My Honest Thoughts on the SpaceCat Telescope
If you've been moving through astrophotography discussion boards or Instagram lately, you've almost certainly seen the spacecat telescope making a good appearance in someone's backyard setup. It's difficult to miss, truthfully. With its distinct appearance which unmistakable kitty logo, it's become a bit of a cult favorite among people who like taking pictures of the stars without hauling around the massive, heavy rig. I've spent a good chunk associated with time messing about with one of these, and I actually figured it was worthy of breaking down exactly what actually makes this special—and where this might flunk.
What Is This particular Thing, Anyway?
To find the technical naming taken care of, the spacecat telescope is component of the Bill Optics RedCat fifty-one series. Specifically, the "SpaceCat" was a limited-edition run along with a sleek gray and black finish off, though internally it's pretty much just like the bright reddish version everyone understands. It's a 51mm aperture refractor with a 250mm key length, which places it firmly within the "wide-field" category.
What's interesting about it is that it doesn't really look such as a traditional telescope. It looks way more like the high-end camera lens. It's small, it's chunky in a good way, also it feels like this could survive becoming tossed in a backpack for a walk to a dark-sky site. For someone like me who will get tired of lugging 50-pound mounts and large tubes around, that will portability is a massive feature right out of the gate.
The Beauty of the particular Petzval Design
One of the biggest headaches within astrophotography is backfocus. If you've actually tried to attach a dedicated astronomy digital camera to some standard refractor, you know the discomfort of buying accurate spacers to get the sensor precisely 55mm (or no matter what the spec is) away from the flattener. If you're off by actually a millimeter, your stars in the sides start looking like little seagulls.
The spacecat telescope uses what's known as a Petzval optic design. Without getting too bogged straight down in the physics, what this means for you are that there is absolutely no specific backfocus requirement. As long as you can obtain the in concentrate, the field is flat. This can be a huge deal. You are able to swap between the DSLR, a mirrorless camera, or a cooled CMOS digital camera based on a filter wheels, and you don't have got to purchase an entire new set associated with extension tubes each time. It simply works. For newbies, this particular removes probably the most annoying barriers to entry in the pastime.
That Clever Little Bahtinov Face mask
One associated with my personal favorite "why doesn't everyone do this? " popular features of the particular spacecat telescope is usually hidden right within the lens cap. If you unscrew the very front associated with the cap, there's a built-in Bahtinov mask.
If you haven't used one before, a Bahtinov face mask is a plastic grid that creates a specific diffraction pattern on vivid stars. It helps a person nail your concentrate perfectly. Normally, you have to purchase these separately, and you're constantly shedding them in the particular grass at 2: 00 AM. Having it incorporated into the lens cap is definitely just brilliant design. It shows that will people who constructed this actually spend time outside within the dark using photos themselves.
Small Scope, Big Views
Since it only has a 250mm central length, you aren't going to become taking close-up photos of Saturn's rings or tiny distant galaxies with this particular thing. If that's what you're after, you'll be disappointed. But that's not what it's regarding.
The spacecat telescope is built intended for the "big stuff. " We're talking about the Andromeda Universe, the Orion Nebula, or the enormous North America Nebula. Due to the fact the field of view is really broad, it's much more forgiving on your monitoring mount. You don't necessarily need a multi-thousand-dollar mount to get sharp images. Even a small star tracker can handle the weight plus focal length associated with the SpaceCat very easily.
The glass quality is furthermore surprisingly good. It uses FPL-53 artificial fluorite glass, which basically means a person don't get that annoying purple fringing (chromatic aberration) close to bright stars. The stars emerge small, sharp, and round right to the particular edges of the particular frame, even in case you're utilizing a full-frame sensor.
It's Not All Sunshine and Rainbows
I want in order to be fair here—it's not an ideal piece of equipment. The most typical complaint We hear, and a single I've experienced personally, is the helical focuser. Instead of a knob that will moves the pipe in and out, you twist the particular barrel of the telescope similar to a camera lens.
On one hand, it's very exact. For the other, it can be a little stiff, especially whenever the temperature falls. If you're someone who wants to make use of an electronic auto-focuser (EAF), it's a bit more of a task to obtain one installed in comparison to a traditional rack-and-pinion focuser. Right now there are kits out there now to make it work, but it's an extra step and additional money.
Furthermore, let's talk about the particular price. For the 51mm aperture, it's not exactly inexpensive. You will find "budget" 50mm or 60mm refractors for the lot less, however you usually finish up spending the difference on industry flatteners and adapters anyway. You're spending money on the convenience and the build quality right here.
Who will be the SpaceCat intended for?
I believe this scope hits the very specific sweet spot. If you're a landscape professional photographer who wants to transition into deep-sky stuff, the spacecat telescope feels extremely familiar. It fits on your tripod, it uses your existing cameras, plus it doesn't require a PhD within optical engineering to build.
It's furthermore great for the seasoned pro who wants a "travel rig. " Sometimes you don't wish to spend two hours setting up a complicated system. Sometimes a person just want to go to a dark site, plopping a little tracker down, and let the SpaceCat do its point when you sit back with a thermos of coffee.
Final Thoughts
At the end of the day, the spacecat telescope is one of those rare pieces of equipment that truly lives upward to the buzz. It's cute, sure, but it's a serious tool. It takes the frustration out of wide-field imaging and replaces this with a setup that's just enjoyable to use.
Is it the only telescope you'll ever need? Probably not—eventually, you'll want more "reach" for smaller items. But as a starting place or a transportable secondary rig, it's difficult to beat. It's got a long lasting spot inside my gear bag, mostly mainly because it just remains out of the particular way and lets me focus on want to know the best part of the particular hobby: actually seeing what's on the market in the night heavens.
If you can find one (since they have a tendency to sell out or proceed out of share frequently), and you're into wide, cinematic shots of the cosmos, it's a solid investment. Just be prepared for individuals to ask a person why your digital camera lens has the cat onto it while you're out at the local star party.