Questar Corporation - Origins and History

Origins and History

Questar was founded in 1950 by Lawrence Braymer who set up Questar to develop and market Maksutov telescopes and other optical devices for the consumer, industrial, and government customers. The Questar Standard telescope has been in production since 1954 probably making it the longest running production consumer oriented telescope.

Questar does not produce their own optics. The earliest Questars used optics produced in part by Cave Optical, but for most of their history the optics were produced by Cumberland Optical. The optics are hand-aspherized.

Questars have been associated with many well-known scientists and other personalities; Wernher Von Braun purchased one in 1959. Talk show host Johnny Carson, well known as a fan of astronomy, purchased an early model. Today Show founding host Dave Garroway and Arthur C. Clarke are other well-known owners.

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