Live Science Verdict
The respectable note value - for - money bright telescope you may corrupt right now , we think the Vaonis Vespera II outperforms competition many time its Mary Leontyne Price . But the app ’s substance abuser user interface could use a tweak .
Incredible results from urban center
Galaxies look fantastical
Once on its tripod there are only two points of operation, the power button and the USB-C charging port.(Image credit: Jase Parnell-Brookes)
low-priced for a impertinent telescope
Accurate autofocusing
App ’s user interface need tweaking
(Image credit: Jase Parnell-Brookes)
Tripod is a petty low
Planet imaging is disappointing
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(Image credit: Jase Parnell-Brookes)
The Vaonis Vespera II is the late smart telescope from Vaonis and replaces the originalVaonis Vesperawhich we gave four out of five stars . While this belated model look almost identical to the last , lots has changed at bottom .
The naked concept behind the Vespera II is pretty simple . automate everything , it gives anyone , regardless of astronomy cognition or skill , the ability to navigate , keep and image the Nox sky with the military press of a button on a smart gadget .
paradigm resolution:8.3 MP
(Image credit: Jase Parnell-Brookes)
Focal proportion : F/5
Size:40 x 20 x 9 cm ( closed )
Field of view:2.5 x 1.4 - degrees ( native )
(Image credit: Jase Parnell-Brookes)
Mount : Motorized EL - azimuth
Battery:4 hours ( built - in )
Connectivity : Wi - Fi
(Image credit: Jase Parnell-Brookes)
Weight:11 lbs ( 5 kilo )
There are some things the Vespera II does extremely well , like imaging some of the most well - jazz galaxies , nebulas and nighttime sky objects , and other thing it struggles with , like observing planets in any great detail .
But who is the Vespera II for ? The absolute beginner ? Kind of . Beginners with a healthy sum ready to gift in the latest minute of smart engineering who have a dependable appreciation of the night sky but do n’t have the technical noesis to manoeuvre their own manual telescope might be one type of soul .
A light pollution filter is supplied with the telescope(Image credit: Jase Parnell-Brookes)
or else , even veteran astronomers who no longer have the longanimity or time to put up their traditional scope may happen the grab - and - go glide slope to dark sky observation appealing .
There ’s no getting around the fact that decent smart telescopes do cost a sightly bit of money , but as far as saucy telescopes that are deserving their table salt go , we think the Vespera II is excellent note value for money , apparently outperforming some of the competition that is price much higher .
Vanois Vespera II: Design
The Vespera II may await almost very to its older counterpart the Vaonis Vespera but we believe this is a case of " if it is n’t break , do n’t fix it " . The exterior shell is shining , glossy white with a rotating scope weapon , a tripod link at the bottom , a single power button and a USB - C connectedness for rouse .
Everything is sleek and rounded and feels well designed . There is an adjustable stature tripod that astronomers can purchase separately but we survey the scope with the fixed - tallness tripod . This was great and frustrating in equal measure . The tripod legs and metrical foot can be unscrewed for easy storage and the low kernel of gravitation means the Vespera II is improbable to tumble or tilt . However , there were times when placing the telescope so nigh to the ground actually hindered our power to see objects airless to the horizon .
The filters can be changed easily : With a unforesightful press - in on the existing protective plateful , the filter pops right out and can be supersede with a abstemious pollution filter ( pictured below ) or a solar filter that can be purchased separately for safe solar observing .
(Image credit: Jase Parnell-Brookes)
Largely the impertinent telescope is ideal for see parties , casual imaging in the backyard or even serious maintain sessions where users can not acquit heavy or complex honour equipment retentive distances . The only trouble we meet with its design was during setup , accidentally pressing the power button a few times which is backbreaking to avoid while handling the scope .
Vaonis Vespera II: Performance
Once we couple the Vespera II with Vaonis ' uniqueness app the sentiment even in the backyard were immediately impressive . Considering this is one of the most low-priced timber smart telescope you’re able to bribe , it outperformed even competitor model like the Unistellar eQuinox II when it came to speedy , clear and satisfy astrophotographs with surprising ease .
Placing the calorie-free pollution filter in the telescope we easily spotted and imaged many of the great nebula and galaxies even with street light just 100 grand off . The first and most pleasing views came from M42 in the Orion constellation . Slewing and focalise were reflex and the effect were stick - sharp . As shortly as the object is in view the Vespera II get into an figure enhancement mode whereby it continuously improves the image by taking serial flesh and fuse them together for better clarity .
The exigent sentiment were impressive , but after only 5 minutes 20 seconds a combination of 32 stacked mental image gave astonishingly in force upshot both in terms of clarity and coloration . As the exposures continue a concluding epitome composited over 20 minutes 10 seconds with 121 stacked range gave even crushed paradigm randomness and improved contrast in fine details .
(Image credit: Jase Parnell-Brookes)
Lunar notice were fair with adequate detail captured of the waxing gibbous synodic month ( 99.95 % full ) . There were no specific drawback to imaging the moonlight with the Vespera II but as it did n’t blow us away . The moonshine was too small in the shape and the image resolution was too low to give any breathless results .
This was compounded further when we seek to simulacrum and observe planets or other modest cryptic sky objects . The focal proportion and resolution of the Vespera II was just too lowly to get any meaningful observations during our testing .
However , other Messier objects like M82 , M78 , M51 and one of the all - clip deary M31 , the Andromeda Galaxy yielded great results . Even IC434 , the Horsehead nebula — while small-scale in the skeleton — was instantly recognizable and the scope captivate near unfixed colour and tone despite the well - know glare from nearby star Alnitak .
(Image credit: Jase Parnell-Brookes)
Vaonis Vespera II: Functionality
We largely have no issue with the Vespera II as a smart telescope . We empathize its limitations in size and resolving office and think that ’s fair chew over in the price . So in term of functionality , we ’ll dangle our focus to the synchronicity and cognitive operation of the uniqueness smartphone app .
As the sole mean of operate the scope , the Singularity app has to do it all . Connecting to the telescope is simple , just hooking up to the telescope ’s ego - circulate Wi - Fi signaling gives you the power to moderate the telescope . It ’s a small thwarting that it uses Wi - Fi because we are then not able-bodied to utilise our sound to look up anything else , instead requiring the use of a separate twist for surfboard the cyberspace .
This is especially frustrating when possess view parties where we may also be streaming music simultaneously , which pronto stops after the pre - buffered audio file is all used up . But then again , we can see why connecting over Bluetooth is no good — limits in bandwidth and connectedness speed are just two obstruction .
M31, Andromeda galaxy, full-frame image taken over 3 minutes 50 seconds with 23 stacked images.(Image credit: Jase Parnell-Brookes)
On the app , we simply press on a visible target and the telescope will remove to it restfully and swimmingly , and then autofocus on it . The app gives us merriment facts and information about the target as it ’s doing this ( it can take a few moment ) , which is great to learn from or share with others at the party . Then , with the phone set to one side we saw a bright animation , consanguineal to an explode whiz , which grabbed our tending . This optic discriminative stimulus is brilliantly virtuoso , as it then goes on to display the target in all its resplendency .
A slight frustration we remember could be improved is the requirement to bar observing one object so as to move to another . It would be far upright from a user interface perspective to have the app automatically stop the observance of the previous target area and move to the next one that has been selected . However , we see that this extra step might make the departure between accidentally move to another object and bring through a minutes- or hours - foresightful picture .
A betray observation ( like not being able to look at something due to obstruction from land , edifice or cloud ) could allow for more detailed feedback and perhaps add up a little quicker . When switching between some prey one dark we had four or five go bad observation in a row which took up around 30 - 45 minute . However , when skies and soil are clear ( or when the Vespera II is placed on a table or higher third - company tripod ) it only direct a matter of a hour or two to get a good position .
M42, full-frame image taken over 20 minutes 10 seconds with 121 stacked images.(Image credit: Jase Parnell-Brookes)
Should I buy the Vaonis Vespera II smart telescope?
A resounding yes from us — we would recommend the Vespera II to anyone who has the budget to afford one but wants the good value for money . Outcompeting other smart telescope that be chiliad more , we were surprised to see such first-class result even in some of the less favourable surroundings , right next to street lights .
If this product isn’t for you
If traditional uranology is more your thing , or if you want to be sealed of clear lunar and planetary prospect , then we ’d wholeheartedly urge theCelestron NexStar 8SE . This catadioptric Schmidt - Cassegrain is maybe one of thebest telescopesyou can grease one’s palms . It costs around the same as the Vespera II and although it takes a minuscule more metre to get go under up , it also features automatic slewing to targets when a successful genius alignment subprogram is set .
overbold telescopes pay back your tending but want to take a step up ? TheUnistellar eVscope 2is Unistellar ’s flagship voguish scope and has all the same wash room as the Vespera II but with enhanced ability for viewing deep sky objects . It does require manual focusing , but this is loose to achieve with the in - built Bahtinov mask that double as the lens cap .
M42, full-frame image taken over 5 minutes with 32 stacked images.(Image credit: Jase Parnell-Brookes)
Horsehead nebula, full-frame image, with Alnitak just visible.(Image credit: Jase Parnell-Brookes)
Moon, full-frame image.(Image credit: Jase Parnell-Brookes)
Jupiter, full-frame image.(Image credit: Jase Parnell-Brookes)
The accompanying app provides useful information on celestial objects(Image credit: Jase Parnell-Brookes)
(Image credit: Jase Parnell-Brookes)
Having to manually close each observation can feel a chore but prevents accidents(Image credit: Jase Parnell-Brookes)
