askar SQA60 Pro cost and where can I buy it?

£1,249 at First Light Optics in the UK and $1,280 at Agena Astro in the US, both in stock. I put £1,299 on the title card of the review video and £1,249 in its title. No AliExpress or maker price is printed: none is recorded.

How heavy is the SQA60 Pro?

In terms of size it is only 283mm long. Sharpstar's figures are 2.79 kg for the tube and 3.54 kg with the tube ring and dovetail; I have not weighed it on my own scale.

How well did the SQA60 Pro guide?

Not recorded: no guide log or ASIAIR guiding readout exists for this telescope. The stacked frames carry a median star size of 4.2 to 4.5 arcsec, which folds in seeing, guiding and the 2.79 arcsec pixels.

Is the Askar SQA60 Pro worth £1,249?

My score is 71 of 100, 26th of the 42 telescopes on my board; the verdict and five reader cards are in Should you buy it.

What have I not tested on the SQA60 Pro?

Guiding, corner stars and tilt, full frame: not tested.

Askar SQA60 Pro review: the only SQA with six elements

Where does it rank on our leaderboard

Nine of the 42 telescopes on my board, against price
Rank	Telescope	Stars for Your Buck	Recorded UK price
1	Askar 50P	95 out of 100	£299
2	ToupTek Hope D60	93 out of 100	£749
9	SVBONY SV545	85 out of 100	£459
18	Celestron C11 EdgeHD	75 out of 100	£4,845
21	Celestron Cometron 60	73 out of 100	£44
26	Askar SQA60 Pro	71 out of 100	£1,249
35	Celestron 8 inch RASA	53 out of 100	£2,595
41	Celestron 114 LCM	42 out of 100	£361
42	Celestron AstroMaster LT 76	13 out of 100	£200

Contents

01 Where does it rank on our leaderboard
02 Specifications and features
03 In the hand
04 How good is it? Here's what I captured
05 Raw against finished
06 The rig on the mount
07 Versus the ZWO FF110
08 Watch the review
09 Tested numbers and the download
10 Should you buy it?
11 Questions and more about this review

In 30 seconds

Stars for Your Buck 71/100

Reviewed 1 Sep 2026 Updated 21 Sep 2026

Rank: #26 of 42 telescopes
Verdict: Worth a look

Written by Damon Scotting 9 min read

Buy it if

You want whole targets in one frame at 276 mm: the entire Veil, or the Heart and Soul together, on an APS-C sensor
You image narrowband from a light-polluted garden and want plenty of colour to work with

Skip it if

You want the cheapest 60 mm astrograph: the ToupTek Hope D60 is a lot more affordable and I am a fan of it
You need a dew shield that extends or comes off: this one is fixed

“These are all images I've captured with this tiny 60mm telescope that has 6 separate pieces of glass inside it.”

Specifications and features

Against the telescopes I have reviewed

Compare with

Askar SQA60 Pro reviewed #26 of 42	ToupTek Hope D60 #2 of 42	William Optics RedCat 51 #29 of 42	Nakoh 60GT #36 of 42	Askar 71F #14 of 42	Askar 60F #8 of 42
Recorded UK price	£1,249	£749	£849	£899	£599	£498
Stars for Your Buck	71/100	93/100	69/100	52/100	81/100	87/100
Aperture	60 mm	60 mm	51 mm	60 mm	71 mm	60 mm
Focal length	276 mm	280 mm	250 mm	360 mm	490 mm	408 mm
Focal ratio	f/4.6	f/4.66	f/4.9	f/6	f/6.9	f/6.8
Optical design	Sextuplet Petzval APO, two SD elements	Five-element planar apochromat (PAPO), SD and lanthanum glass	Four-element Petzval, FPL-53 glass	Triplet apochromat, one SD and one ED element; reducer and flattener separate	Quadruplet air-spaced flat-field apochromat, one ED element	Quadruplet air-spaced apochromat, one ED element
Image circle	44 mm	44 mm	45 mm	44 mm with the reducer or flattener	44 mm	44 mm
Back focus	41 to 66 mm (55 recommended); flattener built in	55 mm from the rear thread	55 mm, plus or minus 3 mm	55 mm with the optional flattener or reducer	82.5 mm from the M48 thread base	31 to 81 mm from the M48
Focuser	2.8 inch rigid dual speed, 25 mm travel, 360 degree rotator	3 inch dual speed, 30 mm travel; 360 degree camera angle adjuster	Internal focus design (WIFD), EAF compatible; camera angle rotator	2.5 inch dual-speed rack and pinion, 32 mm travel; 360 degree rotator with engraved scale	2.4 inch dual-speed rack and pinion, 1:10; 360 degree scale rotator	2.4 inch dual-speed rack and pinion, 1:10, 50 mm travel; 360 degree scale rotator
Weight, tube	2.79 kg tube; 3.54 kg with the ring and dovetail	About 3.5 kg as supplied, not a bare-tube figure	1.77 kg tube; 2.38 kg with rings, dovetail and saddle	about 2.94 kg	2.5 kg tube; 3.0 kg with rings and dovetail	2.36 kg tube; 2.86 kg with rings and dovetail
Length, tube	283 mm	255 mm dew shield retracted	298 mm	270 mm	372.5 mm dew shield in; 430.9 mm out	289 mm dew shield in; 323 mm out
Dew shield	Fixed	Retractable, magnetic positioning	84 mm diameter	Fixed length; lifts off	Retractable	Retractable
In the box	Tube, tube ring, 290 mm Vixen dovetail, handle, two finder shoes, Oxford cloth case	Tube, M48 adapter, dust cover	Dust cover with Bahtinov mask, dew shield, saddle handle bar, camera angle rotation device, tilt adapter, 210 mm Vixen dovetail, soft case	Tube, handle, tube ring, 230 mm Vixen dovetail, 1.25 and 2 inch adapters, manual	Tube, tube rings, handle, 230 mm Vixen dovetail, photographic adapters	Tube, tube rings, handle, 230 mm Vixen dovetail, photographic adapters

In the hand

Six A7S frames

On its dovetail

Beside the Hope D60

The objective end

The carton

The top handle

On the mount at dusk

How good is it? Here's what I captured

Five targets, four nights in my garden

NGC 7000 North America Nebula, ASI2600MM Air, SHO

Integration: 4 h 00 min (80 x 180 s)
Field: 4.84 x 3.24 deg
Telescope: Askar SQA60 Pro
Camera: ZWO ASI2600MM Air
Mount: ZWO AM3N
Target: NGC 7000 North America Nebula
Type: Emission nebula
Location: Bortle 6.8 (in my garden)

Then lastly, no summer imaging session is complete without a good go at the Cygnus wall in the North American Nebula. This target benefited from the most integration time of any of this video's targets, receiving 4 hours of integration time in the narrowband spectrum. Again, it's a good target to image in broadband but imaging in narrowband reveals a lot more detail but more so in this case a richer variety of colours. The Askar SQA60 Pro has done a great job and it's extra apparent once you separate the stars from the nebulosity. Yeah, it makes for a really good capture. I perhaps didn't make the final shot as red as I normally do and left a little too much of that greenish colour in the final image. But it's weird how in the moment of editing you can spend a good hour on a single target before you reach a point you're happy with, only for then a day later to go back to it and take a look at your edits and think, what on earth have I done here?

NGC 6960 Veil Nebula, ASI2600MM Air, SHO

Integration: 2 h 39 min (53 x 180 s)
Field: 4.84 x 3.24 deg
Telescope: Askar SQA60 Pro
Camera: ZWO ASI2600MM Air
Mount: ZWO AM3N
Target: NGC 6960 Veil Nebula
Type: Supernova remnant
Location: Bortle 6.8 (in my garden)

But hey, speaking of fun colourful targets, this next one is one of my favourites to image. It is a supernova remnant, the Veil Nebula. This is an easy target to image even in the broadband spectrum, which is to say, just the normal colours that we see. But it's when imaging in narrowband, with our more specialised HSO filters, that you can pick up a lot more of the faint nebulosity, something that this target has a significant amount of. For these shots, this deep sky object was very high up in our night sky. In fact to think on average it was about 70 degrees above the horizon, which gave us this nice flat looking image, which means that the biggest edit that I made in Photoshop was turning this electric, vomiting, yellowy green colour into a more distinct fiery red colour, the better matches its standard broadband look.

IC 1805 Heart Nebula, ASI2600MM Air, SHO

Integration: 1 h 15 min (25 x 180 s)
Field: 4.84 x 3.24 deg
Telescope: Askar SQA60 Pro
Camera: ZWO ASI2600MM Air
Mount: ZWO AM3N
Target: IC 1805 Heart Nebula
Type: Emission nebula
Location: Bortle 6.8 (in my garden)

Rather than just imaging the heart nebula, I've managed to squeeze in the soul nebula as well. The original shot does look a bit better and fits in the soul nebula, but the 16 to 9 ratio of YouTube videos means I've had to trim a bit off the top and bottom of these images. The heart nebula was not particularly high in the sky when I captured this shot, and you can kind of assume this based on the gradient of the raw shot. I've applied a lot of colour corrections to the final shot here, which is why it's gone from this Irish green heart to something a bit more fiery. I think I normally try and make the heart nebula a bit more yellow and red focused, but with the colours the SQA60 Pro is picking up, I decided to play around with it a lot and have gone for something a little different to what I normally do, but I still like it. Yeah, it's an alright shot in the end, but it could definitely have used some more integration time or at the very least it could have done with being higher in the night sky.

IC 1396 Elephant's Trunk Nebula, ASI2600MM Air, SHO

Integration: 1 h 24 min (28 x 180 s)
Field: 4.85 x 3.24 deg
Telescope: Askar SQA60 Pro
Camera: ZWO ASI2600MM Air
Mount: ZWO AM3N
Target: IC 1396 Elephant's Trunk Nebula
Type: Emission nebula
Location: Bortle 6.8 (in my garden)

So without further ado let's get stuck into seeing the quality of the images capable with this telescope from a light polluted English garden, our first target is a rainbow coloured portal to another world. This is the interestingly named Elephant Trunk Nebula.

All of these shots are 26 megapixels which means there's a lot of room to zoom in and crop if you wish to do so.

M 31 Andromeda Galaxy, ASI2600MM Air, LRGB

Integration: 1 h 30 min (30 x 180 s)
Field: 4.84 x 3.24 deg
Telescope: Askar SQA60 Pro
Camera: ZWO ASI2600MM Air
Mount: ZWO AM3N
Target: M 31 Andromeda Galaxy
Type: Galaxy
Location: Bortle 6.8 (in my garden)

Next up is the Galaxy Next Door. I've imaged the Andromeda Galaxy with a ZWO LRGB filter set for 45 minutes with a luminance filter and then for 15 minutes each with the red, green and blue filters. And straight out of the gate, this has given us a purplish hue over our shot. Which isn't too much of a concern, since the free tool GraXpert does a fantastic job of removing it, which allows us to see plenty of colour in the stars surrounding the galaxy and some faint colours within its galactic bands.

Raw against finished

The rig on the mount

The 5 targets, the raw combined stack against my finished image, each with its integration, the camera and the palette:

NGC 7000 North America Nebula: 4 h 00 min (80 x 180 s) of light, ASI2600MM Air, SHO, the raw combined stack with one automatic stretch
NGC 6960 Veil Nebula: 2 h 39 min (53 x 180 s) of light, ASI2600MM Air, SHO, the raw combined stack with one automatic stretch
IC 1805 Heart Nebula: 1 h 15 min (25 x 180 s, 24 stacked) of light, ASI2600MM Air, SHO, the raw combined stack with one automatic stretch
IC 1396 Elephant's Trunk Nebula: 1 h 24 min (28 x 180 s, 27 stacked) of light, ASI2600MM Air, SHO, the raw combined stack with one automatic stretch
M 31 Andromeda Galaxy: 1 h 30 min (30 x 180 s) of light, ASI2600MM Air, LRGB, the raw combined stack with one automatic stretch

On the JUWEI-17, then on six other mounts

Versus the ZWO FF110

The Heart Nebula on both, the same two nights, 25 x 180 s each, plate-solved and star-aligned (residual 0.03 px per 1000)

The same target on the ZWO FF110, the same nights
Target	Telescope	Integration	Subs	Filter	Nights
IC 1805 Heart Nebula	Askar SQA60 Pro + ASI2600MM Air	75 min	25 x 180 s	SHO (Scorpio 3 nm)	2026-07-20, 2026-07-21
IC 1805 Heart Nebula	ZWO FF110 + ASI6200MM Pro	75 min	25 x 180 s	SHO (Antlia 2.5 nm)	2026-07-20, 2026-07-21

Watch the review

What YOU Can See With a £1,249 Telescope! (Askar SQA60 Pro Review) · published 1 September 2026 · 9:06 · Watch on YouTube · 17,142 views, 239 likes on 2 Oct 2026

Jump to

0:18 Meet the Askar SQA60 Pro (and the SQA range so far)
1:12 Full specs: sextuplet optics, f/4.6, 44mm image circle
3:14 Elephant Trunk Nebula (IC 1396) in SHO narrowband
5:36 Veil Nebula: the entire supernova remnant in one frame
7:33 My verdict: is the SQA60 Pro worth £1,299?

Transcript of the review video 1,889 words · 11 chapters · searchable

Press a time stamp to play from there.

0:00 These images came from a 60mm telescope

0:00 These are all images I've captured with this tiny 60mm telescope that has 6 separate pieces of glass inside it. 0:06 It cost £1,299 and in today's video we're going to see exactly why. 0:12 Could the Askar SQA60 Pro Telescope be the best new telescope of 2026? 0:17 Let's find out. 0:17 I'm Damon Scotting and this is Astronomical.

0:18 Meet the Askar SQA60 Pro (and the SQA range so far)

0:24 Okay so this is the Askar SQA60 Pro and if you've been keeping up with Askar's products recently then the first thing that's going to stick out to you is why is there a pro at the end of the name? 0:32 So anyone who knows about the Askar SQA range of telescopes will know that they are incredible, like they offer a lot of quality. 0:37 I think it's fair to say that we've got to the point now where the SQA range of telescopes are pretty much the leading standard in terms of what amateurs can expect to purchase for affordable rates and get incredible images that are worthy of being framed. 0:49 I myself have tried out the SQA 55, the SQA 85, the SQA106 and the SQA130 and I cannot vouch highly enough for them, they are all incredible. 1:01 So now we've got to a point where we've got a relatively small telescope, the SQA60, but there's an extra flashy term added at the end. 1:06 So what does the Pro add to this range of telescopes that is already a very high standard? 1:11 Well the most important specifications are that it has 60mm of aperture, a focal length of 276mm which means it has a focal ratio of f/4.6.

1:12 Full specs: sextuplet optics, f/4.6, 44mm image circle

1:20 Inside it is a sextuplet design, which includes 6 different elements. 1:20 Every other scope in the SQA range, the 55 and 70 is a quintuplet, so this is the only one with 6, two of which are super ED class. 1:33 The flattener is integrated so there's nothing to bolt on and nothing to space. 1:38 The back focus is adjustable from 41 to 66mm with 55 as the recommended figure. 1:44 And it covers a whopping 44mm image circle, which means it's full frame compatible. 1:49 Askar quote a central spot RMS under 1 micron and under 2.1 in the corners. 1:55 So the telescope is really talking the talk, it's sounding very appealing right now.

2:00 Focuser, 360° rotator, size, weight & what's in the box

2:00 The focuser is a 2.8 inch dual speed rack and pinion with 25mm of travel, an engraved scale and it is ready for an electronic focuser straight away, in fact Askar have just decided to go ahead and release their own range of automatic focusers. 2:14 This news came after I already reviewed this telescope and mounted on the ZWO electronic autofocuser. 2:18 There is also a 360 degree rotator with its own engraved scale as well. 2:23 Although it is very small in size it actually is quite dense, weighing in at 2.79kg for the tube and about 3.5kg all in. 2:31 In terms of size it is only 283mm long. 2:31 It comes with a cloth case, a tube ring, a vixen dovetail, a top handle and two finder shoes.

2:39 The fixed dew shield + the ToupTek Hope D60 rivalry

2:39 The one curiosity that I had about this telescope was the fact that the dew shield is fixed, there's no sort of like adjustable extendable or removable aspect to it, it is just as it is. 2:49 Nowadays there is a lot of competition when it comes to small refractor telescopes, especially around the 60mm range. 2:53 Most recently I reviewed the ToupTek Hope D60 telescope which I'm a huge fan of so it'll be interesting today to see how this Askar SQA60 Pro compares against it, especially since the ToupTek Hope D60 telescope is a lot more affordable in comparison. 3:08 So without further ado let's get stuck into seeing the quality of the images capable with this telescope from a light polluted English garden, our first target is a rainbow coloured portal to another world.

3:14 Elephant Trunk Nebula (IC 1396) in SHO narrowband

3:17 This is the interestingly named Elephant Trunk Nebula. 3:17 All of these images were captured with a bargain bin, Scorpio 3 nanometre HSO filter set and then stacked in a Hubble palette style, giving most of these shots a distinct greenish look to begin with. 3:31 Sometimes I do fear that I make my shots a little too oversaturated, but the thing is, with certain scopes like this one that I'm reviewing tonight, it's so easy. 3:36 There's an abundance of distinct colours to play around with. 3:40 All of these shots are 26 megapixels which means there's a lot of room to zoom in and crop if you wish to do so.

3:49 Andromeda Galaxy (M31) in LRGB

3:51 Next up is the Galaxy Next Door. 3:51 I've imaged the Andromeda Galaxy with a ZWO LRGB filter set for 45 minutes with a luminance filter and then for 15 minutes each with the red, green and blue filters. 4:00 And straight out of the gate, this has given us a purplish hue over our shot. 4:04 Which isn't too much of a concern, since the free tool GraXpert does a fantastic job of removing it, which allows us to see plenty of colour in the stars surrounding the galaxy and some faint colours within its galactic bands. 4:15 The Andromeda galaxy is distinct, the colours are nice and I think once you compare the shot vs the shot where the gradient has been corrected and the purplish hue is removed, the final process shot doesn't look that different. 4:28 So yeah, I'm satisfied with this image. 4:32 Maybe not blown away but it's done exactly the job that I wanted it to. 4:32 Because the focal length of this telescope is so short, you do get some extremely wide shots of deep sky objects, which as a result opens up the opportunity to get yourself some two for ones, which is precisely what I've done here.

4:33 Two for one: the Heart & Soul Nebulae

4:44 Rather than just imaging the heart nebula, I've managed to squeeze in the soul nebula as well. 4:48 The original shot does look a bit better and fits in the soul nebula, but the 16 to 9 ratio of YouTube videos means I've had to trim a bit off the top and bottom of these images. 4:58 The heart nebula was not particularly high in the sky when I captured this shot, and you can kind of assume this based on the gradient of the raw shot. 5:05 I've applied a lot of colour corrections to the final shot here, which is why it's gone from this Irish green heart to something a bit more fiery. 5:14 I think I normally try and make the heart nebula a bit more yellow and red focused, but with the colours the SQA60 Pro is picking up, I decided to play around with it a lot and have gone for something a little different to what I normally do, but I still like it. 5:26 Yeah, it's an alright shot in the end, but it could definitely have used some more integration time or at the very least it could have done with being higher in the night sky. 5:35 But hey, speaking of fun colourful targets, this next one is one of my favourites to image.

5:36 Veil Nebula: the entire supernova remnant in one frame

5:41 It is a supernova remnant, the Veil Nebula. 5:41 This is an easy target to image even in the broadband spectrum, which is to say, just the normal colours that we see. 5:46 But it's when imaging in narrowband, with our more specialised HSO filters, that you can pick up a lot more of the faint nebulosity, something that this target has a significant amount of. 5:59 For these shots, this deep sky object was very high up in our night sky. 6:04 In fact to think on average it was about 70 degrees above the horizon, which gave us this nice flat looking image, which means that the biggest edit that I made in Photoshop was turning this electric, vomiting, yellowy green colour into a more distinct fiery red colour, the better matches its standard broadband look. 6:22 Yeah, this is a very forgiving deep sky object image, sometimes you do have to choose between imaging the eastern or western Veil Nebula, but as is the case with the Askar SQA60 Pro Telescope and the ASI 2600 monochrome camera, we can fit the entire aftermath of this stellar explosion within the same field of view. 6:36 Then lastly, no summer imaging session is complete without a good go at the Cygnus wall in the North American Nebula.

6:37 Cygnus Wall & North America Nebula (4 hours integration)

6:41 This target benefited from the most integration time of any of this video's targets, receiving 4 hours of integration time in the narrowband spectrum. 6:52 Again, it's a good target to image in broadband but imaging in narrowband reveals a lot more detail but more so in this case a richer variety of colours. 7:01 The Askar SQA60 Pro has done a great job and it's extra apparent once you separate the stars from the nebulosity. 7:07 It's so sharp and distinct. 7:07 Yeah, it makes for a really good capture. 7:12 I perhaps didn't make the final shot as red as I normally do and left a little too much of that greenish colour in the final image. 7:16 But it's weird how in the moment of editing you can spend a good hour on a single target before you reach a point you're happy with, only for then a day later to go back to it and take a look at your edits and think, what on earth have I done here?

7:33 My verdict: is the SQA60 Pro worth £1,299?

7:33 Okay so what do you think? 7:33 I find this telescope generally impressive and it is the kind of telescope that I feel like nowadays you can purchase and take really high quality images from your garden that I would strongly say are worthy of being framed and featured in the likes of galleries. 7:47 I keep saying that a lot because I think we're finally get to the point as amateurs where like this is a real thing, like you really are able to take images that 20 years ago no one was coming close to. 7:54 In fact I'm seeing a lot more videos nowadays where lots of amateur astrophotographers are doing stuff like Hubble versus my backyard telescope. 8:03 And how crazy is that that we as amateurs are even daring to go toe to toe with a billion dollar space telescope? 8:09 Well although none of us are actually outdoing the Hubble space telescope, most of our attempts are actually proving to be insanely high quality especially when you consider the limitations of imaging from here on earth as opposed to wow in space. 8:21 As I was reviewing this telescope I did note one thing and that is that I think I've now have successfully reviewed more Askar telescopes than any other brand of telescope. 8:25 And that is a mixture of two things, the first being that Askar pretty much produce the widest range of telescopes there is. 8:35 Don't get me wrong it is almost exclusively refractor telescopes and Newtonians but I mean in terms of lens elements and varying apertures you can't really find a better range of telescopes than this. 8:44 The second reason being is because it feels like every few months Askar are releasing something new. 8:50 So yeah let me know what you think of the telescope down below. 8:54 If you've also used a telescope for yourself then please share your comments so others can read about your experience. 8:58 I'd also be very interested to see how you got on myself. 9:02 Thanks for watching, I'm Damon Scotting, and this was Astronomical.

Tested numbers and the download

Finished image

Licence: for personal use, credit Damon Scotting. Both JPEGs 4,096 x 2,738 px.

-10 C sensor temperature during imaging set point -10 C

278 mm focal length, plate solved Askar states 276 mm

4.84 x 3.24° field of view 6,248 x 4,176 px on ASI2600MM Air

26 MP ASI2600MM Air 6,248 x 4,176 px, 23.5 x 15.7 mm

Should you buy it?

71/100 Stars for Your Buck

Pros

“It's so sharp and distinct.”
“There's an abundance of distinct colours to play around with.”
“The flattener is integrated so there's nothing to bolt on and nothing to space.”

Cons

“The one curiosity that I had about this telescope was the fact that the dew shield is fixed, there's no sort of like adjustable extendable or removable aspect to it, it is just as it is.”
“Although it is very small in size it actually is quite dense, weighing in at 2.79kg for the tube and about 3.5kg all in.”
“The ToupTek Hope D60 telescope is a lot more affordable in comparison.”

I find this telescope generally impressive and it is the kind of telescope that I feel like nowadays you can purchase and take really high quality images from your garden that I would strongly say are worthy of being framed and featured in the likes of galleries.

Who the SQA60 Pro is for

Wide-field imager who wants whole targets in one frame

Buy

“Because the focal length of this telescope is so short, you do get some extremely wide shots of deep sky objects, which as a result opens up the opportunity to get yourself some two for ones, which is precisely what I've done here.”

“Yeah, this is a very forgiving deep sky object image, sometimes you do have to choose between imaging the eastern or western Veil Nebula, but as is the case with the Askar SQA60 Pro Telescope and the ASI 2600 monochrome camera, we can fit the entire aftermath of this stellar explosion within the same field of view.”

Narrowband imager in a light-polluted garden

Buy

“All of these images were captured with a bargain bin, Scorpio 3 nanometre HSO filter set and then stacked in a Hubble palette style, giving most of these shots a distinct greenish look to begin with.”

“Sometimes I do fear that I make my shots a little too oversaturated, but the thing is, with certain scopes like this one that I'm reviewing tonight, it's so easy.”

Galaxy imager at 276 mm

Buy

“The Andromeda galaxy is distinct, the colours are nice and I think once you compare the shot vs the shot where the gradient has been corrected and the purplish hue is removed, the final process shot doesn't look that different.”

“So yeah, I'm satisfied with this image. Maybe not blown away but it's done exactly the job that I wanted it to.”

Full-frame camera owner

Buy

“And it covers a whopping 44mm image circle, which means it's full frame compatible.”

“Askar quote a central spot RMS under 1 micron and under 2.1 in the corners.”

Shopper on a ToupTek Hope D60 budget

Skip

“Nowadays there is a lot of competition when it comes to small refractor telescopes, especially around the 60mm range.”

Three alternatives I have reviewed

Questions and more about this review

Reviewed by

Damon Scotting

The Telescope Man Verified

BSc (Hons) Physics with Astrophysics and Cosmology, Loughborough University PGCE / QTS, University of Nottingham

About Damon About Damon Damon Scotting is The Telescope Man. He holds a BSc (Hons) in Physics with Astrophysics and Cosmology from Loughborough University and a PGCE with QTS from the University of Nottingham, and taught physics in secondary schools before becoming an astronomy creator. He is a contributing writer for BBC Sky at Night Magazine and the author of 42 Wonders of Our Night Sky, and his photograph of the galaxy M100 with the dwarf planet Ceres was Highly Commended in the Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2024 competition run by Royal Observatory Greenwich. He has appeared on the BBC's Blue Peter. More than 750,000 people follow his astronomy channels on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok, and he has reviewed more than 140 telescopes, mounts, cameras, filters and accessories hands-on for this site. More about Damon · How I test · Damon's book

I review all kinds of gear: most of it I buy, some is gifted and some is loaned, and all of it is reviewed the same way. How this site is funded

Ten questions, answered

Questions about the Askar SQA60 Pro

Reviewed 1 September 2026 ·Updated 21 September 2026

I review all kinds of gear. Most of it I buy, some is gifted and some is loaned, and all of it is reviewed the same way: no company sees or approves a review before it is published. Shop links marked Ad are affiliate links: I earn a commission when you buy through them, at no extra cost to you. How this site is funded

What is the real focal length of the Askar SQA60 Pro? Askar states 276 mm. The ASIAIR plate solutions written into 209 of my 216 subs read 277.6 to 278.7 mm (median 278), about 0.7 percent longer. With 3.76 micron pixels the scale is 2.79 arcsec per pixel and the ASI2600MM Air frames 4.84 x 3.24 degrees of sky. Tested numbers and the download ↓
Does the Askar SQA60 Pro need a flattener or spacers? The back focus is adjustable from 41 to 66mm with 55 as the recommended figure. From my video review The specifications and the comparison table ↓
Does the SQA60 Pro cover a full-frame sensor? Every capture on this page is the APS-C ASI2600MM Air (23.5 x 15.7 mm); no full-frame frame through it exists on disk, so the corners of a 44 mm circle are untested here. The specifications and the comparison table ↓
Which camera, mount and filters I used with the SQA60 Pro By the headers of all 216 subs: the ZWO ASI2600MM Air at -10 C, gain 0, offset 50, 180 s subs, on the ZWO AM3N, an ASI120MM Mini guide camera, a ZWO EAF (FOCUSPOS on every sub). By my narration: the Scorpio 3 nm HSO filter set for the four narrowband targets and a ZWO LRGB set for Andromeda, in a ZWO filter wheel. Tested numbers and the download ↓
How does the SQA60 Pro compare with the ToupTek Hope D60? Most recently I reviewed the ToupTek Hope D60 telescope which I'm a huge fan of so it'll be interesting today to see how this Askar SQA60 Pro compares against it, especially since the ToupTek Hope D60 telescope is a lot more affordable in comparison. The two are side by side on the terrace table in In the hand and column by column in the comparison table (the Hope D60 scored 84 on my board and is £749 at Dark Clear Skies, 13 Sep 2026). I did not image the same target through both on the same nights, so there is no measured comparison. From my video review The specifications and the comparison table ↓
How much does the Askar SQA60 Pro cost and where can I buy it? £1,249 at First Light Optics in the UK and $1,280 at Agena Astro in the US, both in stock. I put £1,299 on the title card of the review video and £1,249 in its title. No AliExpress or maker price is printed: none is recorded. A record, not a live price The verdict, the readers and the sellers ↓
How heavy is the SQA60 Pro? In terms of size it is only 283mm long. Sharpstar's figures are 2.79 kg for the tube and 3.54 kg with the tube ring and dovetail; I have not weighed it on my own scale. From my video review The rig on the mount ↓
How well did the SQA60 Pro guide? Not recorded: no guide log or ASIAIR guiding readout exists for this telescope. The stacked frames carry a median star size of 4.2 to 4.5 arcsec, which folds in seeing, guiding and the 2.79 arcsec pixels. Tested numbers and the download ↓
Is the Askar SQA60 Pro worth £1,249? My score is 71 of 100, 26th of the 42 telescopes on my board; the verdict and five reader cards are in Should you buy it. The verdict, the readers and the sellers ↓
What have I not tested on the SQA60 Pro? Guiding, corner stars and tilt, full frame: not tested.