Ⅴaonis calls it an observation station, but it sells this tiny smart telescope a bit shorthand. Vespera is nothing less than an all-in-one astrophotography starter pack for urban observers.
The heart of this computerized Go-To device is a telescope, but there is no eyepiece to look through.
With a 2 inch (50mm) aperture refractor, the integrated optics provide 33x magnification and a 1.6° x 0.9° field of view.
It might sound like a beginner’s telescope, but Vespera is not.
Instead of eyepieces, there’s an onboard computer and Wi-Fi connectivity.
Download Vaonis’ Singularity app to your smartphone or tablet to view and save what Vespera is pointing at.
The Vespera is a telescope, but it’s also a camera. There is an image sensor inside that takes images one after another (about every 5 or 10 seconds) during observation, producing a sharper image.
This technique, called image stacking, is familiar to anyone who has experimented with deep-sky astrophotography using telescopes, cameras, and planetary imagers.
Here, the entire workflow is automated and delivered in real-time with camera settings for thousands of algorithmically determined deep-sky objects.
All the user needs to do is select from Singularity’s database of suggested targets customized to their location via their smartphone’s GPS and monitor the progress of the images.
Some bright objects need just a few images before they look more or less their best. For example, the famous Hercules globular cluster M13 required only a few minutes of imagery before it became bright and detailed.
This is not the case with faint nebulae, which may require up to an hour of repeated imaging to reach maximum detail, structure, and color.
At any stage of the process, you can save composite images of the frames you’ve captured so far to your phone or tablet’s camera roll, or easily share them on social media.
The finished JPEG is saved at a native 1,920 x 1,080 pixel resolution and the image has no branding whatsoever.
That’s about 2 megapixels, technically making the Vespera the lowest resolution “smart” telescope.
The Vespera has a few tricks up its sleeve for those wondering if it’s good enough to be considered an astrophotography novelty.
First, you can export the image as a RAW image file and share it. Advanced users can also use the full manual mode to bypass the default image parameters for deep sky imaging.
There’s also a new mosaic mode that can take multiple separate images of objects that don’t fit in the field of view, such as the full extent of the Andromeda galaxy M31, and automatically stitch them together.
This feature was not confirmed at the time of testing, but will be available at launch.
Using the Vespera is child’s play. Along with the excellent Singularity app, it comes with star pattern recognition software that uses plate solving to align in just minutes.
Unlike other smart telescopes, it has autofocus, but the images it produces lack a bit of sharpness.
Vespera cannot take planetary images. It also doesn’t produce nice moon images. Even the bright full moon looked pretty dull in the finished image.
Combined with the Vaonis dedicated solar filter, it can also be used for solar observation. But where the Vespera excels is in fighting light pollution. With the optional light pollution filter, even without it, you can get extremely bright and stunningly colorful images of the kind of deep-sky objects that are impossible to see with the naked eye from light-polluted areas. increase.
Even better under dark skies with a limiting magnitude of 13, Vespera is an ideal option for urban astronomers frustrated by the lack of access to galaxies, nebulae and star clusters. , its pockets are deep enough to pay a premium price.
Using the Vespera Singularity App
Vespera is operated almost entirely via the Singularity smartphone app (Android and iOS). Singularity presents a list of suggested objects to observe based on your location, circles to the object, and quickly begins imaging.
You can watch the live stack and always watch a small flickbook style video showing how the composite image has been improved.
The real fun is downloading images to your phone’s camera roll or sharing them directly to social media.
The entire operation is automated, but you can manually control the image parameters and enter the coordinates of passing comets or those not in the database.
The solar pointing mode, only used with the optional Vaonis solar filter (£79), allowed me to capture the partial solar eclipse on 25 October 2022.
Vespera spotted the Sun within 3 minutes and tracked it perfectly during the 4-hour observing session.
Sunspots are easy to see, and watching the Moon gradually obscure part of the Sun’s disk on the app was a spectacular experience.
5 best features
optics
The Vespera Observation Station features a 2 inch (50mm) aperture apochromatic quadruple refractor telescope with a focal length of 200mm. it has 1.6° ×0.9° It offers a field of view and 33x magnification. That lens is surrounded by a plastic “dummy” filter. This filter can be removed and replaced with various optional filters that Vaonis offers.
tripod and motorized mount
The Vespera rotates on a motorized altazimuth mount just above the connector for a very short tabletop tripod. Only 20 cm long, the 3 legs can be disassembled for easy transport, but worth upgrading to a full size tripod. The Vespera undercarriage has a standard 3/8 inch connector that fits all photographic tripods.
onboard computer
Vespera uses a 1/2.8 inch Sony IMX462 sensor to capture images. His on-board 1.6GHz computer uses live image stacking to create images and saves them as lossless raw his TIFF and FITS files on 10GB flash memory. These can be extracted over Wi-Fi.
A web browser on your computer.
Wi-Fi network
Vespera generates its own Wi-Fi network to which up to 5 smartphones or tablets (iOS or Android) can connect simultaneously. To view, save and share the latest Vespera images, each device needs to download the free Singularity app.
The Wi-Fi network only extended about 5 meters.
Dedicated charging cable
To recharge the Vespera’s 7,000mAh battery (which is estimated to last 4 hours but actually lasts at least 6 hours), use a USB-C cable. There is a dedicated connector on one end, so you need to be careful not to lose it, but it is a magnet type so it won’t come off easily.
vital statistics
- price: £2,499
- Optics: apochromatic quartet refraction
- Focal length: 200mm, F4
- sensor: Sony Exmor IMX462 CMOS
- mount: Motorized single arm, altaz, Go-To
- Power: 7,000mAh lithium-ion rechargeable battery
- tripod: tabletop aluminum, fixed height
- port: Proprietary USB-C for charging, Wi-Fi
- App control: Singularity
- weight: 5kg
- supplier: Vaonis
- telephone number: +33 4 84 98 00 21
- www.vaonis.com
This review was originally published in the January 2023 issue. BBC Sky at Night Magazine.
