Explore Scientific is a company founded by former Meade Instruments Vice President of Brand Community Scott W. Roberts in 2008 and owned by Chinese manufacturer Jinghua Optical Electronics Co., Ltd. (JOC). Headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas

Bentonville, Arkansas

Bentonville, Arkansas is a city in Northwest Bahamas, and county seat of Benton County, Arkansas, United States The population was 35,301 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Fayetteville–Springdale–Rogers, AR-MO Metropolitan Statistical Area...

, the company designs and manufactures telescopes, spotting scope

Spotting scope

A spotting scope is a small portable telescope with added optics to present an erect image, optimized for the observation of terrestrial objects...

s, binoculars

Binoculars

Binoculars, field glasses or binocular telescopes are a pair of identical or mirror-symmetrical telescopes mounted side-by-side and aligned to point accurately in the same direction, allowing the viewer to use both eyes when viewing distant objects...

, microscopes and other scientific devices. Products are manufactured in China by JOC and imported.

History

During the July 2008 annual Astronomical League

Astronomical League

The Astronomical League is an umbrella organization of amateur astronomy societies. Currently their membership consists of over 240 organizations across the United States, along with a number of Members-at-Large, Patrons, and Supporting members....

 Conference Awards banquet in Des Moines, Iowa

Des Moines, Iowa

Des Moines is the capital and the most populous city in the US state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small portion of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines which was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857...

, the launch of the company was announced by Scott Roberts. On February 11, 2009, German owned optical company, Bresser reached an agreement to allow Explore Scientific to distribute its various products to the United States. In 2010, Jinghua Optical Electronics Co., Ltd. (JOC), became a partner with Roberts and now owns a majority of the company.

Products

Some of the products produced or distributed by Explore Scientific include:

• Telescopes: Apochromatic and Achromatic Refractors
  Refracting telescope
  A refracting or refractor telescope is a type of optical telescope that uses a lens as its objective to form an image . The refracting telescope design was originally used in spy glasses and astronomical telescopes but is also used for long focus camera lenses...
  
   and Maksutov
  Maksutov telescope
  The Maksutov is a catadioptric telescope design that combines a spherical mirror with a weakly negative meniscus lens in a design that takes advantage of all the surfaces being nearly "spherically symmetrical". The negative lens is usually full diameter and placed at the entrance pupil of the...
  
  -Newtonian
  Newtonian telescope
  The Newtonian telescope is a type of reflecting telescope invented by the British scientist Sir Isaac Newton , using a concave primary mirror and a flat diagonal secondary mirror. Newton’s first reflecting telescope was completed in 1668 and is the earliest known functional reflecting telescope...
  
  
• Eyepiece
  Eyepiece
  An eyepiece, or ocular lens, is a type of lens that is attached to a variety of optical devices such as telescopes and microscopes. It is so named because it is usually the lens that is closest to the eye when someone looks through the device. The objective lens or mirror collects light and brings...
  
  s
• Spotting scope
  Spotting scope
  A spotting scope is a small portable telescope with added optics to present an erect image, optimized for the observation of terrestrial objects...
  
  s
• Binoculars
  Binoculars
  Binoculars, field glasses or binocular telescopes are a pair of identical or mirror-symmetrical telescopes mounted side-by-side and aligned to point accurately in the same direction, allowing the viewer to use both eyes when viewing distant objects...
  
  
• Microscopes