Introduction to Smart Telescopes with Erik Kuna

Photographing galaxies, nebulae, and star clusters used to mean a pretty serious investment in gear, not to mention a lot of time figuring out how to make everything work together.

Smart telescopes have changed that.

In his new class, Erik Kuna introduces you to these compact, all-in-one devices that can find, track, focus, and stack your deep-sky images automatically, all while being controlled from your phone or tablet. Many even come in under $1,000.

Erik explains how smart telescopes work, what kinds of subjects they’re best at photographing, and just as importantly, what they’re not designed to do. He also walks through what to consider when choosing one based on the kinds of deep-sky objects you want to photograph.

Then it’s time to head outside. Erik takes you through your first night with a smart telescope, from getting everything set up to capturing and editing your images.

If you’ve been curious about deep-sky photography but weren’t sure where to begin, this is a great introduction to just how accessible it’s become. Watch Erik tell you more about it in the short video below, and then check out his full class.