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Reviews Editor

Miles Corrigan

Miles covers the hardware: smart telescopes, mounts, filters, power and the accessories that turn out to matter more than the specification sheet suggests. Every review here is written from nights actually spent with the equipment under real skies, and states the Bortle class, the session length and the weather, so a result can be judged against your own conditions rather than against a press image taken somewhere darker.

Under 100Wh 100–160Wh Over 160Wh carry-on, no approval telescopes and most banks airline approval needed normally prohibited power stations Never in checked baggage, at any capacity

Gear

Travelling With a Smart Telescope

These instruments are genuinely portable, which is the whole point. Getting one onto a plane, or to a dark site two hours away, still needs a little thought about batteries and dust.

3 min read

SAFE filter at the front, light rejected filter NEVER filter at the eyepiece, heat concentrated on it The distinction is not a preference. It is the whole safety argument.

Gear

Solar Observing With a Smart Telescope, Safely

Several smart telescopes ship with a solar filter and a solar mode. The filter is what makes it safe, and there is exactly one rule about it that matters more than everything else combined.

3 min read

Centred pointing model holds Touching the ring targets land off-centre Near the edge plate solving struggles Bubble position and what it costs you

Gear

The Cheapest Upgrade You Can Make Is a Better Tripod

Smart telescopes ship with adequate tripods and depend absolutely on being level. More first-night failures trace back to those two facts than to anything else.

3 min read

What is the target? Emission nebula Rosette, Veil, NGC 7000, Lagoon Broadband object galaxy, cluster, reflection nebula Filter IN — big gain Filter OUT — it costs you One question, asked before you set up, settles it every time.

Gear

Light Pollution Filters: What They Do, and What They Cannot Do

A dual-band filter is the best value accessory a suburban imager can buy, and it is useless on half the sky. The dividing line is physics, not price.

3 min read

Ambient temperature Usable hours 20°C 10°C 0°C −10°C internal only external bank, kept warm Cold hits the internal battery hard and the pocketed bank barely at all

Gear

Power in the Field: Getting a Full Night Out of a Smart Telescope

Internal batteries are sized for a good evening in mild weather. Everything beyond that — winter, dark-sky trips, multi-hour integration — needs a plan.

3 min read

Every session Dry before casing Check the bubble Refocus at 30 min Cap the optic Every few months Blow off dust Firmware check Charge to storage level Clear old sessions Rarely / as needed Wet-clean the optic Check collimation Replace desiccant Service the tripod Almost all of the value is in the left column

Gear

Smart Telescope Maintenance: Cleaning, Firmware and Storage

These instruments are sealed and low-maintenance by design, which makes the few things that do need attention easy to neglect until they cost you a session.

3 min read

1 2 3 4 5 Charge + update at home Level bubble centered Connect phone to scope First target Moon or cluster Long stack 10+ minutes

Device Guides

Seestar S50: Your First Night, Step by Step

From box to first galaxy in under an hour. The complete first-night routine for the scope that started it all, plus the settings that matter later.

13 min read

The whole kit fits in a daypack Scope charged, updated Tripod feet pressed firm Phone storage free, dim screen Power bank cold nights drain fast Red light protects night vision Warm layer one more than forecast

Device Guides

Seestar S30 & S30 Pro: Getting Started with the Wide-Field Seestars

The friendliest entry points in the hobby. How the two S30s differ, how to set them up, and the targets their wide fields were born for.

12 min read

Field of view, drawn to scale (1° = 40 px) Seestar S30 Pro: 2.26° × 3.98° Seestar S50: 0.7° × 1.3° Dwarf 3 tele: ~3° long side Full Moon: 0.5° S30 and Dwarf Mini fields are described only qualitatively by their makers (wide; deep + wide)

Smart Telescope Primer

Choosing Your First Smart Telescope in 2026: Seestar vs. Dwarf, Model by Model

Five beginner-grade scopes, all worth owning, each with a different personality. Here's the honest comparison, specs verified, no fluff.

12 min read