A great piece of lunar art This booklet is a true work of art that every lunar observer should own. On 48 pages it features 16 lunar mare, all illustrated with wonderful drawings made by a skilled visual observer. Even if you can‘t read the French text the atlas is a nice resource to browse through. Read more…
Recommended beginner scopes We often hear the question: „Which telescope should I buy?“. Well, there are a lot of options and it highly depends on what you want to observe, where you will observe from and how much you want to spend. Here are two instruments we know in depth from first-hand experience. Read more…
Small DIY wedge Many small telescopes come with a simple alt-az mount. Most common geared photographic tripod heads also use the alt-az design. By pointing the vertical axis of such a mount or tripod head at the celestial pole, it is easy to convert it into a simple German Equatorial. Read more…
Kasai linear binoviewer review Contrary to other binos, with the Kasai linear binoviewer no path corrector or Barlow lens is necessary to get into focus. In our opinion the linear binoviewer is a valuable and well-designed tool, not for high-power planetary observations, but for low- and medium-power widefield stargazing with Newtonians and refractors. Read more…
A stand for small Dobsonians The Skywatcher Heritage 130P is a great all-purpose instrument, easy to set up and operate but still providing a nice resolution and light-gathering power. But there is one inconvenience that comes with this scope: the eyepiece is always at the wrong height. Our solution is a low-profile stand made from beech wood. Read more…
Solid tripod support on soil To get a flat and stable ground to put tripod legs on, we found the plastic pegs for securing weed membranes very helpful. They are easily availabe in most garden centers or home improvement stores. Of course, you can also use them in your backyard, since they are unobtrusive and lawn mower safe. Read more…
Free planispheres by Jan Tošovský Fellow Czech astronomy enthusiast Jan Tošovský provides an outstanding web application for generating customized planispheres. You simply start the application in your web browser, set your geographic latitude and the program automatically generates the print files for your cardboard planisphere. Read more…
Omegon Mini Track LX2 review The Mini Track LX2 is a small camera tracker that provides 60 minutes of tracking time. It was developed by Italian astrophotographer Christian Fattinnanzi and is distributed by Omegon. The device stands out among the other available sky trackers, since it is driven by a mechanical clock that needs no electrical power source. Read more…
Simple aids for watching the full moon Take a look at the full moon and you might be surprised how many details you can see without a telescope. If you look closely, a good dozen of the dark seas and a handful of craters are visible to the unaided eye. There are easy ways to take the full moon experience one step further without having to revert to optical equipment such as binoculars or telescopes. Read more…
Bresser WiFi Camera 1.3MP The Bresser WiFi Camera 1.3MP is a lunar and planetary imaging cam controlled via WiFi. This highly affordable cam is a very nice tool for beginners who own a small telescope and want to give astrophotography a try. Rookies will especially benefit from the integrated 0.36x focal reducer that produces a large field of view. Read more…
Astro light pictograms People not familiar with stargazing often know nothing about dark adaption and how important it is for nighttime observations. When designing the Grossmugl Star Walk Installation, we came up with a set of pictograms illustrating a sensible use of light. Read more…
Free star atlases for everyone Japanese amateur astronomer, Toshimi Taki, has compiled three star atlases, which can be called an absolute must- have for stargazers. All atlases are available in PDF format for free. To download your own copies of the three atlases, visit Toshimi Taki's website. Read more…
Planetary filters for small telescopes There are so many color filters available that one can easily get lost. Even the manufacturers' recommendations are of no great help, since they are mostly for larger apertures of 8“ and more. Here we present a recommended filter set that matches perfectly with a small telescope of an aperture between 70 and 110mm. Read more…
AstroTrac 320 imaging tips The combination of a DSLR with an Astrotrac tracking mount makes a lightweight, versatile and extremely portable system that allows deep-sky imaging at remote sites. Your imaging location needs no infrastructure and no access road. Where you can go on foot, the Astrotrac/DSLR system can go. Read more…
M42 lenses for astrophotography The combination of a DSLR with an Astrotrac tracking mount makes a lightweight, versatile and extremely portable system that allows deep-sky imaging at remote sites. Your imaging location needs no infrastructure and no access road. Where you can go on foot, the Astrotrac/DSLR system can go. Read more…
Photographic map of the Virgo Galaxy Cluster With galaxy density unusually high and foreground star density quite low a visual observer can easily get lost in the Virgo Cluster. Our attempt for a solution better than a conventional map is a photographic chart of the area of interest centered on Makarian's Chain. Read more…
Light absorbing paint Unwanted reflections inside a telescope or an accessory are a nuisance for visual observers as well as for astro imagers. The standard factory coatings of inner tube walls, eyepiece barrels, focuser tubes etc. often leave much to be desired. This is especially true for Newtonians, which are particularly susceptible to stray light. Read more…
Position angle scales for eyepieces When viewing the heavens through the eyepiece of a telescope, one can get lost easily. To solve this problem, we designed a position angle scale that can be printed on cardboard and placed between any 1.25-inch eyepiece and focuser. Read more…
Charts for limiting magnitude estimation To find your night's naked eye limiting magnitude there is only one reliable way - the star count method of the International Meteor Organization (IMO). Based on the IMO star count fields we created a handy two-page map you can download, print and take out into the field. Read more…
Precision pointing for tele lenses Ever had a problem pointing a telephoto lens with high accuracy? Then you know that the standard tripod head isn't the perfect solution for astronomical imaging. The Witty-1 is a small yet stable gadget that solves any pointing problems for equipment up to one or two kilograms. Read more…