Smart Telescope

In recent years smart telescopes have become available. These are electronic devices, not resembling the optical tubes we associate with astronomy. They do not have the wide aperture or quality of optics that traditional telescopes possess, yet have benefits which make astrophotography much simpler. It is not necessary to know exactly the position of the south celestial pole to track the sky, or the location of any deep sky objects to photograph them. The computers which operate the telescopes store a record of the entire sky's stars enabling them to use plate solving to find any spot and track it as the Earth turns. Although not a replacement for a dedicated astrophotography rig, they provide quick pictures for anyone interested in taking photos without needing to learn how to navigate the night sky.
The following six photographs were taken with a Dwarf II smart telescope in Spring 2023, and processed using Siril.

The Dumbbell Nebula on the left was the first planetary nebula discovered. On the right is the Swan Nebula, easily recognised by the bright swan at the top left.

Below are the Eagle Nebula on the left, and Barnard's Galaxy on the right.

This is the Wild Duck Cluster. A group of stars which are said to resemble a flock of birds on the wing. It is high in the September sky.

The Large Magellanic Cloud is full of nebulae and star clusters. This strip through the cloud shows the Tarantula Nebula at lower right, and various clusters.

SMART TELESCOPE

ZWO SEESTAR S50

All the remaining photographs on this page were taken with a ZWO Seestar S50. They were made during November 2023.

On the left is 47 Tucanae, a bright globular cluster in the southern sky. At right is the Small Magellanic Cloud. At the bottom right is 47 Tucanae again, just two and a half degrees away.

Below is NGC1966, an open cluster of stars in Dorado. On the right is the Helix Nebula, one of the brightest planetary nebulae in the sky.

This photo is the middle of the Large Magellanic Cloud, the Tarantula nebula being the biggest visible in the shot. This shows the whole field of the Seestar. If a larger area is preferred, the smartscope can be set to take a mosaic, the individual shots being partially overlapped to cover a much bigger area of the sky.

Each of these astrophotographs was taken over a different time period, from a few minutes to three and a half hours for the Large Magellanic Cloud just above. Some were post-processed in Siril or Photoshop if it looked necessary, or not processed at all after the smart telescope had stacked them. For these reasons it is not possible to judge which instrument is better. Spending much more time collecting images and post-processing them would improve the results in all cases. There are several videos on YouTube describing and comparing these smart telescopes in detail, for example https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UE0ghSDTYrY&ab

The Dwarf II is no longer available, it has been replaced by a Dwarf III which is an improved model. Likewise, there is a Seestar S30 which is smaller and lighter than the Seestar S50, with improvements.

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