You searched for "stability"
25 stability astronomy news items found
Optolong L2 Filters Tested: The April 2026 ScopeTrader Issue
Monday, April 6, 2026 by Richard Harris
Welcome to April, where galaxies are in full bloom. Here in Missouri the skies are finally starting to settle into something usable. If the pattern holds like it usually does, we tend to get our most stable stretch somewhere between April 10th and the end of the month. Those are the nights where things stop fighting you. The air steadies out, guiding behaves, and you...
Watusi 150 equatorial fork mount for advanced astronomy
Friday, March 27, 2026 by Richard Harris
If you have carried a bag of counterweights across a dark field, you know their special brand of gravity. They are reliable in only one way. They always feel heavier by the minute. So when a well executed equatorial fork shows up with carbon fiber arms and no counterweights, that deserves attention from anyone who cares about clean tracking, quick setup, and the kind of...
Lens support system from Buckeyestargazer lands
Tuesday, March 24, 2026 by Austin Harris
A telephoto lens and camera can make beautiful deep sky images, but the setup lives or dies by how well it is mounted-as many of you know. If the lens flexes a little when you slew, if the camera tilts a hair when you focus, your stars will tattle. The difference between soft ovals and tight circles often comes down to one simple idea: treat the lens and everything arou...
Delta Pier tripod launches with discount
Thursday, March 19, 2026 by Richard Harris
SouthPolar Obs announces the launch of the DELTA PIER, a pier style tripod engineered for astrophotographers and visual observers who want a compact support platform without sacrificing rigidity. Built in South Korea with a focus on practical design choices, the system brings together a stable pier form factor and the flexibility of a tripod footprint. The result is a f...
MOTHRA telescope 1,140-lenses to map the cosmic web
Friday, March 13, 2026 by Trey Abbe
A new astronomical instrument is being developed to capture the faint glow of the cosmic web with a scale and simplicity that set it apart. Built as an array of 1,140 individual objective lenses working together, the system trades a single large mirror for many smaller optics, enabling exceptional sensitivity to low surface brightness structures across a wide field of v...
ASCOM Platform 7.1 Update 2 Released
Tuesday, February 10, 2026 by Richard Harris
The ASCOM community announces an update to the widely adopted interoperability platform that connects astronomy software with a broad range of observatory devices. ASCOM Platform 7.1 Update 2 expands the platform’s reputation for stability and compatibility, bringing refinements that help imagers, visual observers, and research teams run sessions with greater conf...
Super fast hyperbolic newton astrograph by Telescopi Italiani
Thursday, January 22, 2026 by Richard Harris
There is a certain kind of telescope that tells you exactly what it is trying to do. The TIn series from Telescopi Italiani is built for one job: produce a very wide, very well corrected imaging field at extremely fast focal ratios, and do it in a package that can live in a remote observatory without constant babysitting. This is not a casual weekend setup. It is a purp...
What is a FITS astrophotography file
Wednesday, January 21, 2026 by Richard Harris
When I first started out in astrophotography, I remember squinting at a folder of strange .fits files and wondering what on Earth I had gotten myself into. After a long night under the stars with my telescope and camera, these files were the fruits of my labor - yet if you clicked on one, it looked like an almost black, empty image. In spite of their unas...
AstroFiler 1.2 Calibration Automation Update
Tuesday, January 13, 2026 by Austin Harris
AstroFiler has quietly built a reputation as a practical utility for astronomers who find themselves managing more data than their original folder structures ever anticipated. As modern capture software and smart telescopes lower the barrier to collecting deep sky data, the challenge increasingly shifts toward organization, verification, and long term preservation. Vers...
DeepSkyStacker new release focuses on field reliability
Friday, December 12, 2025 by Richard Harris
Ahh - free astronomy software, yes please! While many of us comfortably settle into our subscriptions to Photoshop, PixInsight, TheSkyX, or whatever tool fills that slot in your workflow, it’s genuinely refreshing to see software like DeepSkyStacker remain free. In a hobby where costs have a habit of creeping ever upward, it helps keep the price of ...
ZWO EFW new design for 2026 just arrived
Tuesday, December 9, 2025 by Richard Harris
ZWO has released a refresh of its staple electronic filter wheel. At first glance it looks much like the version many astrophotographers already use, which appears to be the intention. Most people are not looking for new habits when a clear night finally arrives. What does stand out is a sturdier body, a more enclosed filter cell, and a shift to USB C. These updates set...
Scope Nights updates to 2.6 giving stargazers a faster app
Sunday, November 23, 2025 by Richard Harris
Scope Nights version 2.6 introduces a set of improvements intended to make the stargazing planning experience faster, smoother, and more reliable across iPhones and iPads. The update is available at no cost and brings the app into full compatibility with iOS 26 and current Apple mobile hardware. The developer notes that a considerable portion of the internal logic and i...
EZT Astro harmonic EQ Alt-Az MEQ-17EX is now available
Tuesday, November 11, 2025 by Richard Harris
The South Korean manufacturer EZT Astro has introduced a new dual-mode telescope mount, the MEQ-17EX, a harmonic-drive equatorial and alt-azimuth hybrid designed for serious astrophotographers and observatories seeking compact power and stability. The mount combines harmonic gear technology, dual-axis control, and a minimalist body that weighs just six kilograms, making...
Honoring Al Nagler in our November 2025 issue
Monday, November 3, 2025 by Richard Harris
This month's issue bridges the past and future of astronomy with heartfelt stories, exciting product releases, and a celebration of innovation in every corner of the night sky. From a moving farewell to one of the greatest optical minds of our time, to the unveiling of Celestron’s next-generation smart telescope, it's an edition that belongs on every starg...
ASCOM Platform 7.1 released
Monday, November 3, 2025 by Russ Scritchfield
The ASCOM Platform 7.1 update is another big step forward for backyard astronomers and observatory users alike. It offers smoother performance, wider compatibility with different gear, and better communication between your telescope, camera, and dome. As the platform continues its march toward better support and smarter automation, this release makes it even easier for ...
Daystar Filters Sol 100mm dedicated solar telescope lands
Thursday, October 23, 2025 by Richard Harris
Before I ever owned a real telescope, I was building makeshift ones out of whatever lenses, tubes, and mirrors I could scrounge up. Newton would’ve been proud, or maybe concerned. And solar projection was the only way I could safely look at the Sun back then; anything more sophisticated was completely out of reach. My official astronomy adventure real...
CXB astro imaging filters exclusively at Farpoint
Monday, October 20, 2025 by Richard Harris
The introduction of CXB Astro Imaging Filters marks a continuation of a well-established tradition in advanced astronomical optics. Distributed exclusively through Farpoint Astro, these narrowband filters are designed for astrophotographers seeking precision and stability in data acquisition. The CXB filters represent the same engineering lineage as the renowned Astrodo...
StarStructure Telescopes offers new hinged mirror cell frames
Thursday, October 16, 2025 by Richard Harris
StarStructure Telescopes has developed a hingeable mirror cell frame that enhances accessibility for telescope owners and builders. The new system adapts the company’s existing mirror cell design by introducing a hinged insert, allowing users to tilt the mirror frame backward for easier servicing and cleaning. The updated frame integrates a pivot point that ena...
PiFinder software updates to new version
Thursday, October 9, 2025 by Russ Scritchfield
The PiFinder project has introduced a major upgrade to its open-source astronomical navigation software, releasing a new version that refines accuracy, performance, and overall usability. Built on contributions from its active community, this update continues PiFinder’s mission of providing a precise, independent, and fully open system for telescope users who pref...
Pan-tilt head altazimuth mount from 2047STUDIO
Saturday, October 4, 2025 by Richard Harris
2047STUDIO has introduced a heavy-duty altazimuth mount and pan-tilt head designed for use with telescopes, binoculars, and related optical instruments. The equipment is manufactured from full aluminum alloy, processed with high-precision CNC machining, and surface anodized primarily in red with black accents. The mount replaces direct metal friction with multiple be...
New harmonic drive mount from MLAstro: The SAL-33
Wednesday, September 17, 2025 by Richard Harris
Astrophotography gear often comes from familiar big-name brands, so a new mount from a small solar-imaging company might raise some eyebrows. MLAstro, a Vietnam-based startup known for its cutting-edge spectroheliograph (narrowband solar imaging device), has taken a bold leap from capturing sunspots to tracking the entire night sky - I have one and it's am...
Universal binocular mount: Parallogram at Farpoint
Saturday, September 13, 2025 by Austin Harris
Farpoint introduces the latest manufacturing batch of its renowned Universal Binocular Mount (Parallelogram), offering bincular astronomy enthusiasts a better stargazing experience. Proudly made in the USA, their products come with no tariff surcharges or surprise duties, ensuring a smooth delivery process for our customers. Universal Binocular Mount: Parallelogram a...
Teseek 14: A $500 strain wave gear mount from AliExpress
Thursday, August 28, 2025 by Richard Harris
Do we have a new challenger in the harmonic drive arena ? Enter the $500 Teseek 14 mount! Strain wave gear mounts also called harmonic drive mounts, have become the hot ticket in astrophotography over the last few years. Their light weight, compact design, and counterweight-free operation have made them the darlings of portable astrophotography rigs. Typically, tho...
Seestar accessories you need now
Monday, August 25, 2025 by Austin Harris
When I first unboxed the Seestar I was honestly surprised at how simple it felt. I popped it out of the case, set it on the tripod, hit the power button, and even with the battery only factory charged - not fully topped off - it just worked. All that was left to do was wait for the sky to darken. It felt almost brainless, and I mean that in the best way. Still, after a ...
Solar weather forecast AI model unveiled
Wednesday, August 20, 2025 by Russ Scritchfield
IBM and NASA have introduced Surya, an artificial intelligence system designed to predict solar weather with unprecedented accuracy. Named after the Sanskrit word for the Sun, Surya is purported to be a major leap forward in the ability to safeguard technology and infrastructure from the volatile activity of our nearest star. Now available as an open-source model on Hug...