Unistellar produces some of the most impressive smart telescopes out there, making finding celestial bodies and aligning the telescope to their location as easy as performing a few taps on a tablet. Problem is, their previous telescopes were tuned towards observing distant objects, requiring you to do a whole lot of manual fiddling with the focus when observing nearby objects in our own galaxies. The Unistellar Odyssey Pro eliminates that.
Equipped with smart autofocus, the device can now handle focusing shots on its own, further eliminating any tedious fiddling on your part. It does this for objects both near and far, too, so it will optimize the focus both when viewing nearby moons and planets in our solar system, as well as when viewing distant nebulae and star clusters out in deep space.
The Unistellar Odyssey Pro employs the outfit’s Multi-Depth technology that allows it to focus clearly on both nearby celestial bodies and distant stellar objects, allowing you to quickly switch from viewing distant stars to a close-up of our moon without any loss in quality. When aligned towards nearby planets like Jupiter or Mars that appear bright on the optics, it uses the full resolution of the onboard sensor, all while switching to a pixel-binning algorithm that stacks multiple images into one to boost its light gathering ability when aimed at dimmer, more distant objects.
It also uses a new high-performance optical tube that’s developed with Nikon. According to the outfit, this particular system eliminates the realignment occasionally required by telescope mirrors, which can prove to be a daunting task for many amateur astronomers. This allowed them to deliver powerful optics without having to worry about putting heavier maintenance requirements on the users.
The Unistellar Odyssey Pro comes with an optical viewfinder, in case you prefer looking at the stars using a more traditional eyepiece, although most folks will probably prefer the more convenient option of just viewing them through the companion app, where you can also take snapshots for your own collection of space photos. The app, by the way, comes with a database for over 5,000 celestial objects and 37 million stars, allowing you to simply pick out a specific moon, star, or nebula, then have the telescope automatically align itself to aim at that exact position in the sky. Keeping track of what’s being observed is automatic as well, with the telescope’s onboard motors handling all the small movements necessary to counteract the Earth’s continuous rotation.
As with their previous telescopes like the eVscope, this new one can work even in heavily light-polluted areas, courtesy of a new high-sensitivity sensor and smart image processing that can wade through all the light pollution in your city to give you a clear view of the night skies. Other details include a 33.6 x 45 degree field of view, a 320mm focal length, an 85 mirror diameter, 64GB of built-in storage for all your photos, and even a battery rated at up to five hours of operation, so you can use it outdoors with no power outlet in sight.
The Unistellar Odyssey Pro was announced at CES 2024, where it’s scheduled to come on the show floor. It’s available now, priced at $3,999.
