More nature and space gifts - Out of this world ideas for Valentines Day

Nature DX 8x32 Binoculars- Celestron quality reduced to $175

Sky-Watcher AZ-Go2 telescopes now with eyepiece & accessory kits - full Wi-Fi controlled GOTO telescopes with $99 of add-ons from $399

More savings on Celestron StarSense Explorer tabletop Dobsonians - compact but powerful

Kowa TNS-501 Spotting Scope - fabulous Kowa optics from $375

Celestron StarSense AutoAlign, Autoguider & SkySync GPS - What's the difference?

BeaverLAB Darwin M1A Microscope reveals lightning damage - "kaboom" on a circuit board

Feel like a night under the stars? - A couple of suggestions

Space News - Does Venus have a moon? Say hello to Zoozve!

Amazing pics and videos of the ISS (International Space Station) as it crossed over the face of the Moon taken by Damir Maksan using a Meade LX90 8" telescope and a Sony A6400 camera. 

This stunning image is part of much more detailed post to the BINTEL Society Facebook group that you can find here. Well worth visiting to see Damir's other images and even his video of the ISS zipping across the Moon!

To be featured, you can send us your Astro and Nature images here or post them the BINTEL Society Facebook Group where you can join more than 1.7k fellow astronomy and nature fanatics! 

Nature DX 8x32 Binoculars- Celestron quality reduced to $175

Compact Celestron binoculars for the great Australian outdoors...and sports, and concerts and even some star gazing...

Celestron Nature DX 8x32 Binoculars - now $175

For compact, affordable binoculars, make sure you check out these Celestron Nature DX pair - especially at the reduced price of $175

They're ideal for starting out your bird watching or nature viewing journey and rugged enough for day-to-day use. We're always delighted to have a look through a pair of Celestron Nature DX binoculars as the views they produce are clear and vivid, plus they feel great in your hands. If you have spare moment and are close by BINTEL, pop in to try out a pair for yourself.

Sky-Watcher AZ-Go2 telescopes - now with $99 PowerSeeker eyepiece & accessory kit

Sky-Watcher 70/900 AZ-Go2 with accessory kit - now $399

We mentioned new prices on the Sky-Watcher AZ-Go2 range a couple of weeks ago. 

This means that you can get a complete telescope kit with a full "GOTO" mount controlled over Wi-Fi via an app on your phone or iPad/tablet from just $399. This includes all the accessories to get you going, but to take the hassle out of choosing your next round of add-ons, BINTEL are including for a limited time an additional $99 eyepiece and accessory kit that:

• Includes two full-size 1.25” eyepieces, three eyepiece filters, a cleaning cloth, and a case
• One medium power and one high power eyepiece give you a new perspective on celestial objects
• A Moon filter helps block out some moonlight so you can see more lunar detail, and the two-colour filters (Red and Blue) highlight features on Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn
• A hard plastic carry case keeps everything safe in the foam-lined interior

Sky-Watcher 127/1500 AZ-Go2 with accessory kit - $999

We also have the same Sky-Watcher AZ-Go2 mount and accessory kit, with a considerably more powerful telescope, a 127mm diameter Maksutov-Cassegrain or "Mak" design. 

To give you a rough idea of the difference, the 70mm version for $399 collects about 100 times as much light as your eye does. The 127mm collects some 330 times as much. This extra "light grasp" means more detail and the ability to see things too faint to be viewed with smaller telescopes. (More light gathering is one reason astronomer are always after bigger and bigger telescopes.) The "Mak" design makes them ideal for viewing Solar System planets like Jupiter and Saturn as well. 

More savings on Celestron StarSense Explorer tabletop Dobsonians - compact but powerful

Some price tweaks on the Celestron StarSense Explorer Dobsonians plus $99 eyepiece and accessory kits now included

BINTEL have lowered the prices on the popular Celestron StarSense tabletop models and we're including $99 eyepiece and accessory kits with all Dobsonian telescopes in that range.

This includes the StarSense 150mm tabletop now $899 (was $999) and the StarSense 114mm tabletop for $649 (was $699)

More on the full range via the link below.

Price drop on the Kowa TNS-501 50mm compact  spotting scope - Now only $375

Beautiful, featherweight and a perfect travelling companion - more stock arriving this week. 

The Kowa TNS-501 Spotting Scope  - now $375

We really like Kowa optical gear - even the baby members of the family like the 50mm diameter TNS-501 spotting scope. This little spotter easily fits in your hand and is surprisingly light as well. 

Up to 40x magnification, close focus to only 2.5, nitrogen filled so it's fog-proof and lots more. If you need a compact spotting scope, full details on the BINTEL website can be fund via the link below or have a demo in our Sydney store. 

Celestron StarSense AutoAlign, Autougider and SkySync GPS - What's the difference?

A quick guide to these Celestron mount accessories.  

We mentioned last week that the StarSense Autoguider was back in stock. 

There were a few folks asking about the differences between the Celestron StarSense AutoAlign, StarSense Autoguider and even the SkySync GPS. 

Here's a quick blog article on the BINTEL website that covers which gizmo does what.

See more via the link below. 

BeaverLAB Darwin M1A Microscope reveals lightning damage - "kaboom" on a circuit board

This little digital microscope is not for just looking at bugs and plant life. 🌩️

One of our customers brought in some Celestron computerised gear during week to the workshop here at BINTEL. Turns out their observatory had been struck by lightning! We decided to take a closer look at the damage using the BeaverLAB Darwin M1A digital microscope. 

This $189 digital microscope features not just a light from underneath like a traditional microscope, but can also illuminate your samples from above. It makes it a great tool to get detailed views of solid objects like electronics, minerals and gemstones and much more. Plus, you can easily save pictures on your phone or iPad/tablet.

 Have a squiz at our blog article for a close-up view of the damage.

(And yes, we were able to get their telescope up and running again.)

Feel like a night under the stars? - A couple of suggestions

We're always asked for ways to head out under the stars. Here's some suggestions. 

Northern Sydney Astronomical Society Observing Night - 2nd March - 7.00 to 11.00pm Belrose, NSW

This is a great opportunity to hang out with astronomers and spend an evening under the stars in Belrose, in Sydney's north. 

Full details and conditions of the event via the link below. Please note this event is run by volunteers who are giving up their time!

Dark Sky Eco Resort - Coonabarabran, New South Wales

If you feel like a luxury retreat with dark skies at night and a large family of emus during the day, the Dark Sky Eco Resort at Coonabarabran should be on your list. In addition to their telescopes, they also have a large, concreted area for you to set up your own astro gear under dark skies. 

Do you have any special astronomy or nature places you've visited and think others would enjoy? Drop us a message and we'll share them around!

Space News - Does Venus have a moon? - Say hello to Zoozve! 

Venus doesn't have a moon like the Earth does BUT it does have Zoozve...

Venus doesn't have a natural satellite orbiting around it like the Earth or planets like Jupiter, Saturn Mars and others. (Even Pluto has several moons and there's well some 150 asteroids are known to have their own moons orbiting them.)

A few years ago, Venus was found to have quasi moon, labelled with the romantic name of "2002VE" (They really shouldn't let astronomers name things). A quasi-moon is a body that tags along with the planet around the Sun, interacts with it gravitationally but doesn't orbit the planet like a conventional moon. (The Earth also has quasi-moons, including 2023 FW13, which is a chunk of rock some 15-20 metres in size and is around forty times the distance of the Moon.)

Last January podcaster and writer Latif Nasser spotted a whimsical poster on his 2-year old's wall by artist Alex Foster that proposed a much better name for 2002VE - Zoozve. 

Latif approached the International Astronomical Union about the name. In a fun and good-humoured gesture, they made the name Zoozve official in a recent bulletin. 

Intuitive Machines heads to the Moon - from the 14th of Feb onwards

A launch window for the next mission to the Moon aboard a SpaceX rocket, a lander from private space company Intuitive Machines, opens up from Feb 14th (US time) for a few days. We *might* have a report on the launch next week if all goes well!