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StellaraMate Pro - New compact Astro computers arriving soon
Entire range of BeaverLAB Smart Microscopes back in stock - from $189
DWARF II Smart Telescopes in stock - Deluxe model with all accessories included
All Celestron StarSense Explorer Dobsonian Telescopes in stock at BINTEL - pop in to see them in our store
Variable Polarising Filters - Optolong filters for both imaging and visual use
Jupio 500W Powerbox Portable Lithium Battery - safely delivers loads of power
Space News - Ever had a lid stuck on a jar? NASA Did! Peregrine 1 Lunar mission crash lands - on Earth
The winner in the "Platinum" Category in the BINTEL Astrophotography competition, Rowan Prangley captured the region of NGC 6164, often called "The Dragon Egg". The star at the centre of the nebula, HD 148937 is believed to the be the only magnetic O-type star known to be surrounded by a nebula. At forty times as massive as our own Sun, HD148937 is rare, hot, and quite the spectacular artist!
Rowan used a Celestron RASA 36cm telescope and a QHYCCD QHY268M camera.
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 1.6k fellow astronomy and nature fanatics!
StellarMate Pro - new dedicated Astronomy computer
We’re happy to announce that BINTEL will be the Australian dealer for the new StellarMate Pro astronomy computers from Ikarus.
Supports a wide selection of gear from multiple equipment manufacturers.
The StellarMate Pro is a dedicated, small computer that attaches to your telescope or mount and handles a comprehensive range of functions that will make life much easier for astronomers of all levels of experience.
Fully powered by Open-Source software, some of the main features –
- Setup and polar align your mount
- Find and "GOTO" objects via easy-to-use Ekos planetarium software
- Plan and automate your observing and imaging sessions
- Frame and capture your images
- “Live stack” for spectacular, real-time views of astro objects
- Distribute power to your mount, camera, dew heaters and other accessories (Up to 60A)
- Support for autoguiders, autofocusers, dew control etc.
- Even provides weather updates
- Plus, so much more….
Full details via the link below.
Entire range of BeaverLAB Smart Microscopes back in stock - from $189
Phone and tablet control over Wi-Fi and large screen models.
BeaverLAB Darwin M2A - $399 - shown with included accessories
The entire BeaverLAB range of Smart Microscopes are now back in stock at BINTEL.
- BeaverLAB Dawin M1A $189 - connects via Wi-Fi to view, save images and even videos. Includes a variable illumination base and a full range of accessories. The M1A can be disconnected from the base for handheld viewing. Ideal for fieldtrips discovering nature or for use in the workshop. Up to 400x magnification.
- BeaverLAB Darwin M2A $399 - all the features of the M1A plus an LCD screen and MicroSD card storage.
- BeaverLAB Darwin MX $599 - large 1080p LCD screen. Up to 1600x magnification
BeaverLAB Darwin M2A Microscope being used to view and record tiny details on plant samples
Any of the Darwin range of Smart Microscopes from BeaverLAB are a high-tech way for enquiring minds of all ages to explore inner space. 😀
DWARF II Smart Telescope in stock - And a new update has been released
Available on-line or purchase in store at BINTEL
The tiny but mighty DWARF II Smart Telescope is in stock at BINTEL and we're crossing our fingers that this will be the case in the future as well.
As products mature, the supply of them stabilises and what we can keep in stock for immediate delivery should level out as well. Also, new updates and capabilities are added, and this is certainly happened with recent firmware updates and new versions of the DWARF Labs apps for Android and Apple. This will automatically install on all DWARF II telescopes.
A quick snap of the Great Orion Nebula (M42) taken with an updated DWARF II Smart Telescope by Jack from BINTEL from the heavily light polluted Sydney suburb of North Ryde on the evening of the Thursday the 18th of Jan 2024. The DWARF II automatically took just 57 exposures of 15 seconds each to capture this picture. No light pollution filter was used, and the image was processed in PixInsight.
The DWARF II telescopes we have in stock are the Deluxe Version that includes all optional accessories such as filters and a spare battery.
All Celestron StarSense Explorer Dobsonian Telescopes in stock at BINTEL - from the 114mm to the 12"(305mm)
Sizes range from tuck under your arm and carry around to "geeze, that's a big telescope!" - all with mobile phone astro guidance.
The Celestron StarSense Explorer 130mm Tabletop Dob - $799
We mentioned last week that that all versions of the Celestron StarSense Explorer Dobsonian telescopes are now in stock at BINTEL. These range from the small and portable 114mm aperture tabletop model through to the full size 8", 10" and new 12" telescopes,
We had a few folks ask us just how big these things are, so here's a picture of the mid-sized,130mm model in our retail showroom in Sydney.
As you can see, the tabletop versions are solidly built for steady viewing but still something you can easily move around. There's also an optional tripod to bring the StarSense tabletop Dobs up to "full height" if you don't have anywhere to plonk them down on where you're observing.
All Celestron StarSense Explorer telescopes feature the ability to precisely locate objects in the night sky using your mobile phone. We've sold thousands of StarSense Explorers over the last few years and received some fantastic feedback from our customers. Highly recommended!
Variable Polarising Filters from $65 - Optolong filters for both imaging and visual use
Just like variable sunnies for your telescope.
Optolong Variable Polarising Filter for 1.25" eyepieces - $65
Some night sky objects such as the Moon or Venus can be so bright that the glare from them is uncomfortable when viewed through a telescope! Glare also washes out the finer details of your views.
To help with this, astronomers will often use a Moon Filter. This screws into the bottom of your eyepiece and reduces the amount of light that hits your eyeball. These certainly help, but there's times when your Moon filter is either too strong making the view too dark, or not dark enough. You can buy Moon filters in different strengths, but an easier way is to use a variable polarising filter.
This lets you easily adjust the "strength" of the filter to control how light or dark your view is with a quick twist of the filter.
The Optolong Variable Polarising Filters are $65 for the 1.25" eyepiece size and $75 for the 2" eyepiece size.
If you love looking at the Moon through a telescope, these Optolong filters are highly recommended.
Jupio 500W Powerbox Portable Lithium Battery - safely delivers loads of power
Massive power output with ports for a wide range of requirements.
Jupio 500W Powerbox - $599
As you add new astronomy gear, you need more power to make it work reliably throughout the entire night. This Jupio 500W battery pack delivers enough to keep even large visual or imaging telescope rigs going.
It also features a wide variety of ports and output options.
The Jupio 500W Powerbox is designed around the latest lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) chemistry. This i different to the typical lithium-ion batteries which are becoming common on a wide variety of devices and unlike these, the Jupio power is extremely stable and has an ultra-low risk of thermal runaway.
(In other words, it's unlikely to catch fire and be tricky to put out like the electric cars and scooters seen occasionally on the news.)
Updated Newsletter list - going back to 2021...
Quick reminder - we have an online archive of the last hundred or so of the BINTEL newsletters going back a couple of years. More via the link below.
Space News - Ever had a lid stuck on a jar? NASA Did!
Noooo! Not the Scotch Fingers!
NASA has finally removed the stubborn fasteners on the lid of the container holding a precious sample collected from the asteroid Bennu by the OSIRIS-REx mission. This ancient material is from the earliest period of the Solar System and removing it took time.
After more than a week in space, the Peregrine-1 mission to the Moon has cash landed - back on Earth. Hopefully, data collected during its journey will help the success of future missions. More via the link below.
Coming up soon: More on Japan's SLIM space craft which successfully landed on the Moon this morning. Plus why are multiple countries now lining up to land on the Moon after decades of next to no Lunar exploration?
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