The Luxury Gift: Unistellar eVscope Equinox
Over the last few weeks, I have been fortunate enough to test the excellent Unistellar eVscope Equinox telescope.
As someone new to the world of astronomy, but infinitely curious about the beauty and complexity of space, I very excited to get started with this review.
I was initially concerned about overcast weather, light pollution and general difficulty of use while observing, but the eVscope Equinox blew me away with the ease of use, the results it could produce, and the speed to which I was learning about various stellar objects, the process of finding them, and about astronomy in general.
Unboxing & Preparation
My first night of observing and setting up the scope was incredibly straightforward. I unboxed the telescope, ensured it was sufficiently charged, and set up the tripod at the best angle for me to make adjustments for focus and optimum stability in my back garden.
The instructions were easy to follow and useful, giving me clear insight into how the app connected to the Wi-Fi created from the telescope, and how I could control the telescope in app across 10 devices, getting all the family involved.
The whole process required no previous knowledge of astronomy, with all focus, lens work and star detection done automatically by the scope and app.
Star Gazing and Overall Experience
Within minutes I was able to point to one of the 5000 stellar objects in the app catalogue, moving the telescope automatically one my GPS had been set up, and the scope had automatically detected the location of the various stars in its current view.
My concerns about clouding, light pollution and focus issues were all immediately dismissed, where the scope showed a clear view of one of the recommended objects to view, for example Neptune or the Blue Oyster Nebula , with only some minor adjustments with the easy to use manual focus on the scope to bring it into clear view.
Features and Add-ons
I was incredibly impressed by the telescope’s ability to provide an extensive list of recommended objects, and then slew automatically to bring this into view, taking all of the technical and logistical problems out of the way, allowing even a beginner to view and take incredibly high quality photos of an enormous range of stellar objects.
This was further improved by the Enhanced Vision option, which effectively stacks photos of the object allowing it to be continually improved as the exposure to the object increases. As I understand, this is a well used process in astronomy, but the way which the Equinox does this all automatically and almost in the background really sets it aside from the competition, where optical scopes and limited processing would make the entire process considerably more complicated, if even possible without additional bolt on hardware or software.
Once I had got the hang of identifying objects, taking photos and generally using the telescope to its maximum potential, I was also impressed by the extent of the network which Unistellar had built as part of its Citizen Science system. Using this, users can link to an enormous forum of other stargazers to identify new objects, share ideas and discuss topics of interest.
Conclusion
To conclude, I have enormously enjoyed my time testing out the Equinox eVscope. I’ve taken my beginner knowledge of astronomy and space, and learned so much about the complexity of the process, the beauty of the stars, and the unlimited possibilities for enjoyment when given the right tools to explore the sky.
The telescope itself takes all the complexity out of the process, allowing the user to focus entirely on enjoying the process, exploring the possibilities, and creating memories. Although an expensive piece of equipment, the quality of experience provided, and the level of simplicity which this telescope enables through its fantastic app and intuitive hardware makes it such a great investment if looking to make astronomy your new favourite hobby.
Buy the Equinox eVscope from £2,599
