Practical Astronomy Cut

[dwardio]

I’ve been playing with my new astrophotography device - a Vaonis Hestia - that uses magnetic brackets to allow it to work with many different phones. They allow you to align your phones camera lens with the “eyepiece” of the ‘scope.

The only problem is that the fitted case doesn’t allow you to store it with the brackets in place, meaning you have to realign it every time you set it up.

But I have a Glowforge! I got everything perfectly aligned and broke out my calipers. A few minutes later I cut a prototype out of cardstock, tweaked the fit, and cut this out of thin PG ply:

Now I can go from stowed in its case to ready for solar imaging in just a minute or two.

Here are a few sample images of what I’ve imaged:

[PrintToLaser]

Great practical cut!
How does the magnification on it compare to your new telescope?

[dwardio]

Hard to pin down “traditional” values, but its FoV through its 1.25” objective is perhaps 2-3 times that of the Vespera’s 2” objective.

[dklgood]

Great example of a tool enhancing a different tool.

[rbtdanforth]

Now That is a night light!

[kelley1]

I so love this! My morning routine for news of the world start with visits to Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) and Spaceweather (here). I have a layperson’s enjoyment in astronomy.

[marmak3261]

Perfect timing for having this for solar maximum these days.

[wesleyjames]

Very cool but don’t think I’ll be getting one even for my trip to Texas for the solar eclipse.

[cynd11]

Nice solution to a problem, and it looks great too!