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Wales Online
3 days ago
- Science
- Wales Online
Review: Unistellar Odyssey smart telescope is out of this world
Review: Unistellar Odyssey smart telescope is out of this world It's not perfect but the images it produces in double-quick time are tremendous Bode's Galaxy taken by the Odyssey There's never been a better time to get into astro photography for the enthusiastic amateur thanks to a new generation of smart telescopes that do away with all the painstacking preparation and assumed knowledge that can be a barrier for newbies. One of these hi-tech scopes is the Unistellar Odyssey, which, while not cheap, couldn't make taking amazing images of celestial objects any easier, even from light-polluted urban areas. The Odyssey is a fully automated smart digital reflector telescope equipped with an 85mm aperture and uses Unistellar's proprietary technologies for enhanced viewing. It's not too bulky or heavy so can be used on the go, although you don't get a case included which, considering the price, I thought was a shame. You do get a stand which is absolute top quality, though, even if the way it holds the telescope itself is rather lo-fi and made me slightly nervous. Indeed, a few times after a viewing session I found the scope had come loose and wobbly on top of the stand. Usability couldn't be simpler. Once paired with a phone or tablet through the app, you are away. Simply choose the object (be that galaxy, planet, nebula or star cluster) you want to take an image of and the telescope does the rest. And it's here where the Odyssey shines. I've tried a few smart telescopes over the years but the picture quality blew me away as it came through on my tablet. Not only do they look great, the snapshots only take a few minutes to come through. What would take over an hour using a cheaper telescope as image after image are stacked on top of each other to get a nice picture, the Odyssey delivers better in a fraction of the time. Unistellar Odyssey It's all the more impressive as light pollution is a problem where I live. Indeed, it'll be hard to go back to my other scopes once I return it! As an extra slice of fun, you can also choose to participate in collaborative and citizen science missions with institutions such as NASA and SETI Institute . There is a minus to the fully automatic system for the more experienced astro photographer, which may limit appeal for users who prefer manual adjustments and customisation. However, for a beginner it's tremendous and you'll be sharing images with your friends and family, taking the plaudits for your skill! Unistellar Odyssey I did have a few niggles The telescope uses its own wifi to connect and you can't set it up, say, through your home network. This meant on my tablet I could not be connected to the Odyssey and the internet at the same time. Also, there is no way (as yet) of rebooting the device via the app. A few times when it did crash I had to go outside and switch it off and on again. Sometimes if took a very long time to find the object I wanted to take an image of (although this might be down to the aforementioned light pollution) while the battery life wasn't super great. Charging is only through the wall rather than a charging brick. Another quibble is that you do not get a solar filter included. That will set you back another £200, So the Osyssey is not perfect but for any budding astronomer I wouldn't hesitate in recommending it. Sure, the Odyssey is pricey but in this case you get what you pay for. The (dark) sky's the limit! The Odyssey Smart Telescope is available for 15% off ahead of Father's Day (£1,699) via the Unistella website. What users say "Odyssey is an excellent telescope. It packs amazing technologies, bigger aperture in a portable format. It does very well in many different situations including my apartment balcony. It is the telescope that got me interested back in amateur astronomy." "Ease of use is exemplary. Just plug and play. This telescope does allow deep space as well as plant viewing. I purchased without the eyepiece and have had no need for the added feature. I would recommend saving the added cost." Alternatives Article continues below Celestron 11068 NexStar 6SE Computerised Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope ZWO Seestar S50 Smart Digital Telescope
North Wales Live
3 days ago
- Science
- North Wales Live
Review: Unistellar Odyssey smart telescope is out of this world
There's never been a better time to get into astro photography for the enthusiastic amateur thanks to a new generation of smart telescopes that do away with all the painstacking preparation and assumed knowledge that can be a barrier for newbies. One of these hi-tech scopes is the Unistellar Odyssey, which, while not cheap, couldn't make taking amazing images of celestial objects any easier, even from light-polluted urban areas. The Odyssey is a fully automated smart digital reflector telescope equipped with an 85mm aperture and uses Unistellar's proprietary technologies for enhanced viewing. It's not too bulky or heavy so can be used on the go, although you don't get a case included which, considering the price, I thought was a shame. You do get a stand which is absolute top quality, though, even if the way it holds the telescope itself is rather lo-fi and made me slightly nervous. Indeed, a few times after a viewing session I found the scope had come loose and wobbly on top of the stand. Usability couldn't be simpler. Once paired with a phone or tablet through the app, you are away. Simply choose the object (be that galaxy, planet, nebula or star cluster) you want to take an image of and the telescope does the rest. And it's here where the Odyssey shines. I've tried a few smart telescopes over the years but the picture quality blew me away as it came through on my tablet. Not only do they look great, the snapshots only take a few minutes to come through. What would take over an hour using a cheaper telescope as image after image are stacked on top of each other to get a nice picture, the Odyssey delivers better in a fraction of the time. It's all the more impressive as light pollution is a problem where I live. Indeed, it'll be hard to go back to my other scopes once I return it! As an extra slice of fun, you can also choose to participate in collaborative and citizen science missions with institutions such as NASA and SETI Institute. There is a minus to the fully automatic system for the more experienced astro photographer, which may limit appeal for users who prefer manual adjustments and customisation. However, for a beginner it's tremendous and you'll be sharing images with your friends and family, taking the plaudits for your skill! I did have a few niggles The telescope uses its own wifi to connect and you can't set it up, say, through your home network. This meant on my tablet I could not be connected to the Odyssey and the internet at the same time. Also, there is no way (as yet) of rebooting the device via the app. A few times when it did crash I had to go outside and switch it off and on again. Sometimes if took a very long time to find the object I wanted to take an image of (although this might be down to the aforementioned light pollution) while the battery life wasn't super great. Charging is only through the wall rather than a charging brick. Another quibble is that you do not get a solar filter included. That will set you back another £200, So the Osyssey is not perfect but for any budding astronomer I wouldn't hesitate in recommending it. Sure, the Odyssey is pricey but in this case you get what you pay for. The (dark) sky's the limit! The Odyssey Smart Telescope is available for 15% off ahead of Father's Day (£1,699) via the Unistella website. What users say "Odyssey is an excellent telescope. It packs amazing technologies, bigger aperture in a portable format. It does very well in many different situations including my apartment balcony. It is the telescope that got me interested back in amateur astronomy." "Ease of use is exemplary. Just plug and play. This telescope does allow deep space as well as plant viewing. I purchased without the eyepiece and have had no need for the added feature. I would recommend saving the added cost."
WIRED
27-05-2025
- Science
- WIRED
A New Study Reveals the Makeup of Uranus' Atmosphere
May 27, 2025 5:00 AM Based on 20 years of observations by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, new research sheds light on one of the solar system's most mysterious planets. This image of Uranus was taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope in August 2005 using the Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). You can see the planet's beautiful rings. PHOTOGRAPH: NASA/ESA/M. SHOWALTER (SETI INSTITUTE) Uranus, the seventh planet in the solar system, located between Saturn and Neptune, has long been a mystery. But by analyzing observations made by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope over a 20-year period, a research team from the University of Arizona and other institutions has provided new insights into the composition and dynamics of the planet's atmosphere. Information about Uranus is limited. What we know is that the planet is composed mainly of water and ammonia ice, its diameter is about 51,000 kilometers, about four times that of the Earth, and its mass is about 15 times greater than Earth's. Uranus also has 13 rings and 28 satellites. In January 1986, NASA's Voyager 2 space probe successfully completed what has been, to date, the only exploration of the planet, conducting a flyby as part of its mission to study the outer planets of the solar system. This image of Uranus was taken by NASA's Voyager 2 space probe in January 1986. PHOTOGRAPH: NASA/JPL But thanks to this new research, we now know a little more about this icy giant. According to the research, which assessed Hubble images take between 2002 and 2022, the main components of Uranus' atmosphere are hydrogen and helium, with a small amount of methane and very small amounts of water and ammonia. Uranus appears pale blue-green because methane absorbs the red component of sunlight. This image of Uranus, taken by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope, shows nine of the planet's 28 satellites and its rings. PHOTOGRAPH: NASA/ESA/CSA/STSCI The research has also shed light on the planet's seasons. Unlike all of the other planets in the solar system, Uranus' axis of rotation is almost parallel to its orbital plane. For this reason, Uranus is said to be orbiting in an 'overturned' position, as shown in the picture below. It is speculated that this may be due to a collision with an Earth-sized object in the past. Uranus orbiting the sun. It can be seen that Uranus' axis of rotation is almost parallel to its orbital plane. ILLUSTRATION: NASA/ESA/A. FEILD (STSCI) The planet's orbital period is about 84 years, which means that, for a specific point on the surface, the period when the sun shines (some of spring, summer, and some of fall) lasts about 42 years, and the period when the sun does not shine (some of fall, winter, and some of spring) lasts for about 42 years as well. In this study, the research team spent 20 years observing the seasons. These images of Uranus were taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope using its Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS). PHOTOGRAPH: NASA/ESA/ERICH KARKOSCHKA (LPL) Over that period, the research team watched as the south polar region darkened going into winter and the north polar region brightened as summer approached. By observing the planet at four different points in time, years apart, they could see how the gradual shifting of the seasons affected the planet. The top row shows how the planet appeared when viewing it with just visible light. The second row from the top is a pseudo-color image based on visible-light and near-infrared observations. Green indicates less methane in the atmosphere than blue, and red indicates the absence of methane. The lower levels of atmospheric methane at the poles (which, remember, are on the planet's sides rather than its top and bottom) indicate that there is little seasonal variation in methane levels. In the left-most image on this row, the green-colored south pole is moving into darkness. In the other three images, the green, lower-methane region of the north pole can be seen coming into view. (The fourth row shows the same lack of methane variation, but without coloration.) But what about the third row? This shows estimates of aerosol abundance, using visible light and infrared images that haven't been colored. The light areas are cloudy with high aerosol abundance, and the dark areas are clear with low aerosol abundance. What is noteworthy in these images is that there is seasonal variation. The arctic region was clear at the beginning of spring (in 2002), but became cloudy as summer progressed (2012 through 2022). Conversely, the antarctic region appears to have cleared as fall progressed into winter. The team believes that these seasonal changes are evidence that sunlight changes levels of aerosol mist on the planet. Although the results of this study cover a long 20-year period, this still only reflects one period of seasonal change in Uranus' atmosphere. The research team will continue to observe Uranus as the polar regions move into news seasons, to gather more data. This story originally appeared on WIRED Japan and has been translated from Japanese.
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
How a 'mudball' meteorite survived space to land in the jungles of Central America
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The pieces of a meteorite that fell in Costa Rica in 2019 are so unusual that scientists believe it had moved through space relatively unscathed — that is, until it encountered our planet. This is in stark contrast to other typical meteorites that show the wounds of having been in numerous collisions before reaching Earth. The meteorites were recovered from near the Costa Rican town of Aguas Zarcas, and are of a type referred to as 'mudballs', in the sense that they contain water-rich minerals. The findings have resulted in a reappraisal of these so-called mudball meteorites. It had been assumed that their high content of water-rich minerals would make them structurally weaker than other types of meteorites, rendering them more susceptible to damage or burning. But, "Apparently, [the presence of water-rich minerals] … does not mean they are weak," said Peter Jenniskens, a meteor astronomer from the SETI Institute and NASA Ames Research Center in California, in a statement. Scientists say the discovery rivals one of the largest discoveries of meteorites nearly 50 years prior. "Twenty-seven kilograms [60lbs] of rocks were recovered, making this the largest fall of its kind since similar meteorites fell near Murchison in Australia in 1969," said Jenniskens. The Murchison meteorite fall occurred just two months after the Apollo 11 mission. The recovered pieces showed that evidence of having been altered by liquid water on its parent body before an impact smashed apart that parent body and sent the Murchison and, later, the Aguas Zarcas meteoroids spinning into space. (Meteoroids are what we call meteorites when they are in space.) Video camera footage shows the 2019 mudball meteor entering the atmosphere from the west-north-west direction over Costa Rica at a steep, almost vertical angle of 81 degrees, and at a velocity of 9 miles (14.6 kilometers) per second. This steep angle allowed the meteor passed through less of Earth's atmosphere than it would have if it had approached on a shallower angle. That means more of the original meteoroid survived the fiery passage through the sky above Costa Rica. Based on the incoming meteor's trajectory, "We can tell that this object came from a larger asteroid low in the asteroid belt, likely from its outer regions," said Jenniskens. As it entered Earth's atmosphere, the rocky body is estimated to have been about 23.6 inches (60 centimeters) across. Friction with the atmosphere generated heat that melted its surface, stripping away much of the rock in a process known as ablation as it began to burn up. "It penetrated deep into Earth's atmosphere, until the surviving mass shattered at 15.5 miles (25 kilometers) above the Earth's surface, where it produced a bright flash that was detected by satellites in orbit," said Jenniskens. Those satellites were the Geostationary Operational Environment Satellites (GOES) 16 and 17 and their lightning detectors, which are Earth-observing satellites operated by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAO). The fragments scattered themselves across the soft ground of Costa Rican jungle and grasslands, where they were subsequently found by meteorite hunters and volunteers. But the meteorites had a slightly unusual appearance. "The Aguas Zarcas fall produced an amazing selection of fusion-crusted stones with a wide range of shapes," said meteor scientist Laurence Garvie of the Buseck Center for Meteorite Studies at Arizona State University. "Some stones have a beautiful blue iridescence to the fusion crust." The fusion crust is the glassy, melted surface of a meteorite after it has endured ablation. Usually, meteorites have some flat sides, where they have broken apart as the result of stress fractures in the original meteoroid that were placed there by collisions in space with other meteoroids. The rounded rather than flat shapes of the Aguas Zarcas meteorites suggested that the meteoroid had travelled through space relatively unscathed after being blasted off its parent body. It has even been possible to calculate how long ago that was. Exposure to cosmic rays alters the composition of a meteoroid, so the degree of alteration tells us how long a meteoroid has been in space after breaking off its parent body. "The last collision experienced by this rock was two million years ago," said cosmochemist Kees Welton of UC Berkeley, who led this part of the study. "After getting loose, it took two million years to hit the tiny target of Earth, all the time avoiding getting cracked," added Jenniskens. This seems surprisingly recent, given the 4.6-billion-year history of the solar system. "We know of other Murchison-like meteorites that broke off at approximately the same time [as Murchison], and likely in the same event, but most broke much more recently," said Welton, with the Aguas Zarcas meteorites exemplifying the point. RELATED STORIES: — What are meteorites? — Watch (and hear!) a meteorite impact on doorbell camera video in a world 1st — Meteorites could have brought all 5 genetic 'letters' of DNA to early Earth Perhaps it is appropriate that the last word goes to Gerado Soto of the University of Costa Rica in San José, who draws similarities with the Murchison meteorite fall and its closeness in time to Apollo 11. "The fall of Aguas Zarcas was huge news in the country. No other fireball was as widely reported and then recovered as stones on the ground in Costa Rica in the past 150 years," he said. "The recovery of Aguas Zarcas [meteorites], too, was a small step for man, but a giant leap in meteoritics." The findings were published on March 29 in the journal Meteoritics & Planetary Science.
Forbes
01-04-2025
- Science
- Forbes
Mars Moons Phobos And Deimos Are Not Captured Asteroids, Says Paper
artist's interpretation of the red planet Mars' mysterious moons of Deimos and Phobos have long puzzled planetary scientists. For decades, it was thought that they were simply asteroids that had been gravitationally captured into Mars' orbit. But in the last decade or so, planetary theorists have warmed to the notion that the most likely scenario for the origin of both moons stems from a large Mars impactor creating a debris ring around the red planet from which both moons may have coalesced. It's also possible that Deimos and Phobos formed from the same disk of material that formed Mars itself, some 4.6 billion years ago. Yet a new paper accepted for publication by The Planetary Science Journal confirms that neither moon was gravitationally captured by Mars. Today, the moons orbit Mars at average distances that range from some 23,463 km for Deimos to only 9376 km for Phobos. Even so, the authors are still puzzled over whether Phobos, in particular, formed early or late. Phobos could have formed billions of years ago at more than twice its current distance from Mars, or it could have formed only 100 million years ago some 20 percent further away from Mars, Matija Cuk, the paper's lead author and a planetary dynamicist at the SETI Institute in Mountain View, Calif., told me via email. Mars with its two cratered moons Phobos and Deimos. Elements of this image furnished by NASA. We included "lumps" in Mars' gravity field, and also the full gravity of the Sun, says Cuk. Our model also used direct numerical simulations, meaning that we modeled orbits from scratch and do not use time-saving approximations, he says. Even so, the dominant hypothesis now is that they both may have formed from the aftermath of a large impactor that formed a debris disk around Mars, says Cuk. As for their being captured asteroids? Phobos and Deimos have orbits that are close to the Mars' equator, indicating their formation from a circumplanetary disk, the authors write. This means that they formed there and were not gravitationally captured by Mars, says Cuk. Yet Phobos is particularly puzzling. Phobos orbits faster than Mars spins, so it rises in the West and sets in the East, says Cuk. Because of this, Phobos' own gravity causes a slight flexing of Mars' surface which over time causes this Martian moon's orbit to decay and move closer to the red planet's surface, he says. Question is: How long has Phobos been moving inward and from where and when did it form? There are two distinct theories, one that Phobos formed relatively close to Deimos billions of years ago, and the other is that Mars has a repeating cycle of moons breaking into rings which then form new moons, says Cuk. Phobos is now spiraling into Mars and will be gravitationally pulled apart by Mars' gravity and within a few tens of millions of years, Phobos will become a ring of debris, says Cuk. It's a process that can repeat again and again. Each successive inspiralling moon will be torn apart which will result in the creation of a new ring of debris from which another moon will form. This would likely mean that Phobos and its predecessors were each relatively short lived. This would explain why we appear to have caught Phobos in the final stages of its life, says Cuk. Just based on the current orbits of Phobos and Deimos, we cannot tell how old Phobos is and how much its orbit has changed over time, says Cuk. Deimos is almost certainly billions of years old, while Phobos is either more than four plus billion years old, or some 100 to 200 million years old, he says. Either scenario could be true, says Cuk. As for which moon is most scientifically interesting? I prefer Deimos, says Cuk. Unlike Phobos, it has not moved much, and Deimos' orbital tilt may be the only evidence that Mars had other moons in the past, he says. But as Cuk points out, we are likely to know more about Phobos first, since Japan is launching its Martian Moons eXploration mission in 2026. If successful, MMX will return a Phobos sample back to Earth potentially decades before NASA returns samples from Mars' surface.
