Vaonis Hestia Overview: (Type of) Turning Telephones into Telescopes

Whether or not you contemplate the Vaonis Hestia a telescope or a monocular system depends upon the way you interpret its strengths and weaknesses. It’s neither a full-fledged telescope nor outfitted with the form of specialised gear Vaonis consists of in its far costlier fashions.

Beginning at $250, the Hestia is way more reasonably priced by comparability, although its worth proposition is that it makes use of the capabilities of the smartphone you connect to it. Particularly when it’s a reasonably easy setup with out the requisite information of astrophotography. Even your astronomy information will be restricted earlier than you level this factor on the sky.

Earlier than I dive in, it’s necessary to level out that Vaonis doesn’t qualify the Hestia as a wise telescope. So, if it’s not a telescope, what precisely is it? I can’t make certain, to be trustworthy. The corporate calls it an “optical system” on its web site, however because it’s not all that adjustable, a monocular may be extra apt on this case.

Design and Setup

The Hestia is a passive system, that means you don’t should cost a battery or set up firmware to get it to work. My overview unit included the tripod and photo voltaic eclipse lens filter, each of that are bought individually as equipment. You would use your personal tripod and connect the unit utilizing the usual thread mount beneath, whereas the photo voltaic filter is a should for taking pictures of the Solar.

The optics on the Hestia itself aren’t expansive, leaving you with a hard and fast 25x magnification primarily based on Vaonis’ specs. Thus, your cellphone’s picture sensor does the heavy lifting on truly capturing no matter it could see whereas peering by means of the viewfinder.

Two magnetic brackets preserve the cellphone in place when you line it up with the viewfinder. They will transfer anyplace alongside the complete floor to accommodate any system, and whereas fairly sturdy, might additionally transfer slightly too simply in the event you attempt to make tiny changes within the alignment. To really get it proper, nevertheless, it is advisable use the Gravity by Vaonis app, which makes use of a inexperienced circle with a reticle to assist line up the cellphone’s lens. It’s not a constantly easy expertise; it could take just a few tries earlier than you get it proper.

Technically, you need to use any lens in your cellphone to do that, however you’re left with a troublesome alternative both manner. A cellphone’s essential lens often has the most effective picture sensor whereas its telephoto lens can add extra focal size. However since stargazing and astrophotography do higher with wider apertures, the primary lens additionally tends to win on the market.

The Hestia is in the end agnostic as to which cellphone you utilize. Android or iOS doesn’t matter, although outcomes might range relying on how good the optics in your cellphone are. I examined it with the iPhone 15 Professional and varied Android telephones to get a way of the outcomes with totally different gadgets.

The Hestia equipment has a tripod, photo voltaic filter, and photo voltaic pointer. The pointer attaches to the aspect to assist line up with the Solar however in any other case doesn’t do something for nighttime use. You should use the Hestia with any tripod; solely this one is specifically designed for the system. It’s simply too dangerous it isn’t as sturdy accurately, notably when adjusting the angle and discovering the suitable spot.

Utilizing Gravity to Shoot for the Stars

The Gravity app gives other ways to seize celestial factors of curiosity, particularly the Solar and Moon, in addition to sure stars and planets. You received’t get too near the latter due to the restricted magnification, however the Solar and Moon are a lot simpler to seize.

There are Day and Evening modes, in addition to particular ones for Surroundings, Deep Sky, and Planet. As of this overview, the iOS model gives star monitoring, whereas the Android one doesn’t. Vaonis says it’s nonetheless creating that characteristic for Android, so the iOS app holds an edge for now. An organization rep additionally identified that the app remains to be in “beta mode,” although upcoming updates will “improve the general person expertise.”

Loads of useful tutorials and suggestions come up alongside the best way, serving to you higher perceive what to do and the best way to set issues as much as seize what you need. Essentially the most vital variable is mild air pollution, which naturally limits visibility however makes it tougher to know precisely the place to level for sure stars. Faucet Deep Sky, and a grid of stars and methods pop up with the route and elevation. For instance, in southern Ontario (Canada), the Albireo star within the Cygnus constellation can be to the west at 287°. Every star within the app’s catalog presents this type of information. It could inform you the best way to land on the proper location, besides the trial-and-error search solely exposes the problem in holding the tripod regular and easy alongside the best way.

The app doesn’t point out modifications to the sky utilizing the Bortle scale, so it received’t do something to both warn or keep off mild air pollution. Not surprisingly, the most effective outcomes come from areas the place city lights are few and darkish skies are plentiful.

Picture High quality and Accuracy

I first examined the Hestia in the course of the photo voltaic eclipse on April 8, 2024, and located it fairly straightforward to make use of. I might do nothing in regards to the cloud cowl that sadly restricted visibility the place I used to be in Toronto, however I nonetheless obtained some first rate pictures. The issue I initially encountered was not absolutely understanding how the focusing labored.

There are two methods to lock in focus, they usually primarily work collectively. You may rotate the main focus ring on the Hestia itself, however you additionally should provoke the main focus assistant to sharpen the topic additional. The app takes a burst of pictures at barely totally different focal lengths, and also you then select the one which’s sharpest so you understand what share garners the most effective outcomes. I didn’t do that as successfully that day, however I additionally needed to take care of some cloud cowl and a Solar that moved rapidly.

I realized the nuances and fared higher in a while with the Moon as a result of it was a lot simpler to handle. Lining it up isn’t laborious, and as soon as you discover the right focus, outcomes can look good, with the floor craters and textures being extremely seen. In contrast to the Moon pictures taken from telephones that provide a “Supermoon” or Moon mode, no AI or trickery is imposed on the picture.

As for stars and planets, it’s laborious to seize a lot of something in the event you dwell in a serious metropolis’s suburbs. The app additionally isn’t the easiest way to trace them down, both. You may attempt different apps like Stellarium and Evening Sky to hone in on the precise spots, however that additionally requires having a second cellphone on you. It issues as a result of attempting to isolate topics tens of millions of miles away requires quite a lot of precision. Shifting the Hestia ever so barely can take every little thing out of the body, forcing you to recalibrate.

Timelapse pictures can be very powerful to tug off. For one, it’s not automated, so it’s a must to manually seize a photograph each 10 seconds or so by tapping the shutter on the cellphone every time. That’s not enjoyable or economical in the event you’re attempting to seize a 60- or 120-minute timelapse. Vaonis tells me there’s a probability of an computerized observe accent to alleviate that, however there’s no phrase on whether or not such a factor will ever see the sunshine of day (or evening).

Are There Options?

The Hestia is sensible in the event you’re an actual fan of capturing the Moon and Solar. It’s simply that Vaonis’ different merchandise, the Vespera 2 and Stellina, are much more superior compared as a result of they’re true good telescopes. They’re additionally significantly costlier at $1,690 and $4,000, respectively. These use the cellphone’s GPS to extra precisely pinpoint precisely the place to place the Hestia, in addition to computerized monitoring and the power to avoid wasting pictures in varied file varieties, together with RAW and TIFF.

In any other case, stargazing gadgets aren’t all that widespread. The Hestia is a singular product as a result of it’s not a standalone system however a cellphone accent to amplify astrophotography. The issue is that even in the event you use it with the cellphone’s built-in digital camera app — say, with a Pixel’s Astrophotography mode — the outcomes received’t essentially come out trying nice. The primary cause is that the magnification can throw off the cellphone digital camera’s focus, resulting in blurry or out-of-focus photos.

Like another monoculars or good telescopes, the Dwarf 3 Good Telescope doesn’t use the cellphone’s optics however does require a cellphone to regulate and visualize what it sees. At $500, it’s additionally pricier than the Hestia, however price contemplating in the event you desire higher glass and a bigger picture sensor.

Ought to You Purchase It?

Possibly. You would need to be actually into astrophotography and be keen to push the Hestia to its most potential to get full bang to your buck. It’s additionally perfect in the event you dwell the place darker skies are the norm.