Get People Excited About Astronomy
The StarSplitter Video Astronomy Solution is great for star parties and public outreach. It allows you to look through a telescope with an eyepiece at the same time the included super low-light video camera produces a color image of deep sky objects in real time! No more waiting in line at star parties to try to peer through an eyepiece in the dark. Kids, family, friends, and guests can just look at a video image. If you’ve ever done a star party with kids you know they can have a hard time trying to figure out how to look through an eyepiece and have a tendency to want to grip the telescope to steady themselves. This often throws the telescope off target, requiring you to readjust the telescope. With StarSplitter this is no longer a problem.
Also, many people who wear glasses or have vision that differs from 20-20 will need to adjust the telescope’s focus to see an object visually. This can be awkward and risks having the telescope out of focus for the next person in line. And sometimes people just can’t see the faint object you’re observing. StarSplitter improves all this by eliminating the need to observe through an eyepiece. Kids can just watch the image of a deep sky object on a video monitor. There’s no need to re-focus the scope between observers. Just get the video camera in focus and the image on the TV will be optimal. And because the video camera is so sensitive, everyone will see much more detail. With the eyepiece port always active, your guests can look through the telescope if they want and will contrast what they can see by eye and what they see with the aid of modern camera technology. If you want to explain what you're looking at, it's very easy to point to an image on a TV screen that everyone in the group can see, rather than trying to explain in words an unfamiliar and faint object seen through a telescope eyepiece. And by being displayed on a screen, the view is magnified over what you would perceive through an eyepiece. Clarity is increased because the image is steady and you don't have to hold your eye still to look through an eyepiece. You, your friends, and the public will be excited about astronomy because no longer will deep-sky objects be just fuzzy blobs. You'll be able to see them in detail on a screen and be able to share in the experience together. Case Study: Adler Planetarium in Chicago
Adler Planetarium wanted visitors to be able to look through their solar telescope at the same time they used a camera to obtain high resolution imagery of the sun. They bought a 1.25-inch StarSplitter accessory and are now obtaining clear, high-resolution images of the sun (see image at right) through the right angle StarSplitter port while the public views the sun through an eyepiece on the straight through port.
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The StarSplitter can be used to project real-time video of deep sky objects onto a TV screen so everyone can share in stargazing.
The Lagoon Nebula seen in real time and in color with a StarSplitter Video Astronomy Solution with just an 8-inch telescope!
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