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Archive for 2018
New Smartphone Mount by Celestron: NexYZ
August 28 2018, Stefan Taube
The trend of using smartphone cameras for photography with optical instruments has remained steady. This is, of course, an obvious choice because everyone has this camera with them, ready to send pictures; and these cameras are always improving. The large range of smartphone mounts has been extended by Celestron, adding a very interesting model.
The Celestron NexYZ is not only particularly robust; it can be adjusted in all three axes using a rotary knob. This means you’ll be able to set the perfect distance between the eyepiece and the adapter. This feature, in combination with the ease, with which the smartphone can be changed, is interesting for public shots at observatories, because all visitors want to take their personal moon photo home with them.
The clamp of the NexYZ adapter is also wonderfully suited for use on spotting scopes.
With the NexYZ adapter, we are offering you a smartphone holder with the usual clever design by Celestron.
Observe the night sky with Celestron SkyMaster binoculars!
June 4 2018, Stefan Taube
For many observers is not a telescope, but rather a pair of binoculars that is used as the main optical instrument for exploring the night sky. That is, after all, only logical as real nature lovers are already equipped with binoculars.
Observing the night sky with the binoculars is more than just a compromise – binoculars, with their wide field of view and using both eyes, do have certain advantages over a telescope. And as binoculars are always close at hand in the truest sense of the expression, they follow the golden rule of observing the night sky – the best optical instruments are the ones that are used the most.
The SkyMaster series from the American brand Celestron are extremely popular binoculars often chosen for astronomical observing. These astronautically optimized binoculars offer a generous aperture at a great price.
For successfully getting started observing the night sky with binoculars we recommend the SkyMaster 15×70 SkySurfer set. You get it for the very affordable set price of only 133 Euros!
In addition to the binoculars, you also receive a SkySurfer III red-dot finder from Baader, which will help you to orientate yourself in the night sky. The red dot finder projects a red dot onto a transparent window. This lets you see which part of the night sky the binoculars are pointing at and lets you orient yourself using a star chart.
The set also includes is the particularly sturdy Stronghold-Bino tripod adapter from Baader. Unlike the usual adapters made of plastic or aluminium this adapter is made of steel, ensuring that your binoculars are held really firmly and safely on the tripod.
This offer is valid until August 31, 2018. And if you buy the Celestron SkyMaster 15×70 SkySurfer Binoculars set before 27.07.2018, you will be able to observe the lunar eclipse on this date. So make sure you grab yours in time!
Solarquest, the new mount by Skywatcher for observing the sun
April 19 2018, Marcus Schenk
Adjusting your telescope while observing the sun is not as easy as you might at first think. The telescope should, of course, already be oriented towards the sun using a sun filter before setting up. When attempting to orient the telescope towards the sun, you can quickly become careless and peer without eye protection through the telescope at the blazing sun. Help is at hand here with the solar finder or the new Solarquest mount by Skywatcher.
The Solarquest mount has GPS, an automatic level and an electronic solar finder, Heliofind®. You only have to fit the mount. After a short initialisation, the mount moves by itself to the sun. But, of course, the Solarquest can do more than that: The mount guides the telescope as the sun moves across the sky, so that it is always in line with the eyepiece or camera sensor. This precise tracking can also be done via the built-in Heliofind® finder.
Of course, you can also correct the orientation of the mount by hand, for example, if you are working with greater magnification, and would like to move to a specific place on the solar disc. To do this, there is a slider button on the mount so you can guide the movement yourself.
The azimuthal single arm mount, Solarquest, can hold small optics weighing up to four kilos, making it especially light and quiet. The Solarquest, in combination with a small sun telescope, forms an easy-to-transport system that is quick to set up – that is both particularly comfortable on your balcony at home and ideal for travel or for training purposes.
You can also place a small refractor on the Solarquest and fit a sun filter to it. In combination with a QUARK by DayStar, it is even possible to observe in H-alpha or Calcium-H light. You can even use it for night astronomy without a sun filter using the Solarquest mount. The Solarquest mount becomes a part of your versatile system for night observation.