• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Smart Telescopes Discussion

Steven58

Steven58

Former Heavyweight Champion of Android Forums
Moderator
I was thinking about looking at the stars as a hobby. I am a total novice and the more I look at the hobby, the more daunting it looks.

Nowadays, they have telescopes that do computerized image process for astrophotography and sky gazing.

They are Stellina, Vespera and Evscope. They do everything at a premium price point. They find objects for you, photograph them and process them.

Apparently, the experienced purists mock this stuff. Does anyone here have any knowledge of this stuff?

Asking for a friend. ;)

Steven
 
I gave up looking at stars as a hobby after that restraining order from Scarlett Johansson. You are welcome to my telescope as soon as the police give it back. :o

I have a friend - Eagle Scout, if that matters - who was into astronomy. It's always an issue of optics and interference. Reflecting is better than refracting and the less atmosphere and light pollution, the better the observations. I can't help you out with brands, but I'll ask him for you.
 
lunatic59 said:
I gave up looking at stars as a hobby after that restraining order from Scarlett Johansson. You are welcome to my telescope as soon as the police give it back. :eek:

I have a friend - Eagle Scout, if that matters - who was into astronomy. It's always an issue of optics and interference. Reflecting is better than refracting and the less atmosphere and light pollution, the better the observations. I can't help you out with brands, but I'll ask him for you.
Click to expand...

What I was asking was if anyone had experience with the new smart ones. They do a lot more with the images for you.. Clean them up, focus, etc. It's pretty amazing. You should look them up.

Stellna pics:

14369930_1087614057998535_2676435858793447035_n.jpg


m83-700.jpg


Helix-nebula-Stellina-1800x850.jpg


127194921_3477661192327131_7487195824394794938_o.jpg

87501979_2722825457810712_6880157872953491456_n.jpg
 
I was big time into the hobby when my children were growing up. I had a Celestron NexStar 11 like this one.
images

It was great for I was never more than a novice observer. Having the capabilities to take you on a tour or zero in on something you wanted to observe was paramount for a novice. I was never into photography so I can't lend any information along those lines. As for photography, I do know that at the time I was into the mysteries of the skies that it was necessary to have a motorized mount that would compensation for the earths movements for longer accurate exposures. Then there was a process of stacking photos to glean more light from a subject. It is a great hobby that funds will be your only restrictions. Finding non light polluted skies and nights with low atmospheric dust and or moisture are a make and break session. I'm sure that telescopes have evolved since I sold my telescope. For what it's worth, I was into the hobby at about four grand total investment and sold everything back seven or eight years later taking a hit around a grand. It's a thousand dollars and many nights with my children well spent. If you decide to buy... go big. You won't be sorry.
 
@olbriar take a look at the web pages of those setups I mentioned. They are a do all system then compensates for light pollution and stacks pics and processes them down to your cellphone.

Enthusiasts either love these or hate these. There is no in-between. It's not a telescope per se. Let me know what you think. They ain't cheap.
 
Steven58 said:
@olbriar take a look at the web pages of those setups I mentioned. They are a do all system then compensates for light pollution and stacks pics and processes them down to your cellphone.

Enthusiasts either love these or hate these. There is no in-between. It's not a telescope per se. Let me know what you think. They ain't cheap.
Click to expand...
I will have to look into these clever new gizmos. I will say that the photos you posted are outstanding! Like I said, I was never into the photography end of the hobby but I can certainly see how exciting it could be. Photos always display more light received than can be seen at any given time looking through a telescope. I can see how a purist might scoff at the idea of having a device do all of the work but hey... the results appear excellent. I loved watching the light creep into a crater of the moon or watching a planet rise on the horizon and that you would be cheated out of. However, if photos are what turns you on, at first take I think the device is an excellent tool.
Back in the day it would take a motorized mount, special camera mount on the telescope, a high dollar SLR, and purchased stacking software to achieve such pictures. You could easily add another two to three grand on my telescope investment and lots of effort to achieve pictures like you posted.
 
I looked into these new scopes. They are interesting. They are gathering light on a sensitive plate vs directly delivering that light to your eyes. It looks like around 160X power is max where I was in the 660X range with a Schmidt-Cassegrain design scope. I only saw one model that had an alt-az mount that I think would be necessary to take long exposure photos. It looked like 10 to 20 minute exposures to max out a photo so I'm confused. There is so little info available I'm not certain how these new scopes do their tricks. They rely on your phone's gps for exact location which is critical. In my day, pre cell phone, it was quite a chore to establish exactly where you were set up. The new scope also finds and orients itself to the sky. Again, back in the day, you had to locate two known stars in the sky to orient the telescope. Both of these new to me features are attractive... especially for a beginner. They claim to squelch ambient light noise. I hope that they do. I set up SE of my town and had great South sky. My North sky was trashed by light pollution of a city ten miles to my North. Just gathering light over a period of time would not be as subject to moisture in the atmosphere as a traditional scope... but that's a guess. The bottom line is I just don't know enough about the new photo scopes to form an opinion. The concept is cool. If you buy I'm very interested to hear your opinions and viewing your pictures.
 
olbriar said:
I looked into these new scopes. They are interesting. They are gathering light on a sensitive plate vs directly delivering that light to your eyes. It looks like around 160X power is max where I was in the 660X range with a Schmidt-Cassegrain design scope. I only saw one model that had an alt-az mount that I think would be necessary to take long exposure photos. It looked like 10 to 20 minute exposures to max out a photo so I'm confused. There is so little info available I'm not certain how these new scopes do their tricks. They rely on your phone's gps for exact location which is critical. In my day, pre cell phone, it was quite a chore to establish exactly where you were set up. The new scope also finds and orients itself to the sky. Again, back in the day, you had to locate two known stars in the sky to orient the telescope. Both of these new to me features are attractive... especially for a beginner. They claim to squelch ambient light noise. I hope that they do. I set up SE of my town and had great South sky. My North sky was trashed by light pollution of a city ten miles to my North. Just gathering light over a period of time would not be as subject to moisture in the atmosphere as a traditional scope... but that's a guess. The bottom line is I just don't know enough about the new photo scopes to form an opinion. The concept is cool. If you buy I'm very interested to hear your opinions and viewing your pictures.
Click to expand...

I'm not buying, yet, as the setup is costly, but I'm interested.
 
olbriar said:
With that large of an investment, research is time well spent. I merely scratched the surface for information. I think you are a wise man indeed to look before you leap.
Click to expand...
Ty man, I was thinking of getting one many moons ago, just to look through the night sky and really photograph them crystal clear too, but as time ticks on, I am glad I did end up with a tiny telescope for my moto edge plus, if only I could line it up and make it does not feel so heavy though that is the only thing about it.. But there could be a much better adapter for it soon :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom