Quote:
Originally Posted by mickr
I have had a Seestar 50 for about 10 days and I am seriously impressed by this bit of gear.
As I am no longer capable of routinely hauling heavy gear from my shed I am appreciating the ease and comfort of arm chair astronomy with this very portable device.
The images of nebulae and globular clusters generated are incredible, even in a Bortle 7 environment (and even at full moon) with even relatively short exposures (less than 10 minutes). It does struggle with galaxies at these short exposures but I expect taking it to rural skies with longer exposures may do the trick.
Having the ability to acquire images on your phone or tablet inside , away from the elements and mossies does spoil you.
I will still take out the heavier gear for visual planetary observations as the short focal length of the Seestar is not appropriate. However it does perform adequately for the moon and more than adequately for solar imaging.
What really amazes me is the price! I paid an intriductory price of $750 for a f/5, 50 mm aperture apochromatic scope with robotic altaz mount and also includes a dual band LP/H-alpha/OIII filter and solar filter. The Apple and Android software works very well. My only complaint is that it works too well with its goto, autofocus and autostacking. It does take some of the standard challenges away but I guess one should always have to have something to complain about.
Even though the Seestar is only in its infancy and many are still impatiently waiting for their scopes there is a rapidly expanding group of enthusiasts on Facebook and other social media. I think images shown there are impressive.
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Appreciate the update and glad to hear you are enjoying….I believe I will be waiting for another month or so as I was a little slow to order and gain the discount.
Have you tried solar?