What is this black magic?
This thing arrived yesterday, so I charged it up, and took it for a test spin. It charges via USB, and it takes a very long time, so by the time it was ready the Sun was just about setting behind the trees. The set up consisted of levelling the tripod, and then attaching the imaging head followed by a compass calibration. Then I attached the included solar filter, and the machine basically did the rest.
Solar Imaging
Deep Sky Imaging
I didn’t have a chance to put a wedge on the tripod, so the following images are composed of 10 second subs in alt-az. These were all shot from the city under a streetlight in the shade of a tree to block out the worst of the light. The SQM was a brutal 15.5. Any exposure greater than 10 seconds were getting star trails. All processing was done automatically in the telescope. Not bad for very little data. No doubt greater integration time, and processing will achieve excellent results.
Field of View Comparison
Showing the ridiculous conditions the images were captured under… You can almost read a newspaper out there.
At some point I’ll get it working in equatorial mode, and push the subs to the maximum exposure time of 30 seconds. I should probably read the manual at some point too, but this will be great for taking up north when I don’t want to haul out the 9.25″ which is pretty much every time.
Setup literally takes minutes instead of hours, and doesn’t require having someone hold in your hernia while attaching your OTA to the mount.
Is it cheating?
Yes
Is it a toy?
Probably
Is it awesome?
Absolutely
Pros
Lightweight, easy to setup… basically no work at all. So far pretty amazing results.
Cons
You don’t get to look through a telescope. Having said that, it can image while you’re observing.
Conclusion
In conclusion the Seestar S50 is a land of contrasts. Thank you.