I might admittedly contemplate myself a lazy astronomer and astrophotographer. I don’t need to get in my automotive to drive someplace with darkish skies every time, and I don’t like fussing with finicky setup processes. Plus, being in Florida, I don’t take pleasure in standing outdoors trying by way of an eyepiece whereas preventing off hordes of mosquitos. There’s additionally the matter of determining what to take a look at in the first place. Despite all that, I do love attending to see detailed views of objects and stars in our night time sky. So when Unistellar requested if I want to try its Odyssey Pro, a smart telescope that guarantees a extra versatile viewing expertise, I jumped at the probability. The Odyssey Pro ended up fixing most of my astrophotography complaints, simplifying it and making it rather more pleasant, although it does so at a steep price.
Abby Ferguson
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Pros
- Very simple to arrange
- Simple to make use of
- Relatively compact and light-weight
- Effectively filters mild air pollution
- High-quality pictures and views
- Option to view by way of app or eyepiece
- Long battery life
- Includes a sturdy tripod
Cons
- Wi-Fi vary isn’t very far
- Pairing is a bit clunky
- Requires the app to be used
- It’s $3,999
The verdict: The Unistellar Odyssey Pro is an costly telescope, but it’s extremely simple to arrange and use and gives high quality pictures even with zero expertise.
How we examined
The Odyssey Pro is comparatively compact and light-weight, making it a very good choice to journey with. That’s partly a results of the Alt-Azimuth mount, which doesn’t require counterweights but does allow full monitoring capabilities. We introduced the telescope to our buddy’s homes just a few instances and even took it on a protracted highway journey because it didn’t take up a lot area in the automotive. Plus, you should buy a specifically made backpack for simpler telescope transportation.
The design
The telescope comes with a tripod, saving you from buying one individually. It is a really sturdy tripod, so you possibly can arrange your telescope with confidence, even when there’s some wind. The entrance of the telescope is magnetic, which holds the mud cap in place. It additionally lets you connect the Unistellar Solar Filter simply, making it doable to view the solar safely.
Connectivity, battery life and storage
The Odyssey Pro depends on a reference to the Unistellar app in your smartphone, pill, or pc to perform. The connection is predicated on the scope’s onboard Wi-Fi adaptor, which suggests you don’t have to face proper subsequent to the telescope to remain linked. The vary isn’t so long as I would love, but it did permit us to remain inside, away from the mosquitos, whereas nonetheless getting a close-up take a look at the wonders in our sky. Unfortunately, there are not any guide controls on the telescope itself apart from the energy button, so that you received’t be capable to use it with out the app. If your telephone’s battery dies mid-session, you received’t be capable to put the telescope in “Park” mode to pack it up.
As a primarily digital system, it naturally depends on a battery to perform. Unistellar guarantees 5 hours of battery life from the built-in lithium-ion rechargeable battery, which is spot on what I used to be in a position to get in my testing. It incorporates a USB-C port for charging, together with a USB-A port that may energy your telephone. Additionally, it presents 64GB of storage. That is kind of a bit, but the telescope works by taking a number of pictures of the similar object over time, stacking them collectively to disclose extra element, which eats by way of storage faster than you could anticipate. Still, it was in a position to final a handful of viewing classes, with me taking plenty of pictures earlier than the storage was full. But it by no means hurts to maintain an influence financial institution useful.
Optics and sensor
On the floor, the Odyssey Pro seems to be like most telescopes. It makes use of a conventional Newtonian reflector design to assemble mild with a mirror diameter of 85mm and a focal size of 320mm, ensuing in an f ratio of f/3.9. What makes it distinctive is that as a substitute of that mirror guiding mild solely to an eyepiece, the Odyssey Pro makes use of a 4.1-megapixel sensor for viewing and recording pictures. Then, you possibly can view the night time sky by way of the Unistellar app in your telephone, pill, or pc.
Unlike the extra inexpensive Odyssey, the Odyssey Pro nonetheless options an eyepiece—made in collaboration with Nikon—for a barely extra conventional telescope expertise. Granted, the eyepiece makes use of a non-traditional design, counting on an OLED micro-display show as a substitute of trying by way of the telescope. That show means you profit from Unistellar’s stay picture processing, even when viewing by way of the eyepiece. It additionally doesn’t appear like you might be viewing a show when trying by way of the eyepiece, so it nonetheless permits for an immersive expertise.
The options
As a smart telescope, the Unistellar Odyssey Pro is pretty feature-rich. It takes loads of the work out of the astronomy course of, which can be a giant win for some (like myself) or a draw back for many who desire a extra traditional expertise. Essentially, all of the options are a results of the Unistellar app, beginning with the simple setup course of.
Setup and upkeep
One of the finest components of the Odyssey Pro is the simple setup course of. Traditional telescopes require fairly annoying mirror alignment or focusing processes, but that isn’t the case right here. The telescope handles all of that routinely, that means you possibly can view the wonders of the night time sky inside minutes of taking it out of the field.
The setup course of is so simple as inserting it on the sturdy tripod and guaranteeing its degree. There’s even a bubble degree constructed into the tripod that can assist you (which you’ll see in the gallery beneath). Then, you pair it with the Unistellar app, which was the most difficult a part of the course of because it was generally a bit finicky. After pairing, the app will carry out an orientation. Instead of merely counting on GPS coordinates to pinpoint its location, the telescope triangulates its location based mostly on the stars it may well see. Then, it makes use of the Unistellar catalog to calculate the place it’s. The telescope and app deal with the orientation course of, so it’s only a matter of ready a minute or two.
Unistellar app controls
Beyond the preliminary setup course of, the Unistellar app has loads of instruments to make viewing the night time sky simple and approachable. Most notable is the catalog of over 5,000 objects (nebulae, galaxies, planets, and extra) and 37 million stars and the self-orientating design. Since it is aware of your location, the catalog lets you search and browse celestial objects which are viewable in your specific space. That way, you don’t spend time ready for the telescope to maneuver to one thing that isn’t even in your night time sky at that second. Plus, you possibly can set customized parameters if you might want to account for buildings or bushes.
Once you choose what to take a look at, the motorized Alt-Az mount navigates for you. The telescope then tracks that object or star to maintain it centered so you possibly can preserve viewing whilst the earth rotates. This is particularly useful due to Unistellar’s picture processing know-how, which produces a greater picture as time goes on. Plus, it’ll refocus when obligatory to make sure no matter you’re looking at stays centered.
While you possibly can select to have a completely automated course of, the app does offer you some guide controls. That consists of manually rotating the mount to scan the night time sky by yourself. You may take some guide management over the picture settings, together with acquire (sign amplification of the sensor), publicity time, brightness, and background (how darkish the background is).
If you might be viewing as a bunch, Unistellar makes it simple for a number of individuals to connect with the similar telescope with their very own system as a substitute of all needing to hover round one particular person’s telephone or the eyepiece. Also inside the app are instruments to calibrate the sensor, focus the eyepiece, and re-orient the telescope, guaranteeing you’ve got a top quality viewing expertise. You may even flip the scope’s LED mild on the aspect to purple to stop additional mild air pollution and reduce the influence in your night time imaginative and prescient.
Astrophotography
The Odyssey Pro makes astrophotography extremely simple. While it received’t present the similar high quality as a devoted, high-quality astrophotography setup, it does present high quality outcomes with far much less fuss. Capturing pictures is so simple as selecting one thing to take a look at and tapping the seize button in the app. You can go for a round body round the picture with related info like the object or star in the body, publicity time, location, and date, or go for a frame-free picture.
One of the standout options of Unistellar’s telescopes, together with the Odyssey Pro, is the Deep Dark Technology. This function makes each viewing and astrophotography higher. It is a denoising algorithm that reduces the results of sunshine air pollution, revealing a very black background as you’d anticipate from area. It additionally helps amplify particulars and colours, making objects and stars viewable even in light-polluted areas.
While I don’t stay in a spot like New York City or Chicago, there’s substantial mild air pollution close to me. My makes an attempt at astrophotography with my digital camera have yielded poor outcomes due to that. The Odyssey Pro, although, cuts by way of all that, offering an outstanding viewing expertise no matter mild air pollution. It takes time to filter by way of it, with the picture getting higher the longer you wait, but when you have some endurance, you possibly can see some excellent outcomes.
The conclusion
Unistellar did a implausible job simplifying the astronomy expertise, making it considerably extra approachable. Everything from the setup course of to the app navigation and viewing course of is straightforward and intuitive, permitting you to start out inside minutes of taking the scope out of the field. The Deep Dark Technology and stay picture processing present really wow-worthy outcomes, particularly when you have the endurance to look at one factor for a couple of minutes. Plus, the portability and skill to attach a number of apps make it simpler to show stargazing right into a social occasion.
Of course, there are downsides. The Wi-Fi vary isn’t all that in depth, so you might want to stick pretty shut. You can also’t use the telescope when you don’t have a tool with the app, which is a bummer in case your telephone’s battery dies mid-session when touring. The largest draw back, although, is the price. At $3,999, that is an costly telescope. To avoid wasting cash, you could possibly go for the Odyssey, which is the similar in practically every way but lacks the eyepiece. I’ve beforehand examined the Odyssey, and I didn’t anticipate liking the expertise of trying by way of the eyepiece a lot. Yet, there’s something particular about that, so I loved utilizing the Odyssey Pro a bit of bit extra. That mentioned, there’s a $1,700 price distinction between the two fashions, and it appears laborious to justify that a lot of a price for less than the eyepiece. This matter sparked fairly a debate with our mates, although, so it genuinely comes down to non-public desire.
The specs
- Focal size: 320mm
- Mirror diameter: 85mm
- Focal ratio: f/3.9
- Image decision: 4.1 megapixels
- Mount: Motorized Alt-Az
- Database: 5000+ objects, 37 million stars
- Telescope weight: 8.8 kilos
- Tripod weight: 5.5 kilos
- Storage: 64GB
- Battery life: 5 hours
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