{"id":62652,"date":"2024-08-18T07:45:00","date_gmt":"2024-08-18T07:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4a5a253a-0bd5-4be6-b77d-676c934d9ad4"},"modified":"2024-08-18T08:39:42","modified_gmt":"2024-08-18T08:39:42","slug":"vaonis-hestia-telescope-enables-you-to-photograph-the-night-sky-with-your-smartphone-we-put-it-to-the-test","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/vaonis-hestia-telescope-enables-you-to-photograph-the-night-sky-with-your-smartphone-we-put-it-to-the-test\/","title":{"rendered":"Vaonis Hestia telescope enables you to photograph the night sky with your smartphone. We put it to the test."},"content":{"rendered":"

Add your phone to this manual device to turn it into a smart scope. <\/p>

By Iain Todd\n <\/p>

Published: Sunday, 18 August 2024 at 07:45 AM<\/p>

\n\n

The Vaonis Hestia is designed as a convenient way to capture astrophotos using a smartphone as a viewfinder.<\/p>

Roughly the size of a lunchbox or a weighty novel, it promises to be a travel-friendly telescope that can be taken anywhere and used any time.<\/p>

We tested the \u2018Ultimate pack\u2019, which includes the Hestia, tripod, solar filter and carry case. Options with fewer accessories are also available.<\/p>

Read our top pick of Wi-Fi and smartphone telescopes<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>

Using your smartphone with the Vaonis Hestia<\/strong><\/h2>

Like Vaonis\u2019s Vespera<\/a> smart telescopes, the Hestia connects to your smartphone, but it\u2019s an altogether different approach<\/p>

Instead of using a telescope with integrated sensor to take images, the Vaonis Hestia relies on the smartphone\u2019s camera. The product itself has built-in optics to provide 25x magnification.<\/p>

The way it works is akin to using your smartphone to take images through a regular telescope\u2019s eyepiece.<\/p>

Known as afocal photography, that technique involves lining up a smartphone\u2019s camera perfectly with an eyepiece \u2013 and often presents challenges to get the alignment right, even with a smartphone-to-telescope adaptor<\/a>.<\/p>

Using the Hestia is similar, but instead of a clamp, two magnetic brackets cradle your smartphone.<\/p>

We found they worked well, but it was still necessary to nudge them into place so that the camera lens sat directly across the ocular.\u00a0<\/p>

Once in place, the Gravity app helped us locate and compose various targets, from the Moon and Sun (using the supplied solar filter) to the 40 or so star clusters and bright deep-sky objects in its internal catalogue.<\/p>

To image deep-sky objects, we noted one of the latest smartphones \u2013 such as an iPhone 13, Galaxy S22 Ultra or Pixel 5 and newer \u2013 is required.\u00a0<\/p>

\"Vaonis<\/figure>

Setting up<\/strong><\/h2>

Getting the Hestia focused is best done in daylight so you can use a distant tree or chimney pot to focus on, but we discovered we had to be very careful to extract the smartphone afterwards without moving the magnetic brackets.<\/p>

The Hestia has a 3\/8-inch tripod thread on its undercarriage, so it can be attached to any full-size photographic tripod.<\/p>

Vaonis does provide a tripod and a pan-and-tilt head in the Ultimate pack, but we found early on that the head\u2019s lever interfered with the tripod and made positioning the Hestia difficult.<\/p>

\"Vaonis<\/figure>

How the Vaonis Hestia performs<\/strong><\/h2>

The Vaonis Hestia has no automatic Go-To function and lacks a motorised mount, so it can\u2019t track objects.<\/p>

That could soon change, but for now it\u2019s a manual affair via the Gravity app, which gives various observing options: scenery, Sun, eclipse, Moon, deep-sky and planet (the eclipse mode is a clue to this product\u2019s original intended market, observers of North America\u2019s total eclipse in April 2024).<\/p>

\"Vaonis<\/figure>

The most ambitious is deep-sky mode, which stacks together multiple long exposures to build an image.<\/p>

Gravity used our smartphone\u2019s GPS and its in-built plate solving to provide instructions to locate these objects. On a sturdier tripod this process worked well.<\/p>

Once deep-sky objects were located, the shutter button initiated 30 exposures and stacked the image in about a minute.<\/p>

It impressed with basic but clear images of the Hercules Cluster<\/a>, M13, and the Ring Nebula<\/a>, M57, in light-polluted conditions.<\/p>

\"vaonis<\/figure>

While the app\u2019s deep-sky catalogue is limited, if you can aim the Hestia manually, you can image any object.\u00a0<\/p>

With the solar filter attached, we turned to imaging the Sun. Once located, we noted that the image was marred with glare, despite the filter.<\/p>

Sunspots were visible, but the overall image was pale and lacking in both colour and contrast.\u00a0<\/p>

Across its various modes, focusing was hit and miss.<\/p>

The Gravity app has an electronic focusing slider that can be used while the Hestia is pointed at an object, but we didn\u2019t find it overly effective.<\/p>

\"vaonis<\/figure>

Cue Gravity\u2019s focus assistant wizard, which took a total of 21 separate frames at different focus points. We could then scan through these to choose the sharpest.<\/p>

It was a quick process for the Sun and Moon, but took several minutes for deep-sky objects.\u00a0<\/p>

The Vaonis Hestia does not produce super-sharp images, but its results are fine for sharing on social media and rewarding for new astrophotographers who want to maximise their smartphone\u2019s capabilities.<\/p>

The first smartphone-based telescope is enjoyable to use, yet we felt that improvements to the model are inevitable. We\u2019re excited to see what the Vaonis Hestia becomes.<\/p>

\"Vaonis<\/figure>

Vaonis Hestia’s Moon mode<\/strong><\/h2>

Lunar images are the Hestia\u2019s speciality.<\/p>

Easy to find in the night sky and not requiring the use of any filters, it\u2019s an object that easily fits into the Hestia\u2019s 1.8\u00b0 field of view, allowing us to capture some lovely images across several sessions.<\/p>

Using the Gravity app\u2019s Moon mode also provided handy information on the Moon\u2019s phase, rise and set times for our location.<\/p>

\"Vaonis<\/figure>

After positioning our smartphone on the Hestia using the magnetic brackets, we selected Moon mode.<\/p>

The focus within the app was initially set at 50%, but we adjusted it to 0% and then used the manual focus ring to achieve a rough initial focus.<\/p>

While it provided a good starting point, the action of rotating the focus ring could introduce vibrations.\u00a0<\/p>

However, focus could then be further refined by using our smartphone\u2019s built-in camera app to take images, experimenting with autofocus or trying Gravity\u2019s focus assistant to zoom in and ensure our images were sharp.<\/p>

The resulting images could then be uploaded to a computer and adjusted with image-editing software if desired.<\/p>

\"Vaonis<\/figure>

Vaonis Hestia 5 best features<\/strong><\/h2>

Solar filter<\/strong><\/h3>

The 3cm-diameter solar filter supplied with the Hestia Ultimate pack is essential to safely capture images of the Sun without risking eyesight or equipment. Simply screw it into the optical system and select \u2018Day mode\u2019 in the Gravity app, which includes details for observing the Sun and its sunspots, as well as partial solar eclipses.\u00a0<\/p>

Ocular<\/strong><\/h3>

The ocular is where the light from the night sky is focused. This is where the lens of a smartphone\u2019s camera must lay across, though it must be an accurate placement to work properly. The ocular has a soft silicon lip to block unwanted external light from the smartphone\u2019s camera.<\/p>

Tripod<\/strong><\/h3>

The Ultimate pack includes a telescopic tripod for the Vaonis Hestia and a pan-and-tilt fluid head with two axes (horizontal and vertical). The three-section tripod weighs 728g and reaches 109cm high. Hestia\u2019s 3\/8-inch thread can also be used with any compatible third-party photography tripod.<\/p>

Phone brackets<\/strong><\/h3>

The removable brackets consist of two magnets, each 6cm long and attached to an L-shaped piece of plastic. When positioned on the top of the Hestia, they cradle your smartphone reasonably well. They can then be gently nudged until the camera lens covers the ocular.\u00a0<\/p>

Optical system<\/strong><\/h3>

The Hestia has a patented optical system. Light is collected and then funnelled through a six-lens optical system, comprising a 30mm objective lens and prisms, before exiting the ocular at the top of the product and directing focused light to the camera sensor. The manual focus ring allows rough sharpness adjustments.<\/p>

\"Vaonis<\/figure>

Vital stats<\/strong><\/h2>