Imaging/Sketching Contest

Cloudy Nights Announcements

User Reviews

• 
  FIELD TEST OF THE BAADER MAXBRIGHT® II BINOVIEWER

  May 09 2020 01:38 PM by wapaolini

  Overall, using the MaxBright II Binovewer has been a transformative experience for me. I have been binoviewing with my telescopes for well over a decade, but the experience has never been what I would call a pleasant one due to the myriad of quirks I find when using the William Optics Binoviewers. However, with the MaxBright II Binoviewer all the issues I previously encountered are now fully resolved, making my experience binoviewing for the first time entirely enjoyable.

• 
  My Experience using SkyWatch for the Alphea All Sky Camera from Alcor Systems

  Mar 05 2020 08:17 AM by TeslaTrek

  The Alphea 6CL AllSky Camera is a well-made ruggedized outdoor color camera with equally ruggedized connectors. There is no bubble level to aid vertical alignment. The Alphea camera is very expensive given the accompanying SkyWatch software is not reliable and the user interface not well thought out. The software has the feel of an explorative research project into what can be done with an AllSkyCam. The overall slow performance is unimpressive. I discovered many bugs and quirks. It includes many features, which are not well documented. This along with almost non-existent user support makes for an expensive and frustrating AllSky Camera experience. Given the present state of the software, the user might want to consider AllSkyEye. In summary, given all the issues I found with SkyWatch, I would still look forward to a significant software update because SkyWatch does show much promise.

• 
  Astroart 7 - A Review and "How To" (Part 1)

  Feb 25 2020 03:29 PM by shadowoo2

  This tutorial/review will be a 2 part series. We will discuss in this series the capturing process from start to finish and then part 2 will delve into the processing of your acquired subs.

• 
  My experience using two 80-millimeter long-focus refractors

  Dec 13 2019 03:26 PM by caussade

  The Orion and TMB refracting telescopes are both a joy to use, and will undoubtedly stay with me for life. I sometimes get offers to sell but have politely declined; as the reader will suspect, the thought of a sale has never entered my mind.

• 
  GSO 8-inch TRUE CASSEGRAIN

  Dec 13 2019 02:43 PM by Larry Carlino

  GSO Cass can be regarded as somewhat of a specialist instrument. Its excellent overall optical quality, fine lunar and planetary performance, reasonable size and weight, and bargain price make it a fine choice where sterling deep-sky and rich-field capability are not a priority. It is a good alternative to much pricier 5 to 6-inch apochromatic refractors for both visual and ccd work. In the price- to- performance ratio, I don't see anything in its price range that comes close (except, perhaps for a high-quality long-focus Newtonian [but try to find one!]) as a dedicated lunar and planetary instrument.

• 
  Celestron Regal 65ED M2

  Oct 16 2019 04:17 PM by Riccardo_italy

  There is at the moment a heated discussion on Cloudynights about spotting scopes. I can only confirm my initial impressions: for a dual day&night scope, a good quality spotting scope is, IMHO, a very good choice. The scope performs nicely also for astronomy, and not only for daytime use. I do not agree with people that says a spotting scope cannot be used for astronomy.

• 
  Review: The Vixen FL55ss

  Sep 08 2019 11:31 AM by Hesiod

  Overall judge the FL55ss a good product. As a wide field astrograph is very proficient and easy to use, so would suggest it wholeheartedly, even to beginners (usually at this stages apreture does not matter, while the clever Vixen mini-refractor is very user-friendly and, at 300mm, gives a more forgiving sampling than the popular 60-80mm rebranded models).

• 
  PrimaLuceLab Eagle Review

  Jul 29 2019 03:22 PM by chriscorkill

  After using the Eagle for about three years I can comfortably say I would purchase this product all over again. Seeing the product in person and being able to hold it in my hand really helped with my decision to make my purchases with PrimaLuceLab. With it's ease of use, safety, customer support and conveniences, I say that this is a winner in my book. I would give this product a 9/10 stars.

• 
  interstellarum Deep Sky Guide Desk Edition

  Feb 03 2019 01:09 PM by Ray Cash

  I’ve long preferred to have images—and/or drawings--of deep sky objects near my atlas, observing list, and, of course, my telescope. David J. Eicher’s The Universe from Your Backyard (1988) was an early, well-loved companion of mine, as was Burnham’s Celestial Handbook. So was the self-published 1994 John C. Vickers’ Deep Space CCD Atlas: North (and South). Vickers’ CCD atlases are images only, and rather primitive ones by today’s standards; but the atlases were not meant to be a compilation of ‘pretty pictures’; but rather a source of black and white images of interesting deep-sky objects that amateurs might want to hunt down with their warm, moist eyes, or sub-ambient-temperature imaging equipment. Enter the above masterpiece!

• 
  Chronicling the Golden Age of Astronomy: A History of Visual Observing from Harriot to Moore by...

  Feb 03 2019 10:09 AM by Piechowski2

  Chronicling the Golden Age of Astronomy: A History of Visual Observing from Harriot to Moore is a good-read for “we stargazers” and telescopists of a mellowed age. As winter approaches, I can imagine myself re-reading the hard cover version of this book, sitting in my soft recliner, snuggled into a warm throw with my dog on my lap and a steaming cup of hot chocolate or tea on the lamp stand alongside, as the snow drifts down or as the bright stars of the winter constellatory asterism appear outside my window.

• 
  Omegon Mini Track LX2 Review

  Feb 05 2019 10:27 AM by project nightflight

  The Mini Track LX2 is a small camera tracker that provides 60 minutes of tracking time. It was developed by Italian astrophotographer Christian Fattinnanzi and is distributed by Omegon. The device stands out among the other available sky trackers, since it is driven by a mechanical clock that needs no electrical power source. Besides that, it brings another innovation: To compensate for the camera weight, it features a spring mechanism that helps to stabilize the tracking rate.

• 
  Review of the APM 152 ED serial number 245

  Dec 24 2018 12:42 PM by hfjacinto

  So here are my thoughts. No matter how much you paid for a premium triplet, on most objects the 152MM can keep up with it. If you want to see no false color and need your ego stroked because the scope is not expensive, don't buy the APM. Get a TAK/TEC/AP, you'll feel better about yourself. If you consider the value, this scope is just an excellent buy. It’s like the EON version of the SW150. You get a better focuser/case/sliding dew shield/rings/ and a much prettier scope.