Seestar S50 All-in-One Smart Telescope by ZWO | Includes Solar Filter for Solar Eclipse 2024

Set up took 10 minutes or so and away we went.. within the first hour we’d managed to create what we think is an amazing image of the Orion Nebula.. highly recommend this mini telescope.. super easy to set up and use for complete novices and has some great functions.

I absolutely love this it was a good price and the best smart telescope I’ve ever used and it’s packaging was excellent 10/10

Astronomy

Don't expect quality images from this 10 second stacker. Good for sharing in an outreach setting to show people who are totally unfamiliar with the sky. But quality images aren't a thing if astrophotography is your goal.

I purchased the ZWO Seestar S50 because I wanted a small telescope to use for travel purposes. However, I am absolutely astonished by the quality of the pictures that I am able to take with it. Frankly, they are much better than the ones that I get when I use my other larger more expensive smart telescope. Because of the small Seestar aperture, the exposure times are a bit longer than what I need for the larger telescope, but the results are well worth the extra time. Exposures of objects below 70 degrees usually turn out well, but long exposures of objects near the zenith can have field rotation artifacts, however, the central image is usually crisp and clear. The field rotation artifacts could be removed through image processing and cropping, but I do not use those techniques yet.I live in an area with lots of light pollution and three nearby airports create problems with airplanes occasionally flying through the objects that I am trying to photograph. The Seestar's filters are able to compensate for the sky glow, and the method used for stacking eliminates the images damaged by the airplane lights. The automatic focusing works well except for situations where there are only very faint stars in the area being photographed. I usually chose a bright star group as my first target just to check the focus of the Seestar. Then, after focusing without taking a picture, I chose a fainter galaxy or nebula that I wish to photograph, and let the Seestar run for whatever time it takes to get a good photograph.ZWO seems to have thought of almost everything that a novice astrophotographer would need. If you live in a damp area, there is a dew heater to keep the lens clear. The telescope automatically takes a dark field, so that the operator does not have to put on a lens cap to do it manually. It also automatically puts in a filter to compensate for sky glow if you are photographing a nebula. It automatically stacks images in ten second intervals, and discards ones that it deems of poor quality, so if an airplane flies through the field that image is eliminated. Leveling is almost automatic now. At first I had to try to level the telescope by moving the tripod legs up and down, which was tedious, but the telescope software now appears to compensate for that all by itself. As far as weight goes, The Seestar is light enough to carry easily, and its carrying its case will fit into a carry on suitcase. It also is very sturdy. The small tripod is very stable and can extend up to 14 inches.The software to run the Seestar is fairly easy to learn how to use. To get to some of the options like turning on the dew heater, one has to tap on the Seestar logo in the top left side of the home window. This step was not clear in the operation manual, and it took a while for me to figure out how to do this. The firmware for the Seestar is constantly being updated, so operating it will become even better in time.I really enjoy using my Seestar, and am looking forward to doing more photography once the weather clears and it stops raining. The pictures included here are the sun, moon, the Andromeda Galaxy, the Orion Nebula, and the Pleiades. All photographs were taken from my back yard where I have to try to avoid the light from three streetlights, and numerous other sources of light pollution. I am a novice in astrophotography and did not do any photo enhancements on the pictures.

Yes, it isn't perfect and occasionally is quirky to operate but what you can see with this is simply amazing! Add the included sun filter and see the full sun abd it's sunspots! View the whole moon in exquisite detail. See nebulae and plenty of stars and galaxies that you'd never seen before. And, take pictures while you're at it. Yes, for a whole lot more expertise, time, and equipment for can do just as well or better; but this does it almost automatically for you and costs so little.Highly recommended for beginners and novices! You won't believe what you can see with this little, easy to use smart telescope. No need to find guide stars. It finds what you want, has suggestions, and has a search menu. Beyond belief of what is now possible!

Very easy to set up and use! I really like this smart telescope. It's perfect for grab and go astrophotography. The app is intuitive and makes it easy for anyone to get great images out of the box. This is a picture of the Horsehead Nebula I captured and processed in Photoshop.

This is a great little scope very capable but like any scope don't expect miracles severe light pollution will still be your biggest enemy from viewing the night skies. While I am still learning how to maximize my experience with it it is a nice addition to my other equipment for viewing the heavens. It is packed full of nice features and gives you a great astrophotography rig at a amazing price