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Skywatcher Sky Panorama Eyepieces: More economical in a set!

January 9 2017, Stefan Taube

With immediate effect the popular ultra wide angle eyepieces of the Sky Panorama series are available in an economical set:

Skywatcher Eyepiece Set Sky Panorama with focal length of 7 mm, 15 mm, 23 mm.

You save 69.90 Euro when compared with the purchase of the individual eyepieces.
The three focal lengths fully cover the sensible range needed for observations with Dobson telescopes.

The Sky Panorama ultra-wide angle eyepieces offer a large field of view of 82° – a unique viewing experience across a very flat, well corrected and almost undistorted field. The eyepieces come with soft eyepiece caps, which can be simply rotated for correct positioning. Convenient viewing and also suitable for persons wearing glasses. For high contrast and maximum light transmission the lens areas have been broad spectrum multi tempered. The thread cut into the plug-in sleeve enables the use of filters.

Tags: Skywatcher, Telescope Accessories, eyepieces
Posted in Sale »

Omegon V-Power: toughened focusers for better astro photos

November 28 2016, Marcus Schenk

Taking astro photos means facing many challenges. One of these are sharp astro photos. It is not easy to focus on weakly glowing stars and nebulae during the night. A perfectly tracked astro photo, but blurred? Inconceivable!

However, the perfect solution for this is now available: the new Omegon V-Power focusers. Making sure that your astro photo does not end up in drama, but as a story with a happy end.

What makes the V-Power focusers so distinct?

Important parts of the V-Power focuser are made of stainless steel instead of soft aluminium. Robust V2A ball bearings and stainless steel rings ensure high precision focusing. A dual speed 1:10 reduction provides the basis for a sensitively focusedastro photo, and the laser engraving allows you to return to previous settings very quickly. And if you have planned the future use of a motorized control, this is also possible.

With the V-Power finder base you can now also connect your finder scope. Simply attach the base to the focuser – and you are ready to go!

With these sets you can simply connect the focuser to your telescope

The V-Power series is available in different versions: for Newton and Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes. A plug & play solution is available in a set with matching adapters. Easy focusing in just a few steps.

You want to learn more? Follow this link to the focuser for better astro photos.

Tags: Omegon, Telescope Accessories, Focuser
Posted in New Products »

Skywatcher: A new addition to the Star Adventurer family

November 7 2016, Stefan Taube

The Star Adventurer from Skywatcher literally is a handy camera mount. For us, a camera mount is an astronomical mount that tracks the rotation of the sky with a photo camera, not with a telescope. This way you will successfully shoot impressive wide field images of the night sky: entire constellations, the belt of the milky way, or atmospheric constellations of the Moon and planets.

A new addition to the Star Adventurer family

The Mini Star Adventurer Wi-Fi from Skywatcheris now available:

Just like the classic Star Adventurer we also offer this model in two variations: The Photo-Set only consists of the photo mount without any further accessories. This variation is perfect for customers who already have accessories, or want to use the Star Adventurer for applications other than astro photography. The Astro-Set variation comes with everything you need to be able to use the Star Adventurer as an astronomical mount. You only need an additional camera tripod. An excellent solution is the very light Titania 600 from Omegon.

What has changed on the new Star Adventurer?

The Mini Star Adventurer Wi-Fi is no replacement for the classic model. As indicated by its name, the load capacity of the new version is lower. The classic Star Adventurer is able to carry approx. 5 kilogramme; for the Mini Star Adventurer the manufacturer recommends an additional load of maximum 3 kilogramme. This low load gives you the opportunity to operate the Mini Star Adventurer via an integrated powerpack, which is charged via Mini-USB. You no longer need any batteries.

Another major difference is the control via app: The Mini Star Adventurer Wi-Fi generates its own WIFI network. You can wirelessly connect your smartphone or tablet to the camera mount. For this purpose, Skywatcher provides an app for Android and iOS free of charge. The advantage of this app is the fact that no additional manual control is required because you already own a smartphone, including the convenience of the graphical user interface and touchscreen. You can actually use the app to control your camera via the Mini Star Adventurer Wi-Fi and to make a vast variety of settings. This all takes place without touching: no camera movement, no disturbance of the polar alignment.

By the way: With camera mounts like the models of the Star Adventurer series you will also be able to take panorama and time lapse images. Camera mounts are highly versatile tools for ambitious photographers.

Tags: Telescope Accessories, Mount, Skywatcher
Posted in New Products »

New: SkyTracker Pro from iOptron

September 26 2016, Stefan Taube

You do not need very much to be able to take long exposure photos of the night sky. Even with a system camera or a DSLR with interchangeable lenses you can take photos of large regions of the sky, such as constellations, special constellations of the Moon and planets or even the belt of the milky way.

All you need besides the camera is just a little piece of accessory to be mounted between tripod and camera. This accessory, referred to as camera mount, makes your camera rotate with the starry sky. This makes sure that stars will not appear as dashed lines after a longer exposure time. The SkyTracker from iOptron is the mount that has set standards. This narrow and light piece of accessory fits into any photo bag – ideal also for travelling!

With the Sky Tracker Pro, iOptron now launches a new version of this popular camera mount:

You no longer need any batteries! The integrated powerpack can be simply charged via your computer or via a mobile power supply, sufficient for approx. 24 hours of operation. You can obviously also use a Powertank to supply the Sky Tracker Pro continuously with electric current via USB.
The polar finder for aligning the equatorial wedge (Alt-Az base) with the North Star is illuminated with eight selectable brightness stages. A rough alignment is made through a peephole and a height scale on the wedge.
The equatorial wedge is mechanically considerably more stable than the classic SkyTracker. It has a large height adjustment wheel with a non-slip clamping lever and adjustment screws. The wedge can be separated from the tracking unit. This way it may stay on the tripod and the SkyTracker Pro can be simply plugged on.
You can choose from four speeds: stellar, solar, lunar and 0.5-times. Half the stellar speed is quite useful if you want to photograph landscape details in the foreground together with the stars.
Due to the reduced tracking speed, these elements remain sharp. By the way: You can also reverse the sense of rotation of the motor, so that the SkyTracker Pro also works in the Southern hemisphere.
With a weight of slightly more than one kilogram and dimensions of 12 cm x 12 cm x 10 cm, the SkyTracker Pro is quite compact, despite its high quality mechanics, and will surely fit into your travel luggage.

Besides the tripod, you also need a ball head in order to use the SkyTracker Pro in the most effective way. Since many photographers already have a ball head in their possession, it is not included in the scope of delivery of the SkyTracker Pro. Under the “Recommended Accessories” tab on the SkyTracker Pro product page you will find a highly suitable example.

By the way: At Astroshop.eu we also offer astro modified system cameras. These cameras are highly sensitive in the red range of the spectrum and enhance the image quality of cosmic nebulae.

Tags: iOptron, Telescope Accessories, Mount
Posted in New Products »

EAGLE: The computer for astrophotography

September 12 2016, Stefan Taube

Why EAGLE?

Hardly any other sector of our hobby, astronomy, has experienced such a dynamic development over the last few years than astro photography. But this all comes at a price! If in the past one had to set up a Dobsonian telescope, search the eyepiece bag for the correct focal length and probably also a colour filter, the mobile astronomer of today travels with an “observatory to go”: Equatorial mount with heavy counterweights, optics, camera, guiding telescope, guiding camera, laptop and large powerpack. Is there no easier way? The EAGLE control unit makes this possible. It is a computer that is tightly connected to the tube, and it controls mount, camera and guiding camera, centrally supplies electric current, and saves images. You can operate EAGLE wirelessly via WIFI with an input unit of your choice.

No messy or torn cables

All power and data lines to the mount and peripheral equipment run centrally from EAGLE. This allows the use of short cables and to leave these cables partially connected for a quicker setup. Since the EAGLE computer performs the same tracking movements as the mount, no cables can be wound up or torn off by the mount. You can quite confidently allow your astro photographical equipment to run for hours without supervision. The only cable you need to keep an eye on is the electric power supply cable for the EAGLE. Talking of power supply: Due to the power management of the EAGLE, you only need a smaller Powertank, or you can take photos over an even longer period of time.

EAGLE generates its own WIFI

With the associated app you can use all the programs you need, wirelessly and conveniently from your garden chair. Popular software like PHD2 Guiding are pre-installed. Since the EAGLE runs under Win 10 Enterprise, you can also install other programs. The advantage of EAGLE is the fact that you can control your system with any WIFI-compatible computer and any operating system: no matter whether you use a laptop, tablet or smartphone, and no matter whether you use Windows, Android or Apple. In the field, the WIFI range is approximately 25 metres.

EAGLE saves your photos

You can have the camera images directly transferred to your tablet, laptop or smartphone via WIFI. Since you obviously take a lot of photos which need to be saved without losses, the EAGLE is equipped with an SSD memory card. Saving to a USB stick is also possible. However, there is no possibility to edit any of the photos in EAGLE. The computing power has been designed for low current consumption, which is why EAGLE also works without ventilation.

EAGLE is a fixed part of the system

The EAGLE computer is no additional accessory that you have to carry around. The small, but very stable box can stay mounted to your tube. The best way of installation probably is the installation between the tube and the guide scope rings. However, you can also mount the EAGLE box on the same prism rail that you use to fasten the telescope on the mount. This is recommended if you do not use a guiding tube. On our EAGLE product page you can see examples for this.

There is nothing you can’t do without the EAGLE control unit. However, anyone who is actively involved in astro photography on a regular basis and now and again likes to travel to good star gazing locations or telescope meetings, will quickly appreciate the EAGLE: no cable problems, no computer crash, a stable power supply, a compact system.

There is also a more powerful version available, which has been designed for large mounts and observatories: EAGLE Observatory.

Tags: PrimaLuceLab, Telescope Accessories, Astrophotography
Posted in New Products »

3D eyepieces: discover the third dimension!

August 1 2016, Stefan Taube

The use of binocular attachments (bino viewers) or astro binoculars with eyepiece connection makes for a stunning view of celestial bodies. The surfaces of the Moon or the planets, or even star clusters appear to be three-dimensional. It has been proven – and you can easily see this for yourself – that it takes two to see one: Looking through the optics with both of your eyes is a much more relaxing experience, and the processing of signals in the brain results in a much brighter, higher contrast impression. Even the colours of planets seem more vibrant.

3D Astronomy L-O-A 21mm 1,25″ Set

The new eyepieces from 3dastronomy dramatically enhance this effect! They come with an integrated Lederman Optical Array (L-O-A). This is a component in one of the two eyepieces of the set, which was developed by Russ Ledermann, the well-known optician.

This component consists of five square glass plates, which are mounted on the field lens. Used in both eyepieces of a binocular attachment or binoculars, it provides a crisp, three-dimensional image. By turning one of the two eyepieces, you can adjust whether the centre of the celestial object should be in the foreground or in the background.

What causes this effect? In this context, please read the product test report in the journal Astronomy Magazine, which you can find under the “Downloads” tab on the eyepieces product page.

The set consists of two eyepieces, which can be used in a binocular attachment or binoculars with a 1.25” connection. On the eyepieces product page you will also find a video, taken on the occasion of a meeting of telescope enthusiasts.

We will continue to test the eyepiece set in detail and report on our experiences in this Astro-Blog.

Tags: 3dastronomy, Telescope Accessories, Eyepiece
Posted in New Products »

Astrophotography: New cameras from ZWO

May 30 2016, Stefan Taube

The cameras from ZWO, which can be recognized by their distinct red housing, have taken astrophotography by assault. Based on the big success of the low-priced planet cameras ASI-120, ZWO now extends its product range bit by bit and now also offers advanced cameras with USB 3.0 and CMOS-sensors.

We are able to offer you two new series of these cameras:

ZWO Camera ASI

ASI-290: A very good all-purpose camera with small pixels, high image frequency and low read-out noise. The camera is equipped with the CMOS-sensor IMX290 from Sony. This chip is particularly light-sensitive because it is exposed from the back. Such sensors are elaborate in production, but now they are available to hobby astronomers for a reasonable price.
ASI-1600: This camera is equipped with a huge 16 megapixle CMOS-sensor with 21.9 millimetre diagonal. The sensor is normally installed in Olympus cameras. With this camera you can fill a large field of view.

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All camera models are available as colour or black and white variants, but also with or without active cooling. I.e. there are four versions each for you to choose from.

Black and white cameras have the advantage of a higher sensitivity and resolution when compared with colour cameras. However, it takes a higher effort to successfully shoot colour images: You need colour filters and a fllter wheel.

A cooled camera allows for longer exposure times, because the sensor noise is suppressed. However, you need a separate electric power supply and, for long exposure times, a suitable mount with tracking control. Due to the increasingly high sensitivity of the sensors, uncooled cameras also become more and more popular for the photography of low-luminosity DeepSky objects. Beginners and casual photographers are therefore already very well equipped with the uncooled models of the ASI-290 series.

Tags: Telescope Accessories, ZWO, camera
Posted in New Products »