If you've been scrolling through astrophotography discussion boards or Instagram lately, you've almost certainly seen the spacecat telescope making a good appearance in someone's backyard setup. It's hard to miss, honestly. With its distinct appearance which unmistakable kitty logo, it's turn out to be a bit of a cult favorite among people who like taking pictures associated with the stars with no hauling around a massive, heavy rig. I've spent the good chunk associated with time messing close to with one of these, and I actually figured it had been well worth breaking down what actually makes this special—and where it might flunk.
What Is This particular Thing, Anyway?
To obtain the technical naming taken care of, the spacecat telescope is component of the Bill Optics RedCat 51 series. Specifically, the particular "SpaceCat" was a limited-edition run along with a sleek grey and black finish off, though internally it's pretty much just like the bright red version everyone understands. It's a 51mm aperture refractor along with a 250mm focal length, which places it firmly within the "wide-field" category.
What's interesting about it will be that it doesn't really look such as a traditional telescope. It looks course of action more like the high-end camera lens. It's small, it's chunky in a good way, also it feels like this could survive being tossed inside a back pack for a walk to a dark-sky site. For someone with this problem who gets fed up with lugging 50-pound mounts and giant tubes around, that portability is the massive selling point perfect out of the gate.
The Beauty of the Petzval Design
One of the particular biggest headaches in astrophotography is backfocus. If you've actually tried to attach an ardent astronomy digital camera to a standard refractor, you know the pain of buying specific spacers to get the sensor precisely 55mm (or whatever the spec is) away from the flattener. If you're off by actually a millimeter, your stars in the corners start looking such as little seagulls.
The spacecat telescope uses what's known as a Petzval optical design. Without getting too bogged lower in the physics, what this means for you are that there is absolutely no specific backfocus requirement. As long because you can get the in focus, area is flat. This can be a huge deal. You are able to swap between the DSLR, a mirrorless camera, or a cooled CMOS camera based on a filter tires, and you also don't possess to buy a whole new set of extension tubes every single time. It simply works. For newbies, this particular removes probably the most irritating barriers to access in the hobby.
That Smart Little Bahtinov Mask
One associated with my favorite "why doesn't everyone do this particular? " highlights of the spacecat telescope is definitely hidden right within the lens cap. If you unscrew the very front of the cap, there's a built-in Bahtinov mask.
If you haven't used one just before, a Bahtinov cover up is a plastic grid that produces a specific diffraction pattern on brilliant stars. It helps you nail your concentrate perfectly. Normally, a person have to purchase these separately, and you're constantly dropping them in the particular grass at 2: 00 AM. Having it integrated into the particular lens cap is just brilliant style. It shows that will individuals who constructed this actually invest time outside in the dark having photos themselves.
Small Scope, Big Views
Considering that it only has a 250mm central length, you aren't going to end up being taking close-up shots of Saturn's bands or tiny distant galaxies with this particular thing. If that's what you're after, you'll be let down. But that's not really what it's regarding.
The spacecat telescope is built for the "big stuff. " We're speaking about the Andromeda Galaxy, the Orion Nebula, or the enormous The united states Nebula. Because the field of view is so wide, it's much more forgiving on your monitoring mount. You don't necessarily need a multi-thousand-dollar mount in order to get sharp pictures. Even a little star tracker are designed for the weight and focal length associated with the SpaceCat very easily.
The glass quality is furthermore surprisingly good. This uses FPL-53 artificial fluorite glass, which usually basically means a person don't get that will annoying purple fringing (chromatic aberration) about bright stars. The stars come out small, sharp, and around right to the edges of the particular frame, even in the event that you're using a full-frame sensor.
It's Not All Sunshine and Rainbows
I want to be fair here—it's not an ideal piece of gear. The most common complaint I actually hear, and one particular I've experienced myself personally, is the helical focuser. Instead of a knob that moves the tube in and away, you twist the particular barrel of the particular telescope just like a digital camera lens.
On one hands, it's very accurate. On the other, this can be a little stiff, especially when the temperature falls. If you're somebody who would like to use an electronic auto-focuser (EAF), it's a little more of a task to obtain one installed when compared with a traditional rack-and-pinion focuser. There are kits on the market now to make it work, yet it's an additional step and extra money.
Furthermore, let's discuss the price. For a 51mm aperture, it's not exactly inexpensive. You will find "budget" 50mm or 60mm refractors to get a lot less, however you usually finish up spending the difference on field flatteners and adapters anyway. You're paying for the convenience and the build quality here.
Who is definitely the SpaceCat intended for?
I believe this particular scope hits a very specific nice spot. If you're a landscape photographer who wants in order to transition into deep-sky stuff, the spacecat telescope feels quite familiar. It matches on your tripod, it uses your existing cameras, plus it doesn't need a PhD in optical engineering to setup.
It's also great for the veteran who desires a "travel rig. " Sometimes a person don't wish to invest two hours placing up a complicated system. Sometimes you just want to visit a dark site, plopping a little tracker down, and let the SpaceCat do its factor while you sit back with a thermos of coffee.
Final Thoughts
All in all, the spacecat telescope is 1 of those uncommon pieces of gear that actually lives up to the buzz. It's cute, certain, but it's a significant tool. It takes the frustration away of wide-field image resolution and replaces this with a set up that's just enjoyable to use.
Is it the only telescope you'll ever need? Probably not—eventually, you'll want more "reach" for smaller objects. But as a starting point or a portable secondary rig, it's difficult to beat. It's got a long term spot within my equipment bag, mostly because it just remains out of the way and lets me focus upon the best part of the hobby: actually seeing what's out there within the night skies.
If you possibly can find one (since they have a tendency to sell out or go out of stock frequently), and you're into wide, cinematic shots of the cosmos, it's a solid investment. You need to be prepared for people to ask a person why your camera lens has the cat onto it while you're out from the local star party.