Review: Unistellar’s New Odyssey Pro Smart Telescope

Odyssey Pro
Odyssey Pro. Credit: Unistellar

Unistellar’s new Odyssey Pro telescope offers access to deep-sky astrophotography in a small portable package.

Access to the night sky has never been simpler. The last half decade has seen a revolution in backyard astronomy, as ‘smartscopes’—telescopes controlled by smartphone applications—have come to the fore. These offer an easy entry into basic deep sky astrophotography even from bright urban skies, albeit at a higher price point versus traditional telescopes on the market. We’ve reviewed units from Vaonis and Unistellar before, as well as wrote commentary on the rise of the whole smartscope movement. Now, Unistellar has a new entry on the market in 2024: the Odyssey Pro.

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Review: Unistellar’s eQuinox 2 Telescope and New Smart Solar Filter

The Sun on November 27, 2023, observed using the Unistellar eQuinox 2 and the new smart solar filter. Credit: Nancy Atkinson and Unistellar.
The Sun on November 27, 2023, observed using the Unistellar eQuinox 2 and the new smart solar filter. Credit: Nancy Atkinson and Unistellar.

I recently had the chance to try out one of Unistellar’s smart telescopes, the eQuinox 2. Unparalleled in its ease of use, I was literally viewing distant nebula, galaxies, and star clusters within 15 minutes of opening the box.

I also had the opportunity to try out Unistellar’s new Smart Solar Filter, which I’ll discuss more below. But first, more about the telescope itself:

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Unistellar’s Plans for Science and Astronomy in 2022

unistellar
An eQuinox scope, ready for a night's worth of observing. Credit: Dave Dickinson.

Unistellar’s eVscope has proven its ability to do serious astronomy, with more to come in 2022.

There’s a revolution underway in how amateur astronomers contribute to modern astronomy. Smartscopes—telescopes controlled remotely via tablets or smartphones—are making there way into the modern amateur telescope market and out into the field. These have the ability to not only bring deep-sky astronomy to light-polluted urbanites, but to lower the bar for entry into deep-sky astrophotography. One of the leading manufacturers of smartscopes is Unistellar. First offered as a Kickstarter project in 2017, Unistellar’s line now includes the eVscope eQuinox, and the new eVscope2.

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Review: Unistellar’s New eQuinox Telescope

equinox

A leader in the ‘smartscope’ industry releases its exciting new eQuinox telescope.

It’s every amateur astronomer’s dilemma. If you’re like me, the basic equation of ‘should I observe tonight?’ is always up against the same basic equation: is the time and effort worth it? Living under bright downtown urban skies, my options are to either head to the parking garage rooftop (and be restricted to bright targets), or load up, drive for several hours, setup at a remote dark sky site, observe, then repeat the reverse process and head home in the early AM hours…

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