Brand New Astrophotography Book Has Arrived!

Something else which has just arrived here for review - Is this amazing, brand-new, 3rd Edition book: 

The Astrophotography Manual 

A Practical and Scientific Approach to Deep Sky Imaging

The book hasn't been released yet

(soon!) So, it's very exciting!

Well, I've had 3+ straight weeks of snow, rain, and clouds here. And finally had my first clear night this week. Still haven't had too many opportunities to test The AM3 Harmonic Drive Mount yet; but the 2-Part review is in progress...

And Part 1 of 2 will be coming up next.

Soon, I will add a pic to this post - Of how my rig is coming along:

Still more to do…

For now, here's the latest shots from my Seestar S50:

The Monkey Head nebula, 31 Minutes, very minor post processing on iPhone

M3 - Almost no post processing

Only 8 Minutes!

Until next time,

Clear Skies!

The AM3 Harmonic Equatorial Mount from ZWO - Arrival and First Impressions

The AM3 Harmonic Mount from ZWO - First Impressions

AM3 stands for Asi Mount 3 represents the model # (3 for the smaller model, 5 for the larger).

The AM3 Mount & TC40 Tripod arrived very quickly (in only a few days) to me; in (upstate) New York. I was happy to learn that ZWO has a US location, which isn't very far from me at all! Since I don't have a tripod which would be worthy of holding this amazing AM3 Mount: I requested the loan of ZWO's TC40 carbon fiber Tripod as well.

Happy Day!

This was so exciting! That I had to share my "first look" at the boxes!

Beginning to remove The TC40 from it's shipping box.

Each piece of equipment arrived double-boxed, and in perfect condition. 

Regarding The TC40 carbon fiber Tripod: When I first learned the retail price of this tripod; I was taken aback a bit. However, after having hands-on experience with it:

I realized it is truly amazing. It is a very well-designed, carbon fiber tripod, and is very sturdy! While being very lightweight at the same time. It's easy to set-up and fold-up for transport - Both for temporary transport: from one observing spot to another (when you move 5 to 10 meters); as well as more "permanent" relocation: Such as from one city or town to another! It's simply a pleasure to use; and it's obviously the perfect match (in fit & finish) when coupled with either an AM3 or AM5 Mount.

The legs only extend one length, so the tripod doesn’t sit very high, when at maximum extension. I found it to be perfect for my needs, although some people might prefer a taller tripod.

When moving from one observing spot to another (just a few meters, for instance), I can lift and move it very easily. Try that with a typical mount! Try that with a large SkyWatcher mount...You may end up getting tripped-up! They are very awkward and heavy to move - even if only a few meters! High Point Scientific also has them in stock.

I remember reading many good things about The AM3 / AM5 Mounts, from fellow hobbyists on The Cloudy Nights Forum. They have always been highly regarded; and frequently recommended as excellent astrophotography mounts. Especially for users of medium to large refractors; as well as those seeking a grab and go mount for visual observing!

Can you recall anyone ever recommending one of the larger/bulky GoTo mounts for visual users? Me either. I think it says a lot about the value and utility of these mounts from ZWO. Even though there seem to be differing opinions, regarding it's suitability for visual-only users. 

I've come across forum posts, where some say it's not a good choice for visual use. Well, I've used it as a visual-only mount, with my Astro Tech 80EDT refractor, and it served the purpose well.

So, as part of my evaluation and testing: I used The AM3 for visual observing only, for several nights. I found it to be be very comfortable and intuitive to use. I used all of the basic/default settings; and became very familiar, and comfortable with the scope's movements in relation to the joystick control.

Coming up next, will be Part 1 of a 2-Part full Review of The AM3 Mount...

Until next time,

Clear skies!

How Affordable Smart Telescopes Are Changing The Hobby (Part 2 of 2)

Continued from a previous Post - How Affordable Smart Telescopes Are Changing The Hobby (Part 1 of 2)

So… I was thinking of buying this telescope for a while… if you click on that link, it will bring you to the Amazon page where I ordered it. 

I actually had this 6 inch Dobsonian reflector, on my Amazon Wish List… Then out of nowhere, the price dropped by $70 - so I got it.

Collimating The SkyWatcher Virtuoso 6” Dob

I surprised myself, with how easily and accurately I was able to get it’s mirror perfectly collimated; and also get the red dot finder zeroed in. It’s been so long since I set up a telescope (almost 2 years). Yet, I felt as though I could do it in my sleep; or on autopilot, without even thinking about it.

Not the best Pic... I was just fooling around basically: I simply held my iPhone up to the 25mm eyepiece. This was taken through a double pane glass window

So the reason why I wanted this SkyWatcher scope, was so that I could do Astrophotography of planetary nebulae (and other DSO's) - using a dedicated ZWO Astro (CMOS) camera.
There are one or two people on YouTube and Instagram, using this same scope to get nice Astrophotos of small, deep sky objects - So I wanted to get it...
It’s my first computerized, “GoTo“ scope. Luckily, you can use it as an old-fashioned, point-it-yourself, telescope as well. 

I eventually did that, because I was losing patience with its GoTo system’s alignment process. The GoTo alignment application didn’t give any confirmation/feedback on whether or not it was successfully aligned, etc. So I found it a little confusing at the time. Pointing wasn't exactly spot on.

So, there’s a perfect illustration of how these new smart telescopes have really spoiled me! Did you ever stop to consider, how accurately these smart scopes are at centering objects? They never miss!

Well, in any case, it’s been sent back: because, I feel like I was somehow “going backwards” with no good reason to do so.

That is not to say, that I am through with visual astronomy, and observing. No way. 

I’ve always had a great appreciation for vintage optical instruments, especially microscopes and telescopes. 

In the case of microscopes, I consider myself at the intermediate level of experience - In restoring vintage microscopes; I have successfully restored dozens of them. 

This was the last vintage microscope I restored (and sold). It was equipped with the legendary Heine Condenser.

Here’s my latest project, a slightly more modern fluorescence microscope. I have equipped this microscope with a blue UV LED for its fluorescence light source.

This one recently sold on eBay

(needed to raise funds for astrophotography equipment).

During this past Autumn (October and November 2023): I was actively seeking vintage telescopes to restore and use!

Restoring and using classic, vintage telescopes, could be considered a hobby all by itself. There’s the challenge of finding a working, and/or restorable instrument. As well as the appreciation of its craftsmanship, optical performance, and history.

Well, back to the SkyWatcher 6 inch Virtuoso GTi Dobsonian. I set up the scope, and decided to just do some casual observing with it. The targets, were, of course, my favorite: Deep sky objects. 

I set the scope up on top of a sturdy, glass top, outdoor table on the deck. What I found out right away, was that it was difficult to look through the eyepiece whenever I had the scope pointed above about 45°. 

It got a bit worse when trying to observe DSO‘s closer to the Zenith: I had to stand on my tiptoes, in most cases.

So, it was quickly becoming less, and less fun. That’s when I decided to go and grab one of the smart telescopes. I believe it was the Seestar S50; and I simply set it up, alongside the scope on the same table. Of course, I had to be careful not to touch or move the scope; or touch the table at all basically – or the images being taken by the smart telescope, would be ruined due to the minor vibrations, completely messing up the stars/image, etc. 

However, it was an experience which quickly made me appreciate (once again!) the convenience and value of owning a smart telescope! 

I also found, that I was not happy with the images being produced by the two low cost eyepieces, which were included with the Skywatcher. I mostly used the 25mm EP; then switched to the 10mm EP, after centering the scope on M57 (The Ring Nebula) for example. 

I did get to see a fairly large scale image of The Ring Nebula. Which was somewhat reminiscent of the views I used to get with my 8 inch Dobsonian - not quite, of course!  But again, I did enjoy seeing The Ring Nebula at a much larger image scale. It happens to be one of the things that are lacking, when it comes to the affordable, smart telescopes: The ability to get close-up looks at the DSO‘s of interest.

Just to reiterate, and to make a long story short: The ultimate plan, was to image DSO’s using this 6 inch Skywatcher GoTo Dobsonian - and a dedicated ZWO Astro camera. I’ve seen one or two hobbyists doing the same thing (via Instagram posts). And, let’s not forget Tiago from Dobsonian Power! He does it all the time, of course – and very, very successfully! 

I decided that I wanted to give it one more try. So, I went ahead and ordered a Skywatcher virtuoso 150P GTi from a large/well-known telescope dealer. 

When the scope arrived, I could hardly believe that UPS was even able to deliver it: the outer and inner box were almost completely ripped in half! 

As if that wasn’t bad enough, when I took the scope out, set it up, and tried to use it: it didn’t work! 

It seemed that the Wi-Fi was defective. I was unable to connect to it using any device I tried (and I tried several). The icing on the cake, was when I went to carefully box it back up for a return – I had to do my best repairing, both outer and inner boxes, which again, were almost in two separate pieces. 

When I went to remove some of the original UPS labels: I saw that underneath, was the name and address of the previous customer who was sent this telescope! Yes, pretty awful, I know. 

So it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out, that this telescope was sent to some other customer, who then returned it for whatever reasons, and then the dealer just sent it back out to the next unsuspecting sucker: me. 

That is the kind of stuff you would expect from a small “Mom and Pop” shop, but not a large, well-known telescope dealer. Needless to say, I won’t ever order from them again. No, I'm not gonna reveal which dealer it was (not now, anyway).

So I was pretty bummed out for a while that things didn’t go my way – and that it didn’t work out for me.

In my case, the plan was for my dedicated camera to be the ASI178MC. 

However, I got frustrated enough not having the ZWO camera here yet… that I simply boxed it back up and returned it to Amazon.

The ASI178MC did finally get ordered, and is here now. However, it’s now attached to the back of an Astro Tech 80EDT  apochromatic (triplet) refractor! 

So, I am going to finally try to do some Astrophotography, using a dedicated Astro/CMOS camera. 

Well, there will be a lot more details and information on how that project is coming along in my next post. It’s coming along very nicely!

Until then, clear skies!

How Affordable Smart Telescopes Are Changing The Hobby Part 1 of 2

There are some interesting factors to note, about the new, affordable, smart telescopes; and their huge impact on amateur astronomers.

Of course, I’m referring here to The Dwarf 2, and The Seestar S50. These are the two affordable, smart telescopes, which are quite impressive (and affordable!).

It’s quite obvious how welcomed, and useful they are, to experienced Astrophotographers. As I’ve written before, I believe those who have done (or even tried) conventional Astrophotography, will be the ones who appreciate these telescopes the most!

However, there are certain (possibly unexpected) results/outcomes due to the release, and availability of these adorable devices:

• Their simplicity and ease of use, will get folks trying Astrophotography – who might otherwise had never had even considered it. ✔ *Note: This is a confirmed fact - as per the myriad of posts on social media!
• They will be instrumental, in getting visual only astronomers to finally give Astrophotography a chance! ✔ *I've been seeing this too!
• They are sure to get many of those who have left the hobby of Astrophotography back into it. Like me! I'm getting back into AP again!
• I am sure they will also be responsible, for many beginner-level astrophotographers getting involved in conventional/traditional Astrophotography. ✔ Yep!
• And last, but not least, I believe they will get people interested in astronomy, who had never even considered it before. Due to the sheer ease of use of these devices! ✔ Yes! I've seen this too!

Of course, I’ve been involved in visual astronomy for a relatively long time. Once, a long time ago, I figured-out which hobby I'd spent the most money on...And it was astronomy! (visual, at the time). So I figured, it must be the hobby I love most? lol!

This was followed by my foray into conventional Astrophotography. As was mentioned in my story (see this page on Dwarf Labs). In my case, I left the hobby of Astrophotography several times over the years. And again, in my experience, it was my unwillingness to spend so much time in front of a laptop screen, post processing images.

However, there are a multitude of reasons, and many different steps required to complete the final processing of an astrophoto; which some individuals may not be fond of.

For some, it might be the polar alignment of a traditional rig. For someone else, it might be the time required, waiting for the stacking of images to complete. For another, it might be the investment in software, typically required for an Astrophotographer (to get really nice results). Or, the fact that non-image frames need to be taken and organized (darks, biases, flats, etc.). For others, it may simply be the overall expense of the hobby. Who can say?

Everyone is a unique individual, and there can be many reasons why some people avoid conventional Astrophotography. Although generally speaking, these same folks, would really enjoy capturing their own photographs of deep sky objects! - if somehow, it could be done more easily…

And, of course, just so that I don’t leave anyone out – we are aware of many astrophotographers, who still enjoy conventional/traditional Astrophotography as a hobby. Many of these folks still wouldn’t give serious consideration to these new, affordable, smart telescopes. Some of them may tenaciously cling to traditional astrophotography, and might not even consider using a smart telescope, no matter how advanced. And, of course, that’s totally fine too – more power to them. There should be some people still keeping the fine art of traditional astrophotography alive…

I’ll use myself as an example. I’m happy to report, that I own both The Dwarf 2, and The Seestar S50 smart telescopes. I also own several pairs of binoculars, and telescopes for visual observing of deep sky objects (in my case). One of the last things I was involved with, before taking a short break from the hobby – was sketching deep sky objects; using binoculars.

Deciding to buy these smart telescopes was extremely easy for me. As I’m sure it is for many people interested in, or involved in, the hobby of amateur astronomy. So in my particular case, owning and using these remarkable smart telescopes, eventually led me to becoming fully immersed in the hobby again.

I should take this opportunity to remind the reader, that many objects still look very good when observed with optical instruments (visual observing). 

Deep Sky Objects like:

• Open clusters
• Globular clusters
• Large/bright nebulae 
• Planetary nebulae 
• Certain galaxies 

Well, in my case, owning these smart telescopes jump-started my interest in ALL things astronomy-related: Visual, sketching, and...conventional astrophotography!

I've spent the better part of last week, scouring the Web: Trying to figure out which combination of scope + mount + camera to get! 

So, if it's happened to me - there's a good chance it'll happen to many others.

In any case: Suffice it to say, that anything which helps to promote the hobby of amateur astronomy is a good thing!

As it turns out, I'm very happy to report - that I've been given the opportunity to test and write a detailed review of The AM3 Harmonic Drive Mount by ZWO!

Just look at that engraving! See, I love what some might consider the "little touches" or "minor things" I think it looks very classy...

I'm super-excited about it - and I've been busy making preparations, and adding accessories to my Astro Tech 80mm EDT refractor! 

I've purchased: A Guide Scope, Guide Camera, Field Flattener/Reducer (which is a must). I thought about some applications...but you know what? You can do a lot with the free Apps from ZWO! ...And N.I.N.A (which is also free). I did buy a full license for SharpCap and StellarMate.

There has been a lot of red items added to this scope (pics coming soon)…

Thank you, to my friend Scott, for giving me a great deal on this Astro Tech 80mm EDT refractor and Twilight mount! As you can see, it's set-up for visual; this was soon after unboxing. Sky conditions weren't very good, but I did take a quick look at M45; using a vintage, Edmund Scientific 28mm RKE eyepiece. Also a look at Jupiter and it's moons, with an 8mm Edmund RKE eyepiece - And it looked wonderful. Clear and crisp, with excellent color rendition. However, this is going to be my main imaging scope as well! 

In the upcoming Part 2 of this post, I will discuss my experience (in more detail) of exactly what it was like, to have a brand-new GoTo reflector in use, whilst having access to both of these smart telescopes! This was The Sky Watcher 150P GTi Virtuoso, purchased from Amazon (they had a sale).

Very interesting indeed…

Don't forget: In the not-too-distant future, I'll be testing and writing a detailed review of The AM3 Harmonic Mount, which is here on loan from ZWO. It functions as both an equatorial or alt-azimuth, user-selected. Absolutely fascinating mount!

Until next time, clear & steady skies!

The Next Upcoming Product Review: The AM3 Harmonic Mount from ZWO!

Just a quick update (for now) I wanted to let you know, that I will be testing, and writing a full review - of one of ZWO’s most amazing recent products: 

The AM3 Harmonic Mount for Astrophotography!

They’re even available in a special, Red Cat Limited Edition!

High Point Scientific also has them in stock.

This is really exciting, cutting-edge, Astrophotography gear!

I’m really looking forward to it! 

Much more to follow soon! 

Note: ZWO has recently released updated firmware & software for The Seestar S50 (smart telescope) giving it some amazing new features and capabilities!

Detailed posts coming soon! Until then,

Clear Skies!