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2022 Xmas Telescope & Binocular Buyers' Guide Part Two -
Computerised Telescopes
Mars is about to put on a show
What comes after binoculars - Meade Wilderness Spotting Scope
New ZWO ASIAIR Mini astronomy computer on the way
BINTEL Astrophotographer of the Year - entries closing soon
The Lunar Eclipse wows Australia
The 8th of November 2022 Lunar Eclipse projected onto the sandstone buildings of the historic Sydney Observatory.
BINTEL's Christmas Buyers' Guide Part 2 - Computerised telescopes
BINTEL's 2022 Christmas Buyers' Guide Part 2 is now available.
This guide covers computerised telescopes.
These are telescopes that will automatically find astro objects in the sky and then track them throughout the night. A great place to start is the Celestron NexStar 4SE for $1149.
Computerised telescopes have database of the Solar System and thousands of deep-sky objects. This means less time searching and locating and more time observing. If you're not sure what you'd like to observe, computerised telescopes will even take you on a personalised tour of tonight's sky, customised for your location. Discover more from the links below
Fully Optioned Computerised Telescopes
If you missed last week's Beginners' Telescope Guide, click here
Get ready for Mars to shine bright in the Christmas skies - 8th December is the Earth's closest approach to the Red Planet
Scott Cutler posted this image of Mars to the BINTEL Society Facebook Group. It was taken in Oct 2020 and shows the regions between Hesperia Planum and Terra Sirenum. Telescope was an 8" Newtonian using a ZWO ASI290M camera.
Mars will be at opposition to Earth on the 8th of December 2022. Opposition simply means our respective orbits around the Sun bring us the closest together we'll be to Mars until January 2025. (You can learn more about Mars oppositions here.)
Over the next few weeks, Mars will become a noticeably bright red star. These close approaches were well known to ancient cultures and often formed part of their oral and written traditions. While Jupiter shines more brightly than Mars when it's at opposition, it seems the "Red Planet" is the one that captures our imagination!
Mars at opposition - image via NASA
Apart from the fascinating science being undertaken on the Martian surface and in orbit around the planet, it's the only body in the Solar System apart from the Moon that we can explore the surface of with a telescope for extended periods of time.
We'll be covering more about Martian exploration and science efforts in more detail in the coming weeks, but an ideal telescope for observing Mars and other members of the Solar System would be the Celestron StarSense Explorer DX 130.
The next step up from binoculars- Meade Wilderness Spotting Scope - $299
We've covered this topic before, but we've recently had several folks asking us about what's the next step if you need something a bit more powerful than a pair of binoculars.
This Meade Wilderness 65mm spotting scope has a larger main lens than most binoculars while having a zoom magnification that goes from 17 to 40 times. The larger lens means brighter and more detailed views, especially during the early evening or morning twilight. The Meade's higher magnifications will provide a much closer view than you could obtain with binoculars. We'd strongly suggest using a tripod to minimize hand movements for a sharp, steady view.
The Meade Wilderness Spotting Scope will attach to any standard photographic tripod, and we have several that would perfectly suit this Meade spotting scope.
New ASIAIR Mini on the way - pocket sized $349 astro computer
The ZWO ASIAIR range have become over the last few years *the* must have accessory for capturing astro photos as well as controlling telescope mounts and a stack of accessories.
These tiny ASIAIR computers have shrunk even further with the recent release of the ZWO ASIAIR Mini. The smaller version keeps almost all of the features of its larger sibling but in a far more compact form. It's some 40% smaller and over 20% lighter than the ZWO ASIAIR Plus.
The latest update we have from ZWO is that the new ASIAIR Mini will be on the way to BINTEL sometime in December. We are accepting pre-orders and you can reserve one from the link below or call us on 02 9518 7255.
BINTEL Photo Competition - Closing 1st December 2022 - remember to get your entries in!
The entry deadline for BINTEL Astrophotographer of the Year 2022 is fast approaching.
We've received some excellent entries and are looking forward announcing the winners. Especially encouraging are the details of the equipment and techniques used which many of the entrants have provided.
Another point to note - this competition has an under 18-year-old category to encourage the next generation of astronomers to enter as well.
Special thanks again to our sponsors, Samyang and Benro.
Full details and enter via the link below:
Next BINTEL Workshop 3rd December 2022 - one for the family!
Full details next week, but the next BINTEL workshop in December will be one for the entire family. Special thanks for everyone who attended in-store and on-line last Saturday.
If you would like to catch up on last week's workshop and learn some of the finer points of telescope collimation, simply click on the link below.
Artemsis 1 Next Launch Attempt Delayed Now 16th November (USA time)
NASA has delayed the expected launch of Artemis 1 due to the approach of Tropical Storm Nicole.
NASA has also decided to not move the rocket back into the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) and it will weather the storm on the launchpad. We would have at least thrown a tarp over it.
This mission to the Moon will get off the ground eventually.
Next time....next part of the BINTEL Christmas Buyer's Guide plus more on Mars.
