Next in our star tracker overview - Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i

Swarovski EL 10x42 Binoculars in stock - ultra high quality for every lifestyle

Celestron Luminos Eyepieces $175 - back in stock

New deep-sky astronomy camera from ZWO - cooled camera for $999

Price reductions on image stabilizing binoculars - now from just $848

Telescope ideas for Moon & Planet viewing:

Celestron Evolution 5 for $1899

Celestron 150mm tabletop "Dob" for $899

Like to learn more about astronomy? - Book now for the annual course by SASI, just south of Sydney

Space News -
 NASA and Russian satellites almost come to a nasty end. Astronomers must choose between two major telescope projects and a petition to rename the planet originally called "George".

One of our BINTEL customers, Hugh Perry, sent us his image of the nebula NGC2359, often called Thor's Helmet, via the BINTEL website. This lovely image was acquired with a Sky-Watcher Esprit 120ED APO Refractor telescope over 3 nights.

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! 

Next in our star tracker overview - Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i

Widely used and reliable star stacker.

The Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer Pro Kit 2i Star Tracker - now $649

BINTEL have be selling the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer star tracker mount for some years now and many of our customers have used them to capture some fantastic, wide-field nightscapes of the Milky Way and other parts of the sky with their DSLR cameras.  

Apart from the Star Adventurer 2i Pro kit, all you'll need to start taking wonderful night images is a tripod (which we can assist with if you don't have one) and a DSLR camera and lens. 

Special Note: The Star Adventurer 2i Pro kit includes some essential accessories including a counterweight and bar to help balance the mount as well as a "wedge" to help position it.  There are various versions of the Star Adventurer 2i kit that don't include these, and the Pro Kit will save you the cost of purchasing them later.

Swarovski EL 10x42 Binoculars in stock - ultra high quality for every lifestyle

Some of the best binoculars money can buy!

We've just received some stock of the evergreen Swarovski EL binoculars. 

These have been highly regarded for decades as being among the best quality binoculars you can buy - whether you're a bird watcher, nature lover, sports fan or simple enjoy adventuring. Quite a few of our customers have taken Swarovski EL binoculars on "trip of a lifetime" journeys such as safaris or voyages to the Antarctic to observe scenery and wildlife. 

If you have a chance, pop into to BINTEL to have a look through of Swarovski EL binoculars.  You'll be impressed by the views!

Celestron Luminos $175 Eyepieces - more arriving this week

Sold out quickly but more have arrived.

The excellent, 82 degree, wide-field Celestron Luminos eyepieces which we featured in last week's newsletter quickly sold out - more have just arrived.

These make a handy upgrade to the eyepieces that would have been supplied with your telescope, and not just Celestron models either. They'll fit any telescope that takes a standard, 1.25" eyepiece including Sky-Watcher, Saxon, Celestron and many others.

They offer a sharp image and much wider field of view. 

New deep-sky astronomy camera from ZWO - cooled camera for $999

A new, low-cost cooled camera from ZWO is ideal for deep-sky and even planetary photos. 

A new astronomy camera was released this week by ZWO.

The affordable ZWO ASI585MC Pro is full colour "one-shot" deep-sky camera, which can also be used to take photos of Solar System planets such as Jupiter, Saturn and Mars. 

Images taken with the new ZWO ASI585MC-Pro camera

The "Pro" part of the name means the camera is cooled. A built-in solid state cooling system lowers the internal temperature of the ASI585MC Pro, reducing the effects of background noise found in all electronics, and making it more sensitive to the beautiful faint and subtle details in the skies above our heads at night.  

For a limited time BINTEL are offering free shipping pre-orders for the ZWO ASI585MC Pro.

Price reductions on Fujinon TECHNO-STABI - image stabilizing binoculars from $848

BINTEL are now offering Fujinon image stabilising TECHNO-STABI 12x28 binoculars for $848, and the 16x28 model for $999.

These are ideal for observing objects in the distance. The image stabilization system produces steady views, letting you can concentrate more what you're looking at and less on trying to hold your binoculars still. 

They've proven extremely popular when heading out on the water or bird watching. 

Telescopes ideas for Moon & Planet viewing - Celestron Evolution 5 for $1899

Great, all arounder fully computerised telescope.

We've featured the Celestron NexStar Evolution series in previous newsletters. These are updates to the Celestron NexStar SE series, some of the best-selling telescopes for amateur astronomy that have ever been produced. Extra features the Evolution includes are:

• Built-in Wi-Fi for telescope control via a phone or tablet app
• Internal, rechargeable battery for all-night viewing
• Sturdier mount and tripod

Planets and deep-sky astro objects can be viewed with the Evolution 5, and it's easy to attach your current DSLR camera or dedicated astronomy cameras. BINTEL have the adaptors to suit cameras from most manufacturers - Nikon, Sony, Canon etc. 

The Celestron NextStar Evolution 5 is a great choice for a serious first telescope or those wishing to upgrade to something that's going to offer years of observing.

If you're a BINTEL Newsletter reader - mention it when you're ordering a Celestron NexStar Evolution 5 for a free Celestron 40" telescope bag.

Telescope ideas for Moon & Planet viewing - Celestron StarSense Tabletop 150mm (6") Dob - $899

A great telescope for visual observing - use your phone to find astro objects

Dobsonian telescopes - Newtonian reflector telescopes on simple but sturdy bases - are a favourite here at BINTEL. They're available in a wide variety of sizes and types, but they all offer one thing in common: Dobsonians provide a lot of telescope for your money.

This Celestron StarSense Explorer tabletop has a 50mm (or 6") diameter main mirror that's large enough to show you the night sky in amazing detail. The "StarSense" part of the name means you can use your mobile phone to help guide you around the night sky.

The entire range of Celestron StarSense Explorer tabletop Dobsonian telescopes are easy to move around and can be used on any stable surface. We also have an optional tripod to suit them. More via the link below. 

Like to learn more about astronomy? - Book now for the annual course by SASI, just south of Sydney

Popular astronomy course in the Sutherland Shire is on again.

If you'd like to learn about astronomy, bookings are now open for the annual Practical Astronomy Course run the Sutherland Astronomical Society and held at their observatory in Oyster Bay, in Sydney's southern suburbs. 

Highly recommended by BINTEL.

BINTEL Astronomy & Space News -

What would happen if two large satellites collided in space? - We almost found out this week

The amount of "space junk" almost went up by 50%.

There's *lots* of space junk in orbit around the Earth. Some of it are large pieces of hardware that are no longer operational and well known. Spacecraft like the ISS (International Space Station) will be sometimes even manoeuvre to avoid known space debris.

There's also a vast number of smaller pieces, ranging from number and bolts that have come away from spacecraft, flecks of paint or even a tool bag dropped by an astronaut while working on the ISS in orbit last year. 

Every single, small particle of space junk is a problem as the speed it could be travelling compared to a spacecraft means the energy of an impact would be enormous. As of February, there is about 15,000 pieces of space debris in low Earth orbit, all of which poses a threat to satellites and other spacecraft. 

This week, LeoLabs, a space information company, observed the near impact of a NASA satellite and non-operational Russian satellite. They passed less than 20m from each other at a massive high-speed relative to each other. If they had collided head on, it's estimated this single event would have instantly increased the amount of space debris by about 50%. More via the thread below. 

Which would you choose? - Only one of two massive telescopes being funded 😔

Two big telescopes are under construction - but only enough funds available to complete one of them.

We wrote back in 2022 about some of the really amazing ground based telescopes being planned. Since then, early construction of the optics and observatory systems of these giants have begun. 

However, there's been a snag.

The group of senior scientists who run the National Science Foundation (NSF) have only approved enough funding to cover the final construction and operation of one of these massive new telescopes. They've asked astronomers to decide by May of this year which telescope they want.

To justify the expense of new instruments, their aims and scientific objectives over a long period are put forward. It's fascinating that every time a new major telescope is commissioned either on the ground or in space, it's often the unexpected discoveries that are the most exciting. Whatever the choice is made between these two telescopes, knowledge about the Universe will remain unfound and hidden. More via the link below - 

Finally for this week - A petition to change the name of the Solar System's 7th planet....

Originally called "George", the name has always caused some confusion. 

Originally called "the Georgium Sidus" or the Georgian Planet by William Herschel who discovered the planet Uranus, the name has always been a bit controversial. 

There's now a petition underway to rename it. Details below - 

Next week - A deep dive into camera lenses for the Milky Way

We'll be covering why a wide field camera lens from Samyang might be the best upgrade for the upcoming "Milky Way season".

Ms. J. Lee, Samyang's head of business for the Asia-Pacific region, during her visit to BINTEL this week.

Sneak peek..... - more in the coming weeks!