I wanted to try a time lapse with the Seestar during the eclipse but I didn't want to be distracted from watching the eclipse, so the Seestar's automatic features seemed to be the ticket. I've never done a time lapse and I didn't get a chance to practice much, so the sequence is rough. It took a shot every 20 seconds. Before totality it was a little windy and you can see where the scope was blowing around a little.
I wasn't hovering over the screen the whole time--too busy looking through my PST and sharing the view with others--so I had to play catch up a couple of times when the exposure needed to be adjusted (the Seestar is smart, but not that smart, apparently).
I had made a filter with some Baader AstroSolar film because I didn't like the filter that came with the scope. I did not take off the filter during totality because it can be hard to take off and I wanted to spend the 4 minutes watching the Sun, not fooling around with gear. Consequently, the little scope lost track of the Sun during totality and I had to make sure it reacquired and centered the Sun so it could track it through 4th contact.
The Seestar's battery has a 6 hour charge, which would have been plenty for the eclipse, except that I got it out about three hours before first contact to make sure everything was working properly. I was going to shut down to save the battery until the eclipse began, but folks were so interested in the scope that I had to keep it going. By about 30 minutes before fourth contact, the battery was down to 13%. I had brought a 25 foot extension cord with me, but it wouldn't reach to plug the scope into power. My son had a 25 foot cord with him and the two of them together were about 3 feet short. Some people, trying to be helpful, suggested I move the scope. Long story short--I finished the time lapse with 1% left on the battery.
And the Seestar's wifi range is supposed to be 30 feet, but now I know it's at least 53 feet.
Here it is:
Edited by Special Ed, 16 April 2024 - 03:16 PM.