Ezzy Pearson rounds up the latest astronomical accessories
1. Astronomy Fluxx
Price £11.99 • Supplier Travelling Man • https://travellingman.com
A space-based card game where the rules are always changing. The cards feature NASA photos of planets, nebulae and galaxies, and a range of space facts. The game is simple enough to play with the whole family, so you can all learn about the cosmos together.
2. Powapacs Atom Pro
Price £239 • Supplier First Light Optics • www.firstlightoptics.com
Getting away from civilisation is a great way to avoid light pollution, but it can be harder to keep your setup powered. This high capacity power station weighs just 2kg, but it can run devices up to 150W. It can connect to a solar panel (sold separately) to charge in the day.
ADVANCED
3. Orion 0.8x Reducer-flattener
Price £212.99 • Supplier Orion • https://uk.telescope.com
Get sharp stars to the edge of your image field with this reducer-flattener. It minimises curvature while reducing the effective focal length of your system to ensure a wider field of view and shorter exposure times. Available in 115mm and 130mm sizes.
4. Baader Zenith Prism Diagonal
Price £110 • Supplier Widescreen Centre • Tel 01353 776199 • www.widescreen-centre.co.uk
Position your eyepiece at a more comfortable viewing angle using this star diagonal. It bends the light path from the telescope to the eyepiece by 90˚; with a T2 internal and external thread it accepts 1.25-inch barrels.
5. Chris Hadfeet space socks
Price £8.50 • Supplier Chatty Feet • www.chattyfeet.com
Need some space in your sock drawer? Then prepare for lift-off with these high-quality socks, featuring a depiction of Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, whose rendition of David Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’ on board the ISS has been watched over 50 million times.
6. Floating Moon lamp
Price £115 • Supplier Present Indicative • www.presentindicative.com
Defy gravity with this hovering Moon lamp. The globe is 3D-printed with the Moon’s topography, while the base contains an electromagnetic mechanism that keeps the globe floating and supplies power wirelessly, allowing the orb to glow in one of three hues.