Armchair observing with the SeeStar S50

 A clear sky but cold termperature was good motivation for trying out the ZWO SeeStar S50, which has been sitting idle since the return to Santa Fe.  The SeeStar is an automated imaging telescope that can be controlled via Bluetooth or wifi with an app on a phone or tablet.  The telescope objective is a 50mm f/5 apochromatic triplet and the imaging chip is a Sony IMX462.  The chip has 2.9-micron pixels in a 1920 x 1080 array.  The field of view is 1.27 deg x 0.71 deg.

The unit was leveled on its tripod in the house, then carried outside and deposited on the concrete patio.  After powering up the scope, I retreated to the warmth of the house and settled into a comfy armchair to begin the observing session.  

The following images were post-processed from the internally-stored FITS files rather than the JPEG files that are transferred to the iPad.  Both file types are automatic stacks of 10-sec sub exposures.  All imaging parameters were the default settings. 

The measured sky brightness was sqml=19.72 mpsas to the north and 19.43 to the south.

M1, the Crab Nebula in Taurus. 5 min.

M35 in Gemini. 2 min.

M36, the Pinwheel Cluster in Auriga. 3 min.

M37 in Auriga. 3 min.

M38, the Starfish Cluster, in Auriga. 3 min.

M42, the Orion Nebula.  5 min.

M45, the Pleiades. 3 min.

Galaxy M81 (Bode's Nebula) in Ursa Major. 8 min.

The Horse Head Nebula (IC 434) in Orion.  8 min.

NGC 7789, Caroline's Rose, in Cassiopeia. 5 min.

NGC 457, the Owl Cluster in Cassiopeia. 2 min.

NGC 869 and 884, the Double Cluster, in Perseus. 2 min.

SeeStar S50. The lens shade is an add-on accessory by Omegon.