James Paulson's roll off roof observatory at the Sunridge Observatory site, taken in the summer of 1986, housing a 10 inch f/5 Cave Astrola Newtonian reflector telescope



Sunday, October 30, 2011

iPhone Astronomy


One of the most interesting products that I have seen lately is this nifty bracket designed for coupling your iPhone to the telescope to use the camera feature and take snapshots. While this device is a bit pricey, it is quite revolutionary because it allows people to take their existing devices and shoot some nice moon and planet shots. The SteadyPix Telescope Afocal Adapter for iPhone is available from Orion. It is a bit pricey but it is also quite useful for daytime photography.


Another interesting iPhone product is the app known as Starseeker. This app allows you to control your telescope either via cable or through wi-fi. This app is also available from Orion. This app may be better suited for use on the iPad because ot it’s larger viewing screen.

It is quite amazing how this device can integrate into astronomy applications, particularly if you are already using one out at the telescope.

2 comments:

  1. Those mounts are very cool but I can't believe they're like $70. I tried making a DIY iPhone telescope mount using stuff I found laying around - it works but it's not that stable. Maybe I need better materials or to just fork over the money for the "real" product

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  2. I find a lot of things made specifically for astronomy are expensive and hard to justify. One could simply get an existing phone clip for a belt and make something like the above. But we live in a world where people are fueled by buying gadgets and gizmos instead of being practical, so I absolutely hear you.

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