Askar V Telescope Review – 8 Refractors in One

Askar V Multipurpose refractor

Manufacturer: Sharpstar/Askar Price: $1695 SharpStar is a Chinese telescope manufacturer known for producing high-quality astrophotography refractor telescopes. They offer a range of refractor telescopes for astronomy enthusiasts ranging from deep-sky observers or imagers to planetary observers, all the way to wide-field imagers. Sharpstar produces a number of high-quality refractors under the Askar label. the Askar … Read more

ZWO ASI6200MM Pro Camera Review

ZWO ASI6200MM Pro Camera full frame cooled SMOS camera

Manufacturer: ZWO Current Price: $3799 The ZWO ASI6200MM Pro is a cooled monochrome Astrophotography camera. It is manufactured by ZWO Optical, well-known in the astronomy community for producing affordable, quality equipment. The ASI6200MM Pro offers advanced features and a full-frame sensor, making it a popular choice among astrophotographers. Key Features: Sensor: The ASI6200MM Pro features … Read more

Astronomy Equipment Adapters and Threads

Threaded Canon T Rings

The M42 thread, also known as the T-thread, is a standard thread size widely used in astrophotography and camera lens connections. It is named after its metric size, which is M42x0.75. The “M” stands for metric, indicating the thread is measured in millimeters, while “42” represents the major diameter of the thread in millimeters. The … Read more

ZWO ASIAir Plus Review

ASIAIR Plus Wireless Camera Controller

ZWO ASIAir Plus Wireless Camera Controller Manufacturer: ZWO Price $299 Astrophotography can be a very rewarding hobby, capturing beautiful images of the night sky. But the learning curve can be quite high, causing many people to give up. I remember when I started in this hobby in the mid 1990’s. Digital cameras were just starting … Read more

Autoguiding Options for Astrophotography

PHD2 Guiding Graph

Do you really even need autoguiding? Serious astrophotographers know that autoguiding, although very useful is not always necessary. There are some mounts that are extremely accurate at tracking for short periods of time, even up to 5 minutes without the need for autoguiding. There are also some who would argue that dozens or even hundreds … Read more

Askar FRA500 – An Affordable Astrograph

Askar FRA500 Quintuplet Astrograph

Price: $1999 (smaller FRA300 available for $1199) What is an astrograph? The Askar FRA500 (Flat field Refractive Astrographs) is a top-of-the-line refractor telescope that is specifically designed for intermediate and advanced level astronomy enthusiasts. As the name implies, astrographs are designed specifically for astrophotography. The telescope has a 90 mm aperture and a focal length … Read more