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Archive for 2023

ZEISS cashback campaign: Up to €450 back on your new binoculars

December 4 2023, Stefan Rieger

ZEISS CashbackHave you been thinking of buying a new pair of ZEISS binoculars for some time, or would you like to offer one as a Christmas present? ZEISS and us will make the decision a little easier for you.

ZEISS will refund you up to €450 after your purchase, depending on the model:

Here you can find more information about the campaign, eligible countries (sorry, the offer does not apply to sales to the UK) and here you can register your binoculars!

Take advantage of this promotion between 01.12.2023 and 29.02.2024 and get your money back from ZEISS!

Infographic: Astro highlights in winter 2023/24

December 1 2023, Marcus Schenk

The Winter of 2023 gives us some exciting astronomical events that should not be missed. Among these is the Geminid meteor shower that is best to behold under a dark sky, good visibility of a dwarf planet, or interesting interactions between the delicate crescent Moon and the planets. Even  cold weather cannot stop us from taking a look at the night sky. One thing we know for sure: It will be fantastic!

This infographic shows you astronomical events for the upcoming months of December, January and February.

You will find accompanying texts below the graphic. Enjoy the observations!

 

Events in December 2023:

December 9: Moon meets Venus
On December 9 there will be a meeting between the Moon and the bright Venus. This encounter takes place in the early morning hours before sunrise. Both celestial bodies are visible on a horizontal plane. The Moon appears as a thin crescent disk, illuminated only by 14%.

December 14: Geminids
A beautiful astronomical event this month is the Geminid meteor shower. It is a meteor stream that can be seen in the night sky every December. The Geminids are named after the constellation Gemini, from which they appear to come. This year the peak of the meteor shower is expected to be reached in the night of December 13-14, so right in the middle of the month.

December 17: Moon meets Saturn
The thin, but growing Moon meets the planet Saturn on the night of December 17. Compared to its opposition in August 2023, its apparent diameter is much smaller, measuring only 16 arcseconds. Nevertheless, observing it through a telescope is always an impressive experience, especially for beginners. The ringed planet is hard to be missed in its splendor, even though being outside of its best observation period.

December 21: Vesta in opposition
Dwarf planets lead an inconspicious “life”, as they usually stand in the shadow of their larger and more radiant siblings, the planets. Nevertheless, they belong to the extended family of the Solar System. Their observation may not be as spectacular, but on December 21 there is an interesting exception: The dwarf planet Vesta is in opposition and reaches a brightness of 6.4 mag. You can easily find Vesta with binoculars in the Orion region. It is important to use a star chart for this beautiful astronomical event, so that you don’t mistake Vesta for a star.

December 22: Moon meets Jupiter
Tonight the Moon approaches the planet Jupiter and passes by at a distance of only 2.5 degrees. Throughout the night both celestial bodies move away from each other. Therefore, we recommend starting the observation at the beginning of dawn.

 

Events in January 2024:

January 3: Quadrantids
Not only August offers meteor streams, also January has impressive astronomical events to see. The “Quadrantids” are a meteor shower that appears to come from the constellation of Bootes. In the night of January 3 it reaches its maximum and theoretically you can see up to 120 meteors per hour. However, this is a theoretical value that is significantly smaller in practice. Nevertheless, this astro event is a wonderful experience.

January 5: Moon meets Spica
In January the Winter constellations dominate the sky and shine brightly above our heads. The star Spica reminds us more of Spring, but that is still a while away. Therefore, we have to wait a few more hours, because Spica and the crescent Moon only appear in the middle of the second half of the night above the horizon.

January 9: Moon meets Venus and Mercury
Clear sky and a visible horizon? Then take advantage of the dawn for a quick observation or a mood photo. In the Southeast the two inner planets Mercury and Venus are united with the thin crescent Moon. With or even without any equipment, every stargazer should take advantage of this opportunity.

January 14: Moon meets Saturn
A 3.5-day-old crescent Moon and a clear horizon – always a beautiful sight. But what do we discover nearby? Saturn. The ringed planet is about 3 degrees westward and shines with a brightness comparable to the brightest stars in the sky. How about an observation session of the world of Deep-Sky objects after the Moon has set? The weekend is definitely a good time for that.

January 18: Moon meets Jupiter
The path called the Ecliptic takes the Moon past the planet Jupiter, the brightest celestial body in the current sky, surpassed only by the Moon. Both objects are currently located in Aries. The constellation is rather inconspicious, as it consists of only four rather faint stars.

January 20: Moon meets Pleiades
A few days after the Half-Moon, the Moon meets the Pleiades – the famous Seven Sisters. They have always played an important role in antiquity and in mythology. It is the most prominent open star cluster that we can perceive with the naked eye. It consists of several hundred up to 1000 stars and is located at a distance of about 400 light-years. On photos the Pleiades are surrounded by blueish reflection nebulae, which give them a particularly aesthetic appearance.

January 27: Moon meets Regulus
On January 27 the Moon meets the star Regulus in the constellation of Leo. Regulus is a star with a fast self-rotation of over 300 km/s, which is why it has a flattened shape. Furthermore, it is a multiple system consisting of four components. Due to its position in the Ecliptic, it repeatedly happens that it is occulted by the Moon.

Events in February 2024:

February 1: Moon meets Spica
On the first day of February the Moon meets the star Spica. The star is one of the 20 brightest ones in the entire night sky and shines about 2000 times brighter than our Sun. Unlike our home star, Spica is relatively young – with an age of only 10 million years. Well, that just shows that age is relative.

February 7: Moon meets Venus
Shortly before sunrise we can observe an impressively beautiful constellation that almost takes place in the daytime sky. Early in the morning the Moon and the bright Venus meet. Our neighboring planet is now retreating from the morning sky after having faithfully accompanied us every morning for months. In the coming months it will be in conjunction with the Sun and will not re-appear before the evening sky in September.

February 15: Moon meets Jupiter
In the evening hours Jupiter and the Moon shine above our heads. As they are the brightest objects in the sky, the event immediately catches our attention. Both disappear below the Western horizon around midnight.

February 16: Moon meets Pleiades
On February 16 the Moon joins the Pleiades and crosses the Golden Gate of the Ecliptic on its further path. The Golden Gate is not an object, but an asterism in the sky.

SEGA: The Planetarium for your home

December 1 2023, Stefan Taube

The special gift idea: Bring the stars into your Christmas home for you and your loved ones. The home planetariums from SEGA are the best choice here!

SEGA offers three models:

All variants have useful features, such as a timer and switchable shooting stars.

You can upgrade any SEGA home planetarium with additional high-quality slides. This means you can always new exciting patterns with Astronomy and other topics.

You can find all SEGA planetariums here in the shop. Additional slides are available under the brand names SEGA Toys, Astrial and Redmark.

GEM45 – save now in our clearance sale!

November 9 2023, Jan Ströher

From 1st to 30th November (inclusive) we are offering iOptron’s GEM45 mount in our clearance sale for amazing prices. This mount is available in four different versionsGEM45G GoTo LiteRocGEM45 GoTo LiteRoc with carry caseGEM45-EC GoTo LiteRoc and, the basic version, the GEM45 GoTo LiteRoc.

The iOptron GEM45 is the next generation equatorial mount ! Due to its functionality and technology, it is a first-class, medium-sized mount.

iOptron GEM45 with LiteRoc tripod

The GEM45 is not just a pretty face…

The mount has a compact design and an extremely good weight-to-load ratio – the 7 kilogram mount can precisely and securely carry a load of up to 20 kilograms! With its built-in electronic polarscope (iPolar) correctly aligning the mount (polar alignment) is child’s play – even if the Pole Star is not visible. Thanks to their large clamping levers, the gears can also be easily loosened or tightened even when wearing gloves. Internal cable management prevents tangled cables or cables being torn out. The universal self-centring mounting saddle takes both Losmandy-style and Vixen-style dovetail rails. The mount uses a reliable stepper motor drive system with low energy consumption and a database of over 212,000 objects. The integrated GPS, as well as the large hand controls with optional WiFi, provide additional comfort.

You can only secure this excellent mount, providing you with decades of fun and reliability, at this amazing price during our clearance sale!

This offer is only valid on qualifying items from 01/11/2023 to 30/11/2023 and as long as stocks last!

Special winter offer: discounts on Nikon Prostaff P3 and Monarch M7 series of binoculars

November 8 2023, Stefan Rieger

Take advantage of Nikon’s winter discount which runs from 27.10.2023 to 29.01.2024. On selected binoculars in the Prostaff P3 and Monarch M7 series you will receive a discount of €30 or even €60!

The details:

This discount has already been deducted from the listed price.

So no matter whether you are buying binoculars for yourself or as a gift this Christmas, you can take advantage of this promotion, which is valid until 29.01.2024!

Special offer: up to 25% discount on thermal imaging cameras and clip-ons from ZEISS

November 8 2023, Stefan Rieger

ZEISS Wärmebildkameras DTI 6

Just in time for the long winter nights, ZEISS has lowered their recommended retail price on some thermal imaging cameras and clip-ons. Now you can really improve your chances of bagging your prey at dusk!

The following products are currently on special offer: ZEISS DTI 6/40 and DTI 6/20 thermal imaging cameras and the DTC 3/25 and DTC 3/38 clip-ons.

ZEISS Wärmebild-Vorsatzgeräte DTC 3

These price reductions are valid until 31.12.2023! Don’t miss this opportunity to save up to 25% compared to the former recommended retail prices.

Order the new version of the OCAL collimator now!

October 18 2023, Stefan Taube

The OCAL PRO collimator has revolutionised  precision collimation of reflector telescopes since its introduction in 2021! Now you can get an improved version of the collimator: OCAL V3.0 electronic collimator

Transportation and general usage can cause telescopes to lose their collimation. This is because the scopes’ primary and secondary mirrors shift position. The instrument can no longer show off its capabilities. An abundance of collimation accessories help to redress this.

The OCAL V3.0 uses a camera for this. This makes it unbeatably precise.

The OCAL V3.0 has an entirely new design:

  • Inside, it has an in-built, light-sensitive CMOS sensor. This makes collimation easier in poor light conditions.
  • Exposure time is also now only 1/20, compared to previous models.
  • The OCAL V3.0 has a much bigger lens than both of its predecessors.
  • The new OCAL V3.0 can achieve considerably higher resolutions. This makes images clearer, even in critical conditions and improves the precision of the results.
  • The new version comes with different adaptors.

You can find further information, price and purchase options using the following link: OCAL V3.0

Unistellar smart telescopes now with a free solar filter and backpack!

October 17 2023, Jan Ströher

The manufacturer Unistellar is running a special promotion until 05 November, in which its eQuinox 2 and eVscope 2 smart telescopes are being offered with a free solar filter and backpack.

With every purchase of one of the two models, you will get a solar filter worth €249 and a matching backpack worth € 359 completely free!

eVscope 2 and eQuinox 2 on special offer

This promotion is only valid for the above-mentioned Unistellar models and finishes on 05 November 2023.

Special offer: thermal cameras for bargain hunters, save over 25%!

October 6 2023, Stefan Rieger

You can choose between the entry-level Thermalfox model, the Thermalfox Wi-Fi which features Wi-Fi connectivity, and the LCD screen which is suitable for both devices.

This offer is not only aimed at hunters. I also find it can be extremely helpful to use a thermal imaging camera when nature-watching to detect birds or other animals based on their thermal signature before locating and identifying them with binoculars or a spotting scope. The LCD screen is especially useful for finding birds in trees, or for nocturnal rabbit and hare counts.

Omegon Thermalfox mit optinalem LCD-Screen

So be as smart as a fox and bag a quick bargain! Save more than 25%

This offer is only valid while stocks last.

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