Two Ways to Order Galileoscopes!
- Order up to 9 individual kits at the retail price of $24.99/kit plus shipping (orders over $70 get free shipping):
- Order kits in cartons of 10 at the bulk-discount price of $180/box plus shipping (ideal for educators and resellers):
Introducing the Wonders of the Universe!
The Galileoscope is a high-quality educational telescope kit originally designed for the 2009 International Year of Astronomy, which celebrated the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei turning his telescope to the heavens. Assembling the kit requires no tools or adhesives and takes only minutes. Once assembled, the 50-mm aperture, 500-mm focal length refractor lets users see the celestial wonders that Galileo himself first glimpsed beginning in 1609. Craters, mountains, and valleys on the Moon; Saturn’s rings; Venus going through phases just like the Moon; and four moons circling Jupiter all come into view.
In addition to the kit itself, Explore Scientific sells a tripod suitable for use with the Galileoscope ($25.99 plus shipping), a solar filter that makes it possible to safely view sunspots and other features on the Sun ($3.95 plus shipping), and a planisphere (“star wheel”) that makes easy work of learning the constellations and identifying the brightest stars on any clear night ($19.99 plus shipping). Like the kit itself, these accessories are available in small quantities directly from Explore Scientific (with free shipping on orders over $70) or by the carton of 10 units at bulk discount-prices by filling out our bulk-order form.
A Message from the Co-Creators of the Galileoscope
We created the Galileoscope under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) as a global cornerstone project for the 2009 International Year of Astronomy (IYA). It solved a long-standing problem: the lack of a high-quality, low-cost telescope kit suitable for both optics education and celestial observation. 
The Galileoscope program was expected to last only through the IYA, but the global astronomy education-and-outreach community loved the kit and asked us to keep it in production, which we managed to do for an additional nine years, thanks in part to the kit also being named a cornerstone project of the 2015 International Year of Light. Over that decade, with us managing the project as volunteers, we distributed more than a quarter million Galileoscope kits to teachers, students, and other enthusiasts in more than 110 countries! Now the Galileoscope has a new home: Explore Scientific, the Arkansas-based maker of gear for the astronomy, outdoor sports, and science-education markets. We are delighted that the kit remains available and thank Scott Roberts and his team at Explore Scientific for their support!
— Doug Arion (Mountains of Stars) &
Rick Fienberg (American Astronomical Society)