How Digital Telescopes Transformed Amateur Astronomy - Making Astrophotography Easy For Everyone!
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- Опубліковано 25 лис 2024
- I recently got loaned a Unistellar Odyssey Pro digital telescope, this is a compact telescope for amateur astronomers which uses on board image accumulation to reveal deep sky objects like Nebula in ways a traditional purely optical telescope cannot. I had a few hours to play with this, mostly limited by the absolutely terrible weather that rolled into the area, no doubt a result of 'New Telescope Curse', and I'm extraordinarily impressed with the capabilities, and intrigued by the possibilities of working on real astronomical research.
Unistellar loaned me this telescope for this video, and If you're really interested in one of these I have a helpful link to their store (which gets me commission in return).
And for the next week or the Black Friday sale is running, giving everyone a 20% discount!
AND.... for channel viewers there's a special code that'll get you the Solar Filter for the Odyssey series for free, the filter is essential if you are interested in viewing sunspots or with the telescope.
add an Odyssey/Odyssey Pro and the 'Smart Solar Filter' to the shopping cart and use the code 'scott1124' during the checkout to get the filter for free.
So - here's the link for those of you in a buying mood: tidd.ly/4i7ZlZB
The Black Friday Sale runs until December 2nd, after that the discount is gone and the bonus code won't work.
Follow me on Twitter for more updates:
/ djsnm
I have a discord server where I regularly turn up:
/ discord
If you really like what I do you can support me directly through Patreon
/ scottmanley
Unistellar Store Linke: tidd.ly/4i7ZlZB
Unistellar loaned me this telescope for this video, and If you're really interested in one of these I have a helpful link to their store (which gets me commission in return).
And for the next week or the Black Friday sale is running, giving everyone a 20% discount!
AND.... for channel viewers there's a special code that'll get you the Solar Filter for the Odyssey series for free, the filter is essential if you are interested in viewing sunspots or with the telescope.
* add an Odyssey/Odyssey Pro and the 'Smart Solar Filter' to the shopping cart and use the code 'scott1124' during the checkout to get the filter for free.
So - here's the link for those of you in a buying mood:
*** tidd.ly/4i7ZlZB ****
The Black Friday Sale runs until December 2nd, after that the discount is gone and the bonus code won't work.
this thing is WAY more expensive than the big newtonian that I own XD . . . but those elecrtonics aint cheap
all things concidered this would be Very expensive gift for any kid in my country that most wouldn't afford . . . but it's not like that whith higher wages like you have in the us . . .
I believe that to be an accomplished man one should have a good quality pair of leather shoes, a well made mechanical watch, a library and a telescope. He should also have a globe and fountain pen in his library.
Scott, I get a message that scott1124 is not valid for this purchase. I tried a couple of different telescopes. FYI
So is it filling in data from a pre recorded database or is it all actual new data? ie how much is realtime and how much is from the planetarium?
@@A31415me too, doesn’t work for any scope selections.
The rule in Astrophotography is that whenever someone buys a telescope in your area, the skies will be cloudy for many days.
True also for fancy eyepieces, CCD sensors, and even mounts. Cloud cover is directly proportional to the cost of the new gear.
That's how I know this is a real telescope and not a toy.
@@scottmanleyagreed.
Amen brotha
I know. I finished building my 12" telescope and it was cloudy for three weeks. I eventually got a patch of clear sky at 2am. What fun.
$3200 telescope that ceases to work when the company goes out of business and stops keeping the mobile apps updated...
If they made it clear that the protocol for interacting with it was open and published the documentation for it, allowing open source devs to pick up the slack if the company does go out of business, that's a different story. But I'm not finding anything on the subject on their site. Even a commitment to publish the protocol and open-source the app if they go out of business would help, though I'm not sure that would be enough if going out of business involves getting bought up by private equity...
So, wake me when they open the protocol, I'd kinda like a good digital scope.
Hasn’t it been hacked already? Which amounts to the same thing.
@JohnSmith-x3y8h So I have to hack the device to make it work properly? It is an overpriced peice of junk.
@@myacctoostale9345
That’s not what I said.
Argumentative
Blocked
ZWO avec leur Seestar a cela de disponible. Il est possible de créer des applications externes pour le contrôler (déjà fait).
@@JohnSmith-x3y8h they have a good point, why should someone who spent 3.2k on a digital scope and have to worry about it turning into a brick when the company dies and having to turn to the community to fix that issue?
How can we be sure this isn't manipulated, like the controversy around Samsung's moon photos? It would be great to understand how the telescope captures and processes the images!
Yeah, I took a bunch of images to test this, like the recent comet and terrestrial objects. You can also dump the raw images and process them yourself
@@scottmanley Thanks for the explanation! It's reassuring to know that raw images are accessible for independent processing. That definitely adds credibility. How was your experience with the comet and terrestrial objects? Did the telescope handle the details well?
@@scottmanley By the way, is the telescope capable of tracking satellites? That would be amazing to see!
This video was an advertisement. Scott, you have to include the advertisement tag. :))
Happy Holidays, bro! Good fortune be unto you and yours!
Hell of an ad though
Unethical
"I'm a big space nerd", I think by now you earned the privilege of being called "the space nerd".
Not really a privilege though, just a label, like i am "the argument nerd"
Oh look it's free that makes it very good buy it now buy it
I'm an amature astrophotographer and it is one of the most frustrating but rewarding hobbies I have ever endeavored. It is truly amazing to go to process your image and see the beauty of space that YOU capture with your own equipment. It is incredibly rewarding and awesome
Indeed, and while the Unistellar hardware does its own image processing you can download the raw data from the telescope and apply your own processing to the image stack. The data saved on my phone also has high resolution pixel depths.
@@scottmanley This was actually a really important detail I think I missed from the video! The whole time I was thinking "I hope this allows me to access the raw data too". Makes a big difference for retired astrophoto nerds who want to occasionally dabble but sometimes just want the dopamine hit experience.
If you go go google you can download HD versions 🤣
Scott's first full-length infommercial
This is a cool telescope. However, personally I'd say there's a certain chDm to seeing things (however dim) with your own eyes through an optical system. It's as close as most of us will probably get to seeing the stars/planets etc with our own eyes.
If the computer aims it and the computer takes the pictures then why not just surf the internet for great astronomy photos for free. I'm not currently doing astronomy but when I was my enthusiasm came from learning my way around the sky. This is like getting to know a city by going from place to place blindly following your car's GPS. If people get excited by this then more power to them but it sounds boring to me.
The photos on the box “are never as good as what you can see through the eyepiece”? I think you meant the reverse of that. 0:33
lol… this is what happens when I add lib things
I didn't even realize until I read this comment! 😅
Scott made the biggest mistake an amateur astronomer could make - he bought gear and revived the curse.
For the money, the ZWO Seestar S50 is a much better bargain at about 1/5th the price (aperture is only 50mm vs 83mm, but the software is excellent, and it's delightfully compact).
(Assuming this comment is fine to make because this video isn't declared as an ad)
I second this. The nice part about it: people already figured out how to talk to the telescope without the app. So even if they ever disappear, there's at least a chance the telescope doesn't become paperweight. Not sure if this also applies to the Odyssey Pro
Yes, there's always a lower cost Chinese copy made.
I just checked that out. That does look nice.
@@scottmanley I wouldn't say the see stars a copy at all it uses a triplett telescope mount aimed at a completely different price point down to 450 usd
Hard to compare tbh... o_O
The Odyssey’s 83mm aperture pulls in 3x more light, so you get way brighter and sharper views. Makes a huge difference for star parties! Got mine back in March 2024, and I’m loving it so far! :D
$1,800 to $3,500 range? Holy night sky, Batman!!!
As he said, it's a mid level entry. That price would barely buy a good mount and tripod for a full rig.
@netanmaldoran4816 That is not mid range! 🤡
@@richlo8887 'High' range (they go for more): $10,000 Astro rig
Low range: $600 seestar
Idk what to tell you man, it's an expensive hobby, it's not for everyone.
@@netanmaldoran4816 Wrong!
Entry level -$250+
Mid level - $500+
High end - $1000+
Pro level -$5000+
@@richlo8887 bud, $5k can't even buy a 'pro' level mount like an EQ8rH
My deranged brain immediately went to a scam where the app just downloads pictures from the internet and the telescope doesn't actually work at all 🤪
Nah, don't confuse this with Samsung's moon mode.
No chance of that happening. They would be found out in 10 seconds flat by the first amateur astronomer who bought one.
I don't want to sound like a snob, but if you remove all the manual work involved into setting up, aligning the telescope and identifying the objects, and just look up at the end result on your phone, why not just cut the middle man and download a high resolution photo off the internet using the same phone? What's even the reason for owning a telescope at this point?
Where do you think those already available pictures come from?
I did a Astro photo class in college we had a night shot at Stony ridge telescope a 28” Newtonian our target was Orion shooting 4x5 B&W 400 asa film I got a great shot my film was the best shot of the night. Stony ridge was one of the locations referred to in the book Lucifer’s Hammer. One can really appreciate what the early astronomers did standing in the cold up 20’ in the air at on a home shop made Elevators guiding their photographs.
Yeah I never had a chance to use film with a telescope, but I did learn to develop film as part of my astronomy degree, used it for spectra.
I would rather just download the photos from the James Webb telescope. The images are amazing, it's free and just as satisfying as a computer operated telescope.
Millions of people still take photos of great views and famous buildings even though there are amazing versions online too. There's still some satisfaction to be gained from taking them yourself and remembering to moment.
I appreciate the simplification of the hobby for the masses. If it gets more folks into space I’m all for it. I still do the take my own pictures and self process because I enjoy the process of it. And well, I have all the gear 😊
I'm relatively new to AP but the problem was never complexity, it's always expense, you can get ok scopes for 200$ but the mounts are just all priced at a premium.
When I got into the hobby I found it very complex. But once it got dialed in I was good. But I agree I generally bought may way out of the complexity.
Of course, if I was being a cynic it could be downloading hubble quality pictures and fading them in :D
My thoughts exactly.
Except for near earth fast movers, i cant see the point of a privat telescope.
Except that it can save the individual raw images, which you can then download onto your PC and process them yourself. So nope, no sneaky sleight of hand stuff going on.
There's absolutely no way they could get away with it anyway given their customer base. Not even worth worrying about.
Does the app and the telescope require Unistellar's servers to be operational? What happens if in 5 years they go out of business or get bought by another company and they decide they want to move the company in a different direction? Does your telescope become a $3,000 paperweight This is the problem with everything being smart, you don't actually own anything. Everything either becomes a subscription or goes away (or both).
Yes, it's junk. You must be f****** crazy to buy it with your own money, and being happy with a purchase, where it can stop working next day.
3k murican dollars and you need an app... Fuck this. Way too expensive, and they can brick it at any point in time.
My real problem with apps start when they force a pointless account and cloud/online instead of say a Wifi connection. And a subscription is a hard no in any case.
But open sourcing it would definitely be a trust building move. They don't have to give out their algorithms and stuff but access to the hardware.
If classical astrophotography is like cooking your own meal, and google images is like a gourmet restaurant, I would consider this to be a microwave dinner. You hit one button and with minimal effort you get something that (to be honest) is not that impressive. Plus for the same money you could have gone out and bought some gourmet ingredients and cooked a really nice meal.
I don't take issue with anyone who is new to the hobby and I certainly don't expect people to take amazing pictures their first try, but what you have purchased offers no room for improvement, learning, or growth. You will always have that same microwave experience, and you won't be able to make it any better. I also take issue with people who claim their microwave dinners are better than homecooked meals by amateur chefs because they only needed to press one button. That's just my two cents
You can get all the raw images from the telescope and further process them, the images on the phone are just the starting point.
@@scottmanley The quality of these images are, usually, not up to par with lower cost solutions using better optics and camera's though. For this amount of money I can buy a very nice setup. This is simply a nice, simple solution for bright DSO objects and ok-ish data, the ease of use is the selling point, not the quality.
Agreed, for the price of the system, you could a cooled camera based system, that isnt dependent on one companies indefinite support.
Your analogy is apt given you do sound like a gourmet snob.
You're ignoring the point Scott made in the video -- the disappointment most people have when they have their first look through an eyepiece, or they take their first photo. For every person who is spurred on by this disappointment to do better, there are many more who just quit, and stash their telescope at the back of the garage until they sell it on Craigslist.
And in reality, it's that first dim fuzzy white blob that's the microwave dinner that most people never get beyond. The results of this digital telescope is much more akin to trying a sampler from a quality restaurant (if not gourmet) -- giving you a taste of what's possible using a standard backyard telescope and (significantly) more time and effort. Most people will be happy with that taste, but I would wager that _more_ people will get the astrophotography bug through this sampler than through using a normal scope for the first time.
At the very least the digital scope vastly lowers the amount of time required to determine if this is a hobby you want pursue.
I still rock my homemade pvc telescope with 10 bucks worth of lenses in it. The rest is cardboard and glue. I have even got a solar filter for it and it’s actually good enough to see sunspots. I can make it work with my phone camera so there, it’s even digital
Fantastic!
Might as well make an app for a phone that recognizes the constellations you're looking at and downloads some properly high-res pictures from made by the really big telescopes.
@scottmanley ...and one more comment on 9:10 - it is not actually you producing these images, that telescope is. You had actually produced the images back in 2004 and these are really something to be proud of. Using this thing is like typing prompt to create an AI image, vs doing the actual photography..
It's amazing how I can sit through a 15 minute advertisement just fine when it's something that I actually want to buy. 😉
The improvements in inexpensive sensors and lenses over the last 10-15 years has been pretty amazing.... combine this with improvements in the software used for image processing and it's a win-win for amateurs everywhere.
Is the AI related stuff just to help adjust getting a better picture? Nothing like what Samsung was doing with those moon pictures years ago?
I intentionally took a bunch of pictures to verify it wasn’t faking things in this way
This is very funky stuff, but as you point out, the view down the eyepiece is actually just a screen. What I'd love is a second purely optical eyepiece on the other side and a flippable secondary so you can use it as a standard optical telescope. And for two very good reasons:
1: You can start off showing your Scouts or whoever the *actual view* through a telescope like this, which for things like the Moon, Jupiter and big comets will be mindblowing, and it's actual photons hitting your eyes. Then, yes, you can go in to however much detail about astrophotography techniques and show them the live stack on the other eyepiece.
2: It will still work as a telescope if the battery/software/processing/firmware/company fails. Hey, it turns out your telescope is no longer supported in the latest update? You can still stick a webcam in the optical port.
Does it have a replaceable battery? External Power? Also, does the app rely on internet services, or is it fully standalone? Thanks Scott!
External power and there's a mode which limits the mount rotation if you have it plugged in.
I have that same Meade scope, I use it more than my $1200 carbon fiber triplet on an equally expensive tracking mount
im in the middle of 3d printing my own harmonic drive mounts and use OnStep for the controller to attempt astrophotography. TONS of work but like you said if I can pull this off and get results I will be so extatic. At the same time I am thinking about getting a newer smart telescope for my kids and when I don't feel like setting up my rig. Great video!
A Scott Manley product review? That's a rare thing indeed. I'm quite tempted with one of these smart telescopes, all my astro gear has got so big and complicated it rarely comes out of the garage.
This seems to take out nearly all the work that makes astrophotography a challenging and fun art.
Indeed, but that leaves more time for me to make videos.
Most people don't want to do the work in the first place. This is ideal for them. They can take great photos without having to make it into a complete hobby.
@@EnglishMike But if you do not want to do the work, then why using a telescope at all? Just look at even better images from the web.
@@dampfwasi Why do people still take photographs of the places they visit (without people in them) when they know there are better images available on the web? I have hundreds of such photos.
You're still doing it. You're still engaging in the experience of setting up your telescope, choosing the target and taking photos right there and then.
I'm sure plenty of amateurs have bemoaned every new convenience that's come along for the amatuer astronomer, digital photography especially.
e.g. "Where's the sense of accomplishment when the Photoshop does all the work for you?"
And what's the point in doing any astrophotography if you can't match what's online? The new scope only changes the amount of work involved, it doesn't really change much else.
Why is Unistellar so expensive? Isn’t the bulk of the cost optics and they are using cheap optics and cheap sensors instead?
The only thing more embarrassing than realising you can’t use your iPhone because you’re filming with it…
…is not realising…🤣
Years ago, I was staying the night at Fossil Falls on Hwy. 395, heading to the Sierra's, and a group from UCLA were in the next campsite setting up telescopes for photography because dry desert air and no planes near China Lake. They invited me to view and it was amazing.
I love your rocket videos together with Eager Space and Marcus House. Eager Space supplement your videos with his calculations and Marcus House supplement with the journalism point of view. Thanks to all of you.
If you're looking to try a small telescope for much cheaper, the Dwarf2 and Dwarf3 are available for $500 & cheaper.
As a bonus they can used in the daytime for tracking things like planes, birds, wildlife, etc.
...and it is super light and fits easily into your backpack for hikes.
Something like this would be cool for the parents to get their kids who are just getting genuinely interested in space. They're curious and seeking more info, but don't have the best patience. Being able to set this up and then view high quality images in just a few minutes, maybe even from the comfort of a warm car on a cold night is beneficial. The kids, who likely have a short attention span, can't wait the hours post processing would take. Getting a more immediate satisfaction out of it keeps them interested longer. Maybe even long enough to graduate into something more advanced. That being said (typed?) though, the price is a little scary. If it were maybe in the $500 to $800 range that would be better. It still looks like a telescope and you get the advantage of the eyepiece still, so it has the advantage over the ZDO options in my book.
The Google targeted advertising is amazing! This weekend I was shopping online for telescopes and today Scott Manley uploads this video about digital telescopes, which I didn't even know was a thing. I must admit, the Odyssey is a lot more portable than the 12" Dob I was eyeing.
get a dob, that will be way more capable than anything unistellar can offer
@@clayel1 Ya, that's the way I'm leaning.
RIP Meade.
Now regretting not having done a firmware update for the 12” LX200…
3K $ for a telescope smaller than my powerseker , insane!!!
__
1:03 Wow an 80 cm refractor for less than 100 dollars? Makes sense that meade would go out of business with a deal that good lol.
Nice video. You solved part of my Christmas list, got two of them for grandkids.
Wonderful technology! ❤
I bought some new astronomy tech myself recently, retiring my Losmandy G-11 for a Skywatcher EQ-6R. While the G-11 has served me well, life is too short for star hopping under mediocre skies.
That is frackin’ awesome. I have been looking to get back into amateur astro. The demise of Orion was certainly a blow to those aspirations. I will definitely be checking out digital scope options.
Well, some years ago, I saw your video about a travel refractor. Bought the 70mm. Got hooked. Now I'm into high resolution planetary imaging. Best drug ever. TY Mr Manley for giving me back the dream my 7yo me had !
Glad the travelscope turned out to be a good choice!
This made me want to go out in the yard with my light bucket tonight. 🙂
0:30 Either Scott got this backwards or the photos on these boxes were horrible, blurry messes 😂
Why couldn't infomercials be this fun when I was a kid?
Seems like there are several of these scopes coming onto the market at the moment.
I appreciate this video tremendously, have been looking at different options for weeks. Thanks Scott!
Very cool!
Here at the observatory in Middelburg (The Netherlands) you can visit every Friday-night and observe through one of their telescopes outside. For free! It's about 2-3 times the size of this one I believe.
They also offer workshops for kids teaching them about astronomy.
"I was probably not entirely sober."
- Scott Manley, 2024
Scott, don't ever change! :))
Got 40 mins on the whirlpool galaxy with my s50 last night :). Great piece of kit.
I remember having to drive 50-100 miles from my home in Western Washington State to get "acceptable views" with my 6"×24" refractive telescope (heavy light polution), until it was stolen when I had a "bathroom break" at one of my viewing sites 10 years ago...
Meade and Orion were mostly resellers of JOC and Synta products. Celestron now has a monopoly over Schmidt-Cassegrains
My caution is that digital telescopes, by themselves, can make for lazy "astronomers" and shift the focus from looking up to looking down. Any photo they can take with little effort already exists in many better versions on the internet. To go digital, I think it would be better to get an app like Sky Safari and an iPad; here, there is more space for growth and fun. I do like your idea of a solid, small telescope which gives decent views of the Moon and star clusters. ~ Dan, President of the San Francisco Amateur Astronomers
I talked to a flat earther, he was convicted that every telescope and every binoculars has a screen in and shows what it supposed to show, so it will full as all that earth is not flat. We talked 8 years ago, maybe he predicted the future.
Do you have any advise for somebody who would like to stay in that sub £200 area for a telescope similar to the ones you mentioned at the start, that aren't available?
Not quite as cheap as your looking for, but for $349, ZWO makes the Seestar S30, which is a digital scope similar to the one in this video. It's a smaller scope than this one, but the results you can get from it are amazing. It's on pre-order and should start shipping in December. Going up just a little more in price, you can get the Seestar S50 or the Dwarflabs Dwarf 3 for around $500.
Edit: I just realized I did the typical American thing and ignored the pounds symbol. Prices might be off, but the advice still holds
There are three really good options for beginners, (and many more options within the main three)
Like Scott says in the vid, a small travel scope is a good starting point. something like a Celestron 70 mm refractor or similar sized scope. A lot of those are under $150 and come with some accessories. If you can buy used, do so, and spend the saved cash on an eyepiece or two. (Telescope power is based on the ratio of the scope : eyepiece. the bigger that ratio, the more zoomed in you will be, but also the narrower the view. there are some adjustable "zoom" eyepieces though they can be as expensive as the scopes in this price range)
Agena Astro, and Highpoint Scientific are good places to look for new gear. However, a lot of people will get gear and realize the hobby is not for them, so starting with used gear can be a great way to get into it for less money upfront.
The second option, is a set of binoculars + A tripod adapter. I recommend "Nikon ACULON A211 7x50" (7x zoom, 50mm front lens) which are currently on sale for $86 bucks on amazon. add in a tripod and adapter and for less than 120, you are in really good shape. I have this set up, but its a companion to other gear. If this will be your only gear, and you don't want to use the Binoculars for anything else, (like birding, etc) then go for higher magnification. the ACULON line has a zoom model that can go 10x to 22x for about $150, maybe a bit less. add in the tripod+adapter, and you are right around the $200 range.
One added benefit with binoculars is you are getting light in both eyes, so a set of 50mm binoculars vs a 50mm scope, the binoculars will be twice as bright.
the last option, only "fits" the price range if you already have it, but a regular digital camera, a tripod, and a computer for processing, can be used to get amazing pictures. Any lens, any camera.
The youtube channel "nebula photos" has a bunch of videos dedicated to showing how to take images of common DSOs (Deep sky objects) Like Nebula, and galaxy, with out a dedicated astronomy mount.
I started Astrophotography based on his "andromeda with a DSLR and tripod". He shows you how to process it too. There is an updated version of that video that uses more modern software.
I didn't put any links because I don't want any filters to flag the comment. If you want them I can reply.
I don't think you can get a digital telescope unless maybe Temu has something. But there's a few traditional Celestron options on Amazon in that price range. I would get a lower cost portable scope that can sit on a camera tripod and then upgrade the eyepieces, mount and other stuff over time
Fantastic! Some day I'm definitely going to get one! 😃
Thanks, Scott!!!
Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
Can you get the "raw" stack of photos that the telescope took to make the finished image? Also, is the CCD a, like, normal mosaic-ed CCD like you find in digital cameras? Or are there filters and stuff and multiple CCDs?
Yes, you can download all the 4 second exposures and do your own stacking and processing. Also, the final images have 32bit colour depth so, lots of room to tweak even those
Missed title
"How I learned to perform astrophotography through the clouds safely"
I recently got into digital astrophotography, and tried doing some long exposures with a DSLR - there are too many Starlink in the sky to do more than 1 or 2 minutes of exposure. Stacking hundreds of 15-second exposures lets you throw out the Starlink-ruined frames and tends to be more successful.
We need an @astrobiscuit collaboration next time you’re back in the UK. 🔭
Hmm, I reckon the digitally-driven mount trumps the Meade telescope as much as the image-stacking. I've got a couple of telescopes but I rarely use them because it's very hard to get them stable and pointed and when you do see something it moves out of view pretty quick.
12:31 Something I've been wondering is if a bunch of digital imaging telescopes like this could be networked together to look for asteroids and Kuiper belt objects by stellar occlusion, and plot their trajectories with some kind of automated tracking system to calculate the gravity fields of the outer solar system, both to survey these objects themselves because a lot are still undiscovered, and to try to narrow down the search space for Planet X based on its gravitational influence on smaller bodies.
do any of these telescopes use AI to "enhance" the image or do they just algorithmically process the light that hits the sensor?
5:16 I Used a 16yr old Canon DSLR camera and a 300-400mm (+ 1.4x = 420mm-560mm) lens, And a tripod. And got a full screen image of Moon like this, Sharp and good quality.
I might get better quality going outside the big city i live in. I was on my balcony, I never thought it be that good with a normal DSLR camera.
Would be nice to have a real telescope.
Making things too easy I say, hard work is good for a chap, all this new fangled technology is destroying us all. Why, I remember when they brought that new Spinning Jenny contraption round my work and I opined to my chum, "Mr Ludd sir, this new fangled technology will destroy us all", "indeed" said he, agreeing with me most heartily.
What is it with loads of people doing full video adverts atm?
Oof, can't say im surprised about orion closing down. I ordered my xt8+ from them a couple years ago, waited like 6 months for it to ship just for them to ship half of it to some random dude on the other side of the country, I told them immediately when I noticed it was shipping to the wrong place, it took a week and emails back and forth with like 6 different people before someone confirmed what I told them on day one, by that point the guy had already received the part and then I had to wait another 2 weeks to get the other half of my telescope, terrible buying experience, terrible customer service, half the people I talked to were rude AF. The telescope is pretty awesome though, at least I got it when I did.
How much of the image does it pull from the interwebs :/
1 question: Do the telescope and phone app both work without cell reception?
Yes, it just needs GPS
Growing up, I always wanted a good telescope but they were just too expensive. Being able to see other planets with my own eye just seems more authentic. For me, using a digital telescope would be no different than seeing a picture found online. A researcher would see more benefit over someone like me.
This would be really interesting if there was something like a readthedocs page along with the full hardware and software/firmware specs and code available.
Would help if people want to improve on what’s already there.
I've had more than a few telescopes (Newtonians), and I've not had one that hasn't needed collimation, especially the fast ones. At F3.9, this thing is fast. How do you collimate it?
I believe there's motors that adjust the focus and alignment.
If this scope was around $1000 I'd say it was a good value proposition for getting into astrophotography or sparking a child's imagination. At $3000 you are at the low end of the price range for a premium astro rig but without the premium results.
I picked up a used totally basic Tasco one. One day it seemed to me I found Jupiter and could see some dots around it that were moons? Maybe it was in a close point of our orbits.
When i was selling telescopes(working for a science museum) in the mid 90's there were 2 big brand names. Meade and Celestron. Celestron is still alive it seems. Sorry to see Meade go.
Not sure if I'm a big fan of the glow around the stars, looks kinda post-processed (as long as this isn't a result of the hazy skies)
Interesting product. Too bad they don't go into more details on the specifications such as the imaging sensor type. It also seems like there isn't any provision for filters outside of their solar filter.
The Seestar S50 was my gateway drug into the hobby. The imaging system I pieced together; Equitorial Mount, cooled camera, guide camera, 150mm Newtonian scope and computer to run it, cost a little bit less that their Equinox2 telescope with more flexability.
Okay. I am drunk. So this thing tracks the stars and shows you what hubble would facing that direction?
Hanging with telescope about 10 years ago was one the most fun I have as an adult, childhood fun I mean. This doesn’t look that much fun. Later, in some years I will just buy huge ass dob
Different strokes...
I think I should buy a "Scott Manley" robot thingy
1. Is there a "negative mode"? Like you subtract reliably tracked objects and get the tracks of only fast moving objects? Software should be almost the same.
2. Conspiracy mode: can one check if they use orientation of the telescope and just download pictures from somewhere and mix them with local landscape obstacles?
You can download the images and process them yourself
@@scottmanley Conspiracy mode continues: download from where? Download from my own telescope?
@ yeah, connect to camera WiFi and download stuff
@@alexeykamenev1348 *sigh*
Wow... This kicks the crap out of my Celestron 8 from circa 1981.
Not on the Moon and planets, it doesn’t.
@@dandurkin9735 Oh,,, Guess I'll continue with my old beast, As always, it's the pier that gets me. I should've made a concrete one for mine decades ago... That would've justified turning my Celestron into an OTA and sliding it into a really nice mount. Oh, well. Maybe next time.🤣
Shoot! My Meade might be worth some money in a few decades.
All of those results are very impressive. Quite a pricetag but hey, maybe someday lol.
Can it point below horizon and be used in daytime?
it is more fun to build your own rig. Because you suffer and use it and learn how to. And then you can make great photos. With the price of this smart telescope you could make an even better rig!
I suspect that for every person who does it the hard way, there are many more whose telescopes get used a handful of times and then lie abandoned at the back of the garage until they're eventually scrapped or sold on ebay. This is the type of telescope most people should be buying unless they want to make astrophotography their main hobby.
Can i set it up in my backyard, mirror the camera to my phone and doom scroll the night sky?
Yes, I tried it on a hilltop and was freezing my butt off, brought it home and had more fun sitting inside controlling the scope/
@scottmanley wrote that before 11:11 , excuse my attention span
But that seems a lot of fun, maybe even get it on a big screen for everyone to watch at the same time, beats watching tv
@@FerdinandFake With today's average attention span, you would have to have a very special family...
@EnglishMike I wonder if it would work as well on the surface, mount it at an angle and scroll across the horizon with your giant servo powered surveillance camera
Not sure I would recommend the Unistellar, it is *way* too expensive for what you get. If you want to get your feet wet for a few hundred dollars, get a Dwarf 3 or the Seestar S30. You can actually do more with the data these collect and you can properly stack them on a PC for higher quality. And if you really like it, and wanna get deep into it, get a good cooled camera, a Juwei 17 harmonic mount, a small guide scope, a guide camera, and of course a telescope. That way you can upgrade each component whenever you want. And there's excellent free software for controlling your telescope, like Nina (Windows) or KStars/EKOS (Linux). You can also get a small mini computer that lets you control everything with an app, like the ZWO AsiAir and the Touptek Astrostation. Drawback of the ZWO gear: It's more expensive and they lock you into their cameras and focusers. Touptek and other systems are completely open. If you can afford a Unistellar... just get a proper telescope setup, or a much cheaper Dwarf 3 if you want something that is perfectly usable for beginners.
Yes, lots of cheaper Chinese alternatives
6:56 is the big blue stars being different from paralax?
Stars are different colours
It’s chromatic aberration, an effect from imaging through uncorrected optics. They don’t actually have that blueish-purple fringing around them.
I think they ment why are the stars in different places in the right and left pictures
Different because I was lazy in aligning the two images and didn't get tis straight.
Scott, so far the code claims it is invalid for the scope selected.
Code works when you put telescope and sun filter in the same basket, then it makes the filter free.
I've tried your code in the UK and it isn't recognised - Is it US shop only?
Checking on this now: It's worldwide, Make sure you add the telescope and the matching filter both to the cart and then add the code at checkout. Different filters for different sized telescopes.
Sorry, should have read the instructions better!
sorry scott i live in a big town lott of light polution , and I am working on a raspberry pi telescope because of that.
As I said, I'm amazed at its ability to subtract sky haze and light pollution.
Note if you buy one of those non-digital backpack telescopes, avoid going below 80mm in aperture. Had someone bring a tiny 50mm box store telescope to a star party one time, but unfortunately those will always be a disappointment.
70mm is the bare minimum, you can see a few things. As I said, the nice thing about the backpack scopes is even when you buy a serious monster light bucket there's a still a use for a small easily portably fun scope.