The new Orion StarShoot Mini 2mp Mono Autoguider and 32mm Mini Guide Scope package weighs in at only 11 oz. and just 5.7″ long, a perfect package for accurate guiding of any relatively short focal length optically fast imaging telescope.
The Orion 32mm Mini Guide Scope features a 32mm doublet objective lens with a focal length of 122mm (f/3.8). This will provide a very wide field of view with your guide camera, which means there will be plenty of stars for your guiding software to lock onto and accurately track.
The dovetail base slides into most all Orion brand telescope finder shoes and locks securely in place. The 6-point ring adjustment screws allow independent adjustment of the guide scope aim, but with the sensitivity of the included StarShoot Mini 2mp Autoguider Camera, it’s doubtful you’ll ever have to touch those screws. Focus is achieved by threading the objective lens cell forward and back and then locking down the threaded collar which will preserve the focus from session to session.
The Orion StarShoot Mini 2mp AutoGuider Camera offers an autoguider and imager that offers excellent sensitivity and accuracy. This camera uses the Sony IMX 290 monochrome sensor, which features a 12-bit image and vanishingly small 2.9 micron pixels. And with a quantum efficiency of around 80%, stars will be visible in any area of the sky you point your guidescope to — no need to readjust the guidescope positioning to find that “bright” star to lock on to. And as a bonus, the exposure range for this camera spans 0.105ms – 1000s, so you can even use the camera to image a range of objects, from bright planets to faint deepsky objects.
The StarShoot Mini 2mp AutoGuider Camera features a pixel array of 1920 x 1080 (6.4mm diagonal, 1/2.8″ format) offering more area of the sky compared with Orion’s previous autoguider models. A USB port connects the camera with your laptop, and the ST-4 port connects directly to your autoguider compatible mount.
Its native 64-bit Windows 10 ASCOM driver works with any ASCOM compatible programs on the market such as Sequence Generator Pro, Nebulosity, SharpCap, N.I.N.A., and more. The package includes Orion’s StarShootIC software for recording of images and video, or works seamlessly with PHD2 Guiding via the ASCOM driver.
You can learn more about the Orion StarShoot Mini 2mp Mono Autoguider and 32mm Mini Guide here.
And to make it easier for you to get the most extensive news, articles and reviews that are only available in the magazine pages of Astronomy Technology Today, we are offering a 1 year magazine subscription for only $6! Or, for an even better deal, we are offering 2 years for only $9. Click here to get these deals which only will be available for a very limited time. You can also check out a free sample issue here.