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Posts Tagged 'astrophotography astrophotography'

Omegon polarscope additional light for Omegon MiniTrack mounts as well as EQ5, LX85, AVX etc.

October 5 2023, Achim Mros

We all know the problem – the black lines and crosshairs on a polarscope reticle can be difficult or impossible to see at night. Like a “Chimney Sweep at Night against a Black Background” (a painting by the German comedian Karl Valentin).
With this high-quality Omegon polarscope light, such problems are a thing of the past. The dimmable lighting unit brightens the polarscope’s field of view slightly, so that the crosshair is visible once again in front of your chosen section of the night sky, without outshining important stars such as, in this case, Polaris.
The Omegon polarscope light is made of high-quality CNC-machined aluminium, so it is not yet another flimsy plastic part. They are produced in the EU, more precisely in Portugal, by NIMAX Portugal.
What is particularly interesting, however, is that this supplementary illumination has a variety of uses. It fits all Omegon MiniTrack LX and Quattro travel mounts with optical polar finderscopes.

Attached to an Omegon MiniTrack polarscope

This device can also be used with mounts that do not have an illuminated polar finderscope unit, for example:

Skywatcher EQ5
Meade LX85
Celestron AVX
MON 2
EXOS II

and with other equatorial mounts with an optical polar finderscope.

Omegon polarscope light on a Skywatcher EQ5 mount

Back in stock: the StarAid Revolution autoguider

June 26 2023, Stefan Taube

StarAid Revolution standalone autoguider

Now back in stock: the latest ‘C’ version of the StarAid Revolution autoguiding camera

The new ‘C’ version no longer needs a splitter as power supply and data transfer both take place using a USB-C port.

What does the StarAid Revolution camera offer?

StarAid enables you to use your mount’s guided automatic tracking without the need for an additional laptop or PC. This means you can take long exposures of fainter celestial objects! This is known as autoguiding.

With the StarAid Revolution, this is unbelievably easy – autoguiding starts automatically as soon as the camera is connected to a power supply. Point the telescope anywhere in the night sky and the StarAid will find multiple stars which can be used for autoguiding.

Use the StarAid app and built-in WiFi for further interesting possibilities:

  • Very simple mount orientation
  • Mount initialisation using plate solving
  • Special object guiding for comets: Take long exposures of these fleeting objects!

StarAid Revolution works best with a guidescope with a short focal length between 100 and 150 millimetres, such as the UltraGuide MKII 32mm.

You can find additional information about the StarAid Revolution camera here in our shop.

Hold the stars in your hand – the new Vaonis Vespera!

October 18 2022, Elias Erdnüß

The impressive Vaonis Stellina arrived on the market 3 years ago. With its fully-automatic alignment, autofocus, live stacking and app-based controls, it more than deserves the title of smart telescope!

Now the Vaonis is upping the ante… The new Vespera is a miniature version of the tried and tested concept. With a weight of just 5kg, this new observing station is more compact and more mobile than its alternatives. The Vespera can be taken anywhere quickly and at the drop of a hat. As with the Stellina, alignment takes place automatically using plate solving. Select your desired object for observation from the singularity app – the telescope finds the target and starts imaging. Watch on your smartphone or tablet as the celestial object becomes clearer, more colourful and more contrast-rich, minute after minute, whilst the Vespera collects more and more light using live stacking.

The Vespera also provides even better value for money than its predecessor thanks to its reduced size! Yet its optics still meet the highest possible standards. The in-built 50/200 (f/4) quadruplet apochromat in combination with the modern Sony IMX462 sensor provide high-quality astronomical images. Share these with friends and family!

Order here now!

Tecnosky OWL – magnificent, sharp focusing apochromats

January 27 2022, Jan Ströher

A few years ago the Italian company, Tecnosky, started producing their new, own-brand triplet apochromats known as “OWL”. The first model in the series was the OWL 80/480 apochromat, which was released in spring 2021. The OWL 90/560 was hot on its heels, with the OWL 130/900 SLD soon following in autumn. Soon the range will be blessed with new 70mm and 125mm aperture models. All OWL telescopes are based on a triplet lens design with FPL53 fluoride glass. However, the soon-to-arrive 125mm OWL will be an ED doublet.

The OWL 90/560 triplet

These features, combined with fully multi-coated lenses, blackened lens edges and a lens hood on the tube guarantee Strehl ratios upwards of 0.95! An optical interferometric certificate is attached to every single OWL telescope. Every specimen, therefore, undergoes a detailed quality check before distribution.

Optical test report (certificate) for OWL devices

These compact apochromats are great devices for astrophotography and also offer first-class, pure-colour image quality and joy for observing. Tecnosky also supplies reducer-flatteners calculated to suit the optics for each model. This means that OWLs, with their aperture ratios of f/6 – f/7, are ideally suited to photography.

Aesthetically, these “owls” also make an impression – they are all manufactured from high quality materials, are multi-coated, elegantly manufactured and have a white, black and red colour scheme to complete their look.

OWL 80/480 with FPL53 fluoride glass

All OWL models come with compatible prism rails, pipe clamps, Vixen viewfinder shoe, carry handle and retractable dew shield. These are this apochromat’s main features alongside the rotatable focuser with 1:10 reduction and locking mechanism, as well as a sturdy carry case. All in all, you get a first-class telescope with numerous great features for a reasonable price for this size category. The OWL 70 and 125 models will be available in our shop from spring 2022.

Discover the Tecnosky OWL series and sharpen your view of the night sky – elegant design included!

The new RedCat 71 from William Optics

December 15 2021, Jan Ströher

The time-proven and much loved RedCat 51 by William Optics has a new big brother – the RedCat 71. The same Petzval design with corresponding high-quality optics using FPL53 and FPL51 optics. With its 71mm aperture, the new “Cat” is a lot more powerful than the RedCat 51. The result is a pure-colour, corrected image field with a diameter of over 45 millimetres – ideal even for full-frame cameras! The fast f/4.9 aperture ratio facilitates short exposure times. At 3kg, the 335mm-long RedCat 71 weighs only slightly more than its smaller brother.

Once again, focusing is helical, adjusted by turning a ring on the lens tube.

The telescope comes with a protective carry case, as well as a Bahtinov mask specially designed for the RedCat. This mask aids focusing and is permanently and precisely fitted in the lens adapter.

The RedCat 71 is also perfect for deep sky astrophotography and offers not only impressive optical performance, but also William Optics’ attractive trademark design.

The new RedCat 71

 

To use the RedCat 71 for astrophotography you need a mount with a load capacity of at least 7kg due to its weight. The new iOptron mounts CEM26 or GEM28 are ideally suited for this.

Reckon you will soon be a “Cat” fan?

Discover the new RedCat 71 and William Optics’ ”Cat” series.

New additions to the MiniTrack family: the new LX Quattro NS

November 22 2021, Marcus Schenk

We’ve expanded our range and have welcomed a new member to the MiniTrack family: the MiniTrack LX Quattro NS. Unlike in most families, the new arrival is not the smallest member of the family, rather it is already fully grown. This means that our product developers were able to considerably improve the LX Quattro even more. But what exactly has changed?

MiniTrack, what is it?

The MiniTrack is a minute and fully mechanical travel mount (also known as an astrotracker) for astrophotography. You can use it to effortlessly produce images of the night sky. Cameras that are mounted on it follow the movement of the stars over a prolonged period. These photos often include the landscape of the night. This results in fascinatingly beautiful shots. It is also the perfect way to get into astrophotography.

 

 

The MiniTrack LX Quattro NS

LX Quattro stands for precision, increased power and a four-kilogram load capacity. The new MiniTrack combines all of this in one. Compared to the LX3, the load capacity is even higher. This means that you no longer need to avoid using your favourite lens, which was previously too heavy. Even with longer lenses, the MiniTrack takes things easily in its stride.

Tracking with the Quattro is extremely precise as a newly constructed needle bearing provides greatly improves this. This step was necessary to guarantee smooth tracking with heavy weights.

A brand new spring bar design provides better draft to move the load even more precisely. There is no longer any unilateral strain within the mechanical system. Yep, the Quattro simply has more oomph. An attractive side effect is that the MiniTrack is significantly more elegant and more user-friendly.

The MiniTrack LX Quattro is also a tracker for capturing the night sky using wide-angle and normal lenses. Anyone who has already gained a little experience can also treat themselves to a lightweight telephoto lens.

Overview of features:

  • 4kg load capacity for larger cameras or larger lenses
  • New and stronger spring system
  • Needle bearing for softer, precise movement
  • New, more stable CNC body – the Quattro should survive every night of observation with no scratches
  • Integrated Gp-style mounting as well as ¼“ und 3/8“ threads
  • Holiday anywhere now: usable beneath the northern and southern night skies.

You can find further information on the MiniTrack LX Quattro NS and its benefits on our product page. Furthermore,  this MiniTrack can be bought in a set with a ball head or with a ball head and polar wedge.

 

The other members of the MiniTrack family

What do you need to take beautiful photos? A MiniTrack alone is not quite enough. So we would like to introduce the other family members to you:

 

Omegon 32mm carbon tripod Thanks to the 32mm tripod legs, this tripod provides a sturdy foundation. Weighing only 2kg and with a length of 59cm, is it ideal for travel.

Stativ für die MiniTrack

Deluxe polar wedge: You can simply secure your Astrotracker to the tripod head. However, this is easier and more precise using a polar wedge. This enables you to precisely align the north celestial pole. The provides the benefit of providing a stable north orientation.

Polhöhenwiege Deluxe

Pole finder light: Being able to see the pole finder’s images in the night sky is a priceless advantage. At night you tend to have your hands full. It is good when you don’t need to use a lamp to complicatedly light up the polarscope. The pole finder light is convenient and evenly illuminates the images using a red LED.

Polsucherbeleuchtung MiniTrack

OM10 ball head Still don’t have a ball head? You need one to align your camera with areas of the night sky. The Omegon OM10 fits perfectly on the MiniTrack.

Kugelkopf für MiniTrack

MiniTrack LX3: The white version holds cameras up to 3kg in weight and contains an optical polarscope. To mount the LX3 on a polar wedge, you require the 55mm MiniPrismRails.

MiniTrack LX3

MiniTrack Essentials: Exceptionally good value and sufficient for getting started with wide-angle lenses. The MiniTrack Essentials contains a small polarscope that can be used to align the tracker with the Pole Star. This basic model can be upgraded at a later date.

MiniTrack Basis Version

Interested in taking your first images with the MiniTrack? You can find out how to do this in our step-by-step video “Astrophotos with the MiniTrack – a how-to guide”. Have fun observing and photographing.

Video: astrophotography with the Omegon MiniTrack

November 3 2021, Marcus Schenk

In this video, you will get to know the Omegon MiniTrack astrotracker. What equipment do you need for good landscape astrophotography? And what do you need to watch out for, adjust or activate once you’re outdoors?
We’ll take a step-by-step look at everything from set-up to capturing an image.
After the video, you’ll be ready to create your own beautiful pictures with the MiniTrack.

Hot off the press: we are also introducing the new MiniTrack LX Quattro!

Products used in the video:

Omegon MiniTrack LX3 mount set Product no.: 62037

Omegon MiniTrack LX Quattro NS mount Product no.: 69307

Omegon Deluxe polar wedge Product no.: 69370

Omegon Pro 32mm carbon tripod incl. ball head Product no.: 60251

Omegon polar finder light for MiniTrack LX 2 + 3 and EQ mounts with light unit Product no.: 69568

Omegon 55mm prism rail with screw Product no.: 64965

New version: the Polarie U star tracker mount from Vixen

October 28 2021, Stefan Taube

A few years ago, the Japanese manufacturer Vixen launched the Polarie, the first tracking unit for cameras that can fit in every photographer’s bag. The tracking device, also called a star tracker, compensates for the celestial rotation. With it, a camera remains aligned with a section of the night sky for many minutes, and can gather light from faint stars, the Milky Way and cosmic nebulae.

Vixen now offers a new version of its successful star tracker mount, the Polarie U Star Tracker.

Fotomontierung Vixen

Polarie U star tracker mount with camera and optional ball head

Compared to the classic Polarie, the new Polarie U is significantly lighter whilst at the same time having a higher load-bearing capacity. The distance between the two bearings supporting the rotating shaft is approximately four times that of its predecessor. This has led to a higher load-bearing capacity despite a 20% weight reduction. It can carry 2.5kg for wide-field astrophotography using lenses with a short focal length. The optional mounting accessories comprising a prism rail and counterweight can be used to increase the load capacity to 6.5kg, so that the star tracker mount can also carry cameras with large lenses.

In addition, the  Polarie U creates its own WLAN. You can connect your smartphone to the mount and control it using a free app. With a suitable cable release from the Polarie U accessory selection, you can also control the camera itself via the app, for example to set a series of exposures. This is not only convenient, but also very useful thanks to the hands-free operation.

The Polarie U can of course also be converted for use in the southern hemisphere. The lightweight mount is therefore ideal for your next expedition south of the equator.

POLARIE U Star Tracker Astrofoto-Montierung

New: Deluxe equatorial wedge for Omegon MiniTrack

August 27 2021, Marcus Schenk

Using the latest deluxe equatorial wedge, aligning the MiniTrack with the north celestial pole is easier than ever. The advantages? Spherical stars all night long.

How do you align your MiniTrack and other astrotrackers without an equatorial wedge? In theory, this is possible using a tripod head but the alignment and the fixed support sometimes resemble weather forecasting, in a word: uncertain. And yet, the photography session is meant to be a success.

The right tools for success

Thanks to the deluxe equatorial wedge, you can simply and precisely align your MiniTrack with the north celestial pole. It’s easy peasy lemon squeezy!
A robust locking mechanism provides permanent polar alignment, even when you are continuously focusing your camera on new targets.

In our set-up, we use an Omegon 32mm carbon tripod, the deluxe equatorial wedge and a MiniTrack 3 with pole finder.

Simple installation on any tripod

Using the 3/8 inch thread, you can attach the polar wedge to any camera tripod. To do so, you simply need a mini Vixen-style rail, such as the Omegon 55mm prism rail, which can be used with the MiniTrack. You can then connect and align your astrotracker easily.

Quality made in Portugal

The equatorial wedge is manufactured to the highest quality and consists of CNC components and stainless-steel screws. It is produced in small batches in Portugal and checked for quality.

The ideal addition to your MiniTrack: view the Omegon Deluxe equatorial wedge in the shop now.

Explore Scientific: Guidescope and finderscope in one

February 9 2021, Stefan Taube

Small telescopes which are mounted parallel to the telescope fulfil two purposes: as a finderscope, they help the observer to navigate the night sky, whilst as a guidescope, they help with the astronomical mount’s precise tracking.

Explore Scientific Guidescope 8x50 Helikal

Explore Scientific 8×50 helical guidescope

The manufacturer, Explore Scientific, has produced two models which superbly meet the requirements for both of these:

Both scopes are equipped with a removable eyepiece. Without this eyepiece, they can be used as a guidescope with a helical focuser. They use a guiding camera with a mating dimension of 1.25”. With the aid of the guide sleeve clips, the guidescope can be aligned to a guide star. The camera keeps this firmly in view and corrects minute mount errors using drive pulses.

Using the eyepiece, small telescopes are converted into high-quality finderscopes, producing images vastly superior to standard finderscopes. The eyepiece is fitted with an illuminated crosshair.

Abnehmbare Okulareinheit

Removable eyepiece

Thanks to this practical solution provided by Explore Scientific an auxiliary telescope is only required for different applications.