My Equipment @ Home – Telescopes & Mounts

Here I would like to introduce my three telescopes that I use for various astronomical activities. Each has its own strengths and I use them depending on the situation and what I want to observe or photograph.

My ZWO Seestar S30 Pro

The Seestar S30 Pro is my newest smart telescope: an apochromatic quadruplet lens, a Sony IMX585 sensor and a dual-camera system – all of it in 1.65 kg.

Optics & sensor:

30 mm f/5 apochromatic quadruplet (150 mm focal length), ED glass against colour fringing
Main sensor Sony IMX585 (8 MP, Starvis 2)
Wide-angle sensor Sony IMX586 (48 MP, 84° field of view for Milky Way panoramas)

The essentials:

Three-filter system, built-in dew heater, 128 GB of internal storage
Battery good for about 6 hours, chargeable over USB-C even while imaging
EQ mode for tracking, ASCOM Alpaca – so it can be driven from N.I.N.A. as well
Milky Way mosaic mode with automatic stitching, AI processing on board

Why I chose it:

The dual-camera system is genuinely unique: while the main camera captures a deep-sky object, the wide-angle camera records the wider field at the same time. Compact, capable and easy to travel with.

Roof terrace with three large telescope setups on the left and the small white Seestar S30 Pro on the wall top to the right — The little white one over on the right, sitting on the top of the wall, is the Seestar S30 Pro – the far larger setups stand on their tripods on the terrace to the left. It needs nothing more than a patch of wall and a clear view of the sky: set it down, switch it on, go.

My ZWO Seestar S50

The Seestar S50 was my entry into modern astrophotography. What excited me: I can simply set it up on the balcony, connect it to my phone, and within a few minutes the first images of nebulae and galaxies appear.

What it can do:

50mm lens with excellent optics
Built-in camera with cooling
Automatically finds and tracks objects
Filters already built in
Runs via phone over Wi-Fi
Battery lasts several hours
Handles image processing automatically

What I use it for:

Mainly for deep-sky objects like the Orion Nebula, Andromeda Galaxy, or various star clusters. Especially practical when I want to quickly take a photo without setting up the big equipment.

Control:

Everything works via the Seestar app – from object selection to the finished image. Very user-friendly.

My TS-Optics APO with iOptron Mount

The Telescope – TS-Optics 115mm APO

This is my "big" telescope for classical astronomy. I chose this APO refractor because it is superbly suited for visual observing – and that is exactly how I use it: at the eyepiece, no camera involved.

$TS-Optics 115mm APO Refractor on iOptron Mount$

The specs:

115mm aperture, 805mm focal length (f/7)
Triplet lens with ED glass (very color-accurate)
High-quality Japanese optics
Virtually no chromatic aberration
2.5″ focuser with fine focusing
Superb for visual observing

The Mount – iOptron AZ Mount Pro

For the telescope I need a stable mount. The iOptron is an altazimuth GoTo mount that automatically finds and tracks objects.

What it can do:

Automatically finds objects via two axes
Easily supports the 115mm telescope
Tracks objects very accurately
Has GPS and knows its location
Can be controlled via Wi-Fi
Comes with a sturdy tripod
Knows over 200,000 celestial objects
Works with astrophotography software