Originally launched a decade ago, the ZWO ASI174MM is a planetary astrophotography camera — something you insert into the eyepiece of a telescope to take images and video of deep-sky objects, planets, the moon and the sun. This one is very much geared towards the latter, with solar and lunar imaging its goal.

At first glance, the specification looks simple: a 2.3MP monochrome Sony IMX174 sensor, 5.86µm pixels, USB 3.0 connectivity and a compact red aluminum body. The important details are the sensor size, speed and global shutter. For lunar and solar imaging, where you often want to capture large areas in high frame rate videos and freeze split-seconds of steady “seeing” — when turbulence in Earth’s atmosphere doesn’t degrade an image of an astronomical object — those traits matter more than headline megapixels.

The ASI174MM is especially attractive for solar imaging with an H-alpha telescope — a filter that blocks all wavelengths of light other than H-alpha, which is emitted by hydrogen atoms. That’s because its 5.86 μm pixels match the focal ratios typical of solar telescopes, yielding sharp, efficient detail. Its relatively large sensor can cover more of the solar disc than many small planetary cameras, while its high frame rate supports the usual lucky-imaging workflow of capturing video, selecting the best frames and stacking them for sharper images.

ZWO ASI174MM astronomy camera: Design

• Compact aluminum camera body
• USB 3.0 and ST4 guide port included
• Useful adapter bundle

The ZWO ASI174MM has a compact, lightweight and practical design that’s ideal for use as a camera attached to a telescope. Its small cylindrical aluminum body adds very little strain to a focuser, solar diagonal or off-axis guider, which is particularly useful when working with solar telescopes.

Usefully, the camera includes a high-speed USB 3.0 connection, which is important because the ASI174MM’s main strength is capturing and transferring many video frames very quickly. It can also be used over USB 2.0, but doing so gives up much of the performance that makes the camera appealing in the first place.

An ST4 guide port adds extra flexibility. Although the ASI174MM is primarily sold as a planetary camera, it can also be used as a guide camera (mounted on top of a main imaging scope to capture a wide field of view), especially with off-axis guiders (a device that sits between a main camera and the telescope to precisely track stars), where the larger sensor helps find guide stars more easily than smaller-chip models.

ZWO ASI174MM astronomy camera: Performance

• Excellent for solar and lunar video capture
• Global shutter is a real advantage
• Large pixels favor longer focal lengths

The ASI174MM’s combination of a relatively large 1/1.2-inch sensor, 5.86µm pixels, and fast video capture makes it particularly well-suited to imaging the sun and moon. Compared with planetary cameras built around smaller sensors, it records a considerably larger area of the telescope’s field of view, reducing the number of panels needed for mosaics and making it easier to locate and frame a target.

That larger sensor is especially useful for solar imaging, which is what we tested it with. The exact field of view depends on the telescope’s focal length, but the ASI174MM can capture larger active regions — and, with some setups, most or all of the solar disc — without immediately requiring a mosaic. For example, we tested it with the Sky-Watcher Heliostar 76Ha solar telescope, for which it is a natural match, where prominences, filaments, sunspots and rapidly changing structures on the solar surface need to be recorded at high speed.

The camera’s global shutter is another advantage for solar imagers. A rolling shutter (the standard choice for deep-sky imaging) records an image progressively, one row of pixels at a time, to produce a low-noise, high-dynamic-range image. However, atmospheric turbulence, which slightly shifts the image, can cause distortion. A global shutter exposes the entire sensor simultaneously, helping the ASI174MM preserve the shape of solar and lunar features more accurately from frame to frame.

High-speed capture also supports lucky imaging. Instead of trying to produce one perfect exposure, the camera records thousands of short exposures in rapid succession. Software then identifies and stacks the sharpest frames — the brief instants when Earth’s turbulent atmosphere becomes relatively steady.

While it’s ideal for solar imaging, the ASI174MM is much less convincing as a conventional deep-sky camera. Long exposures can reveal pronounced amp glow towards one side of the frame, while the uncooled sensor becomes increasingly noisy as exposure times increase. Calibration with dark frames can reduce these effects, but it adds complexity and cannot turn the ASI174MM into a modern cooled deep-sky camera. It can be used for short-exposure imaging, guiding and some specialist applications, but solar, lunar and planetary video remain its natural strengths.

ZWO ASI174MM astronomy camera: Functionality

• Captures good data
• ZWO software works well
• Little guidance available

The ASI174MM fits neatly into the established workflow for solar, lunar and planetary imaging: capture a high-speed video, identify the sharpest frames, align and stack them, then sharpen and process the image. Its fast USB 3.0 connection enables high data transfer rates, while region-of-interest controls allow the user to record only a selected portion of the sensor. Reducing the size of the recorded area can substantially increase the frame rate, which is particularly useful when imaging an individual sunspot.

Several free applications can control the camera and record these videos, including SharpCap and FireCapture. AutoStakkert! is widely used to analyze, align and stack solar, lunar and planetary frames, while programs such as ImPPG, RegiStax, Siril, Adobe Photoshop and GIMP can be used for sharpening, contrast adjustment and final processing. Windows users have the widest choice of third-party astronomy software.

However, ZWO also provides its own free ASIStudio software suite. For the ASI174MM, the most relevant applications are ASICap, which controls the camera and records lossless SER or AVI video, and ASIVideoStack, which analyses and stacks the resulting frames (and can also be used for post-processing). ASIStudio is available for both Windows and macOS.

The basic capture process is straightforward. After connecting the ASI174MM to ASICap, exposure time and gain are adjusted until the brightest areas of the sun or moon remain below saturation. Because this is a monochrome camera, the live view can be shown either in grayscale or with false color applied for easier viewing. A video containing around 1,000 to 3,000 frames is then recorded, though the ideal number depends on the target, seeing conditions and available storage.

Storage requirements are significant. Uncompressed high-frame-rate video from the full sensor can consume several gigabytes in a matter of seconds, so a fast computer, a USB 3.0 connection and plenty of free drive space are essential.

Once a video is loaded into ASIVideoStack, the software can assess frame quality, align the image and combine a chosen percentage of the sharpest frames. The finished stack can be exported in formats including JPEG and FITS. JPEG is convenient for immediate sharing, but FITS preserves more of the original image data and is better suited to serious post-processing.

The workflow is functional rather than polished. There is relatively little guidance for beginners and obtaining the best results requires experimentation with exposure, gain, frame rate, focus, stacking percentages and sharpening settings. It can take many attempts to determine which combination works best with a particular telescope and observing conditions. For that reason, it’s wise to archive the video files, which can be revisited and processed later as processing skills/software improves.

How we tested the ZWO ASI174MM

We tested the ZWO ASI174MM planetary camera for two weeks and used it in conjunction with the Skywatcher HelioStar 76mm solar telescope and Solar Quest mount to image the sun in H-Alpha (Hα).

Should I buy the ZWO ASI174MM?

Buy the ZWO ASI174MM if your main targets are the sun and moon, especially if you want a monochrome camera with a larger-than-average sensor, fast frame rates and a global shutter. It remains particularly suited for H-alpha solar imaging, where monochrome capture, speed and sensor area matter.

If this product isn’t for you

If you want a cheaper first planetary camera, a smaller-sensor ZWO ASI120-series-style camera may be enough for basic lunar, planetary and guiding use, though it will not offer the same field of view.

If you want a more modern planetary camera, look at newer monochrome planetary models like the ZWO ASI585MM with lower read noise, smaller pixels or higher resolution, depending on your telescope’s focal length.

If your goal is deep-sky imaging, a cooled astronomy camera is a better choice than the ASI174MM. We have reviewed the ZWO ASI533MC Pro and the ASI183MC Pro and gave both of them nothing less than four and a half stars for beautiful deep-sky astrophotography.

Finding the sun sounds easy, right? Many people think of the sun as big and bright, but it’s actually rather small in the sky — it’s got an angular diameter of just half a degree, in fact, the same as the moon. Put an all-important solar filter on a telescope, and you’re left with the challenge of finding a tiny orange or white circle in a sea of black. Even if you manage to find the sun, nudging a solar telescope back into position every few minutes to keep it in the field of view quickly gets irritating.

Cue the Sky-Watcher SolarQuest mount, a simple grab-and-go product that exists to solve exactly that problem. Costing around $585/£259-£359 (the latter with a tripod), it is not a general Go-To astronomy mount and it is not trying to be one. It is best understood as a dedicated solar tracking platform for small solar telescopes. That could range from regular telescopes wearing solar filters, most likely during a solar eclipse, to dedicated solar telescopes such as white-light-filtered refractors and H-alpha (Hydrogen-alpha) telescopes designed specifically for viewing the sun.

Sky-Watcher SolarQuest mount head: Design

• Lightweight and compact mount head
• Simple controls make it beginner-friendly
• Vixen-style saddle suits small solar scopes

The SolarQuest mount head weighs just 2.9 lbs/1.3 kg, accepts standard 45mm Sky-Watcher/Vixen-style dovetails and can be fitted to a tripod using a 3/8-inch screw. Meanwhile, the optional tripod is lightweight and easily adjustable, with a bubble level and accessory tray. Whatever tripod you use, it’s imperative to get it stable before using the SolarQuest because its ability to track the sun successfully depends on it.

With the optional aluminum tripod — which we used in our review — the total setup is still only around 9.9 lbs/4.05 kg, making it easy to set up inside and carry into the garden. Eclipse chasers travelling abroad will easily be able to store it in a carry-on camera bag.

The mount itself has very few controls: A power button and an 8-way sliding switch. A long press of the power button finds the sun, with the second used to make manual adjustments. There are no menus and no alignment tasks.

Sky-Watcher SolarQuest mount head: Performance

• Finds the sun automatically in clear conditions
• Fine-tuning controls keep the sun centered
• Works well with solar telescopes

At first glance, the promise of the Sky-Watcher SolarQuest mount head is so simple: you level the tripod using its built-in bubble or spirit level and point the attached telescope somewhere to the left of the sun. You then long-press the power button and step back. The built-in GPS calculates the date, time, and location, as well as the sun’s altitude and azimuth. The mount levels the telescope, pauses, then slews to the right altitude. Then its photodiode solar sensor (a small camera) hunts for the solar disc and locks on. In practice, the system gets impressively close to that ideal — but with some small caveats.

The sun needs to be in a clear sky, but it doesn’t have to be high. We reviewed the SolarQuest during a summer heatwave, when getting up very early was the only sensible way to observe the sun. Having got up early to take advantage of the cool morning air before the sun rose too high, we feared the SolarQuest would fail to find such a low sun. Luckily, there were no such issues, with SolarQuest taking just under 60 seconds to be perfectly aligned with the sun.

For visual observing, that’s transformative. Instead of spending the first part of a session aligning, shadow-aiming and nudging a scope into position, you can be looking at the sun within minutes. However, we did have to use the joypad on the SolarQuest to center the sun. Happily, the controls are very sensitive and move slowly, so we were able to have a perfect view of the sun in under two minutes from pressing the power-on button. That’s impressive.

Sky-Watcher SolarQuest mount head: Functionality

• Accurately tracks the sun
• 8x AA batteries are old-fashioned
• Payload is a limiting factor

Tracking accuracy is very good, with a tiny adjustment on the joypad required perhaps every few hours. Since it largely follows the sun’s path through the sky, it should be suitable for a total or deep partial solar eclipse, when a crescent sun could confuse the sensor (to be sure, you could cover the sensor during totality so it doesn’t hunt for the sun and try to realign during an eclipsed crescent sun).

However accurate it is, this is an alt-az mount. It can track the sun well but it cannot remove field rotation during much longer imaging sessions. For visual use and almost all solar use — including casual video capture — that is not a major issue. However, for long-duration solar imaging and creating time-lapses, it’s a limitation to keep in mind.

One practical complaint is the battery compartment. Pop open the door (which detaches and becomes easily lost) and inside is a small plastic cradle that takes eight AA batteries. As if needing to take a trip to a store before being able to use the SolarQuest wasn’t annoying enough, it occurred to me that if I was going to an eclipse, I would need to travel with at least eight more AA batteries as spares — and possibly another 16x for true peace of mind. Not a pleasant prospect. Should any gadget like this be AA battery-powered in the age of Lithium-ion and USB-C? A resounding no. The box includes a 12V DC connection but there’s no cable. It all seems poorly thought through and old-fashioned.

However, the main practical limitation of the SolarQuest is its 8.8 lbs (4 kg) payload, which sets it apart as an accessory for small solar telescopes. At its best when speed and simplicity matter, SolarQuest is a travel-friendly mount ideal for beginners and eclipse chasers seeking to remove a common frustration from solar observing — finding and tracking the sun — without adding complexity. It almost totally succeeds.

How we tested the Sky-Watcher SolarQuest mount head

We tried the SolarQuest for about two weeks with both a Celestron Regal M2 spotting scope (with a solar filter attached) for white-light observations of the solar disk and a Skywatcher HelioStar 76mm solar telescope. The latter was used to get some images of the sun in H-Alpha (Hα), in conjunction with a ZWO ASI174MM planetary camera.

Should I buy the Sky-Watcher SolarQuest mount head?

If you need something to support a solar or solar-filtered telescope under 8.8 lbs/4kg, the SolarQuest should be on your radar. It quickly finds the sun and tracks accurately, removing the need for manual alignment. It’s also really compact, operates quietly and has very simple controls.

The included instructions are poor, the way it’s battery-powered is far from ideal, and it’s limited by its payload capacity, but it’s so easy to use and quick to work that it’s hard to criticize the SolarQuest too harshly — it’s a slick and simple accessory.

If the Sky-Watcher SolarQuest mount head isn’t for you

There are very few dedicated solar trackers like the Sky-Watcher SolarQuest. However, some star trackers do have a mode where you can choose the sun as the star to track, including the Benro Polaris. Once you’ve entered the sun in the frame using the virtual joystick, the Polaris can automatically track it. Another alternative is an equatorial mount, which, when well aligned, can handle solar observing for longer periods and/or for making time-lapse sequences.

Solar observation can be tricky or underwhelming when trying to observe with handheld methods such as using solar eclipse glasses and solar binoculars. Hunting for the sun with binoculars can be tricky due to the essential ISO 12312-2 rated solar filters on the glass blocking all vision except for the solar disk itself. This is where a smart telescope like the entire Unistellar range can help; it automatically finds and tracks the solar disk from a few presses on your smartphone.

Need a smart telescope? Skip ahead to pick from our list of recommendations to suit all budgets.

All you need is to attach the correct Unistellar solar filter for your model, click Go-to on the Sun and the telescope will slew to the solar disk. If connected to a tablet or larger screen, you can get a much bigger image of the sun to share with groups and family. This also allows you to watch the observation from a shaded spot and get comfortable without needing to stay out under the beating sun.

Smart telescopes not only find and track the solar disk but they can image it too. Using built-in image focusing, stacking and processing, the telescope delivers a sharper image within seconds and reveals solar details like sunpots on the surface. If you don't want to miss getting a shot of the next solar eclipse, you can use the solar observation mode to capture the sun at all stages of the eclipse from your smart telescope. At the time of writing, the next total solar eclipse is coming on Aug. 12, 2026 and will be mainly visible in Greenland, western Iceland and northern Spain. Partial eclipses will be visible in some other European countries, parts of Canada and New York City.

What to do: A generalist step-by-step for most smart telescopes

• 1. Turn your smart telescope on
• 2. Link the smart telescope to a smartphone or tablet
• 3. Install the solar filter if the model requires a separate attachment
• 4. Select the sun on the app and wait for the location
• 5. Focus the image if needed and then use enhanced vision for more detail

What do you need?

For solar observation with a smart telescope, the first thing you will need is a smart telescope. While I'm going over how to use a Unistellar eVscope 2 for solar imaging and observation, most of the other smart telescope brands have models that are capable of this too, like the Dwarflab Dwarf Mini 3 and Vaonis Vespera II. If you are used to using a traditional telescope, bear in mind that you will need a smart device to operate the smart telescope and observe your targets. Most smart telescopes come with a tripod, so you shouldn't have to worry about getting one extra but it is an essential piece of equipment.

Next, you need a solar filter for your telescope. This is to protect the image sensors in the body of the telescope and drastically reduce the amount of light entering the aperture, so that you don't get a highly overexposed image. Many brands sell these solar filters separately and in the case of Unistellar, you have to make sure you get the right one for your model. There is a solar filter for their Odyssey range and then another filter for their pro range, which features the eQuinox 2 and eVscope 2 models.

Finally, you will also need access to somewhere with a good view of the sun, so a park, garden or open space is ideal. Solar imaging is best done in mid-to-late morning before the sun has heated up our atmosphere, which causes disturbance in the image. This is especially important if you are looking to get crisp shots of sunspots.

Observing and imaging the sun

Make sure your tripod is level, with your smart telescope properly attached, then turn it on and remove the dust cap. Open your preferred app and add your device by following the on-screen instructions.

Next, you should inspect your solar filter for any tears or holes, as any exposure to the sun without the filter can permanently damage the sensor. Installation is easy as you just clip the filter onto the end of your smart telescope.

After the device is connected, go to the list of sky targets in your app and it will allow you to browse or search for the sun. Click on it to bring up the go-to functions and if you are interested, more astronomical information about your chosen target.

Clicking on go-to for the sun brings up a series of slides to guide you through how to safely observe the sun with your device. The app also recommends positioning your telescope mount in the direction of the sun with the motor on your right to avoid any issues or delays in slewing.

After pressing go, the smart telescope should move and slew towards the sun. It can take a little while but it is rather exciting as you see the edges of the solar disk flash on the screen as the telescope gets closer and centers the image.

For smart telescopes with manual focusing, you will need to make sure that your image is in focus. Now on a bright sunny day, this can be tricky to see on a smart device screen but it is essential to getting a sharp image of sunspots. Using the wheel at the bottom of the eQuinox 2, I gradually adjusted the focus in small increments to allow for live image delay on my tablet. I used the sunspots as a guide for my focus, but it was still difficult because they don't become crystal clear during focusing, they just get slightly more defined and darker.

The real detail on the surface comes after you click enhanced vision mode or equivalent on the app, which starts live stacking of exposures of a few milliseconds and reveals a much more textured view of the solar surface. The sunspots get much sharper edges and you are able to see both the umbra and penumbra on some of them. In my imaging session, I got an image displaying the larger active regions of 4498, 4496 and 4492 as well as some smaller regions.

Observing an eclipse with your smart telescope

You should prepare well in advance if you are planning to observe a solar eclipse and test out the kit there before the big day. You don't want to be learning how to use your device on the day of the eclipse. Practice setting it up for solar observation a good few times before the day of the eclipse.

Using one of the best stargazing apps or the official Unistellar eclipse page, you can find out where the eclipse will be visible from and the time of maximum coverage in that location, so you can plan accordingly. The Aug. 12, 2026 total solar eclipse is just before sunset will be very low on the horizon, so you would need to find somewhere with a good view of the sunset and, ideally, do a practice run a week before. Setting up a few hours before the actual eclipse is necessary to avoid any last-minute disruptions and to get your telescope trained on the sun before the lunar disk starts to eclipse it. This is assuming that the skies are completely clear and free of clouds, but this is definitely something you should check before hauling your kit to a remote location. I use the Met Office Cloud cover map for the UK but other sites offer US and international coverage such as and Ventusky, SAT24 and Astrospheric.

Our top smart telescope recommendations to suit all budgets

The Aug. 12 total solar eclipse is nearly here, and if you’re hoping to observe totality, you will likely be heading to Greenland, Iceland, or Spain. The UK gets a solid 90% show, while the US only catches a small partial solar eclipse.

Wherever you're watching it from, do not look directly at the sun without ISO 12312-2 certified solar eclipse glasses — standard sunglasses aren't safe and won't save your retina.

Not sure which to buy? We’ve rounded up legitimate, safe options that you can order right now from the US, UK, and European retailers, so you can stay safe and enjoy the eclipse whether you're staying put, about to travel, or already abroad.

• We've got you covered with reviews and rankings of the best telescopes, binoculars, star projectors, cameras, drones, Lego, streaming and more.

Best solar eclipse glasses in Europe

Below are our recommended options to buy safe solar eclipse glasses if you're already traveling abroad to see totality.

• France 🇫🇷 starting from €6.99 ($8.07 USD)
• Spain 🇪🇸 and Portugal 🇵🇹 as low as €7.22 ($8.33 USD)
• Germany 🇩🇪 packs from 1 to 100 pairs
• Italy 🇮🇹 cheapest at €4.95 ($5.71 USD)

Best US solar eclipse glasses

Best UK solar eclipse glasses

The 2026 total solar eclipse is coming on Aug. 12 but if you are in the USA, you won't be able to experience totality. A minor partial eclipse is visible from some states, with the best coverage in parts of Alaska and New England. You might be getting ready to travel to one of the spots that will reach totality, like Greenland, western Iceland and northern Spain. Even places in the UK will be getting their best solar eclipse since the 1999 total solar eclipse over Europe, with the moon obscuring around 90% of the sun.

If you are planning on watching it at all, you will need at the very least, a pair of solar eclipse glasses. They need to be rated ISO 12312-2 so that they block 99.999% of the sunlight and keep observation safe. Looking at the sun without proper protection can result in permanent blindness and vision problems. If you are after some sharp images of the sun, you will even need filters and solar viewing gear for your smart telescope, camera or solar binoculars.

So whether you are staying in the USA for a small but partial eclipse or travelling to Europe for a more dramatic show, we have found the best solar eclipse glasses to grab before the event. We have included retailers from America and Europe, including the best eclipse glasses in the UK. You should always check your eclipse glasses before use to make sure there are no holes or tears in them. Make sure you buy from a reputable brand and if you are unsure in any way about their eye protection ability, don't use them.

The excitement of the new moon mission has potentially helped create a new generation of stargazers, just like the Apollo program did 60 years ago. These new observers will be looking for a beginner’s telescope that is easy to use and which can show them the craters on the moon in particular. The Celestron Moon Mission 100mm Tabletop Dobsonian could be the perfect entry point for them. It has a superb price-point for its aperture, and is capable of bringing not only the moon, but double stars, the brighter galaxies and nebulas and the moons of Jupiter to your backyard.

The Celestron Moon Mission 100mm Tabletop Dobsonian comes equipped with 8mm and 20mm eyepieces, one of which is intended specifically for the moon, as well as a red-dot finderscope, a moon filter, a moon-map poster and free access to download the Starry Night planetarium software and Celestron’s SkyPortal app, which is powered by SkySafari.

All in all, it will make an excellent package for someone to get started enjoying the night sky. Though the optics and accessories are not perfect, for the price their drawbacks can be overlooked, and as an entry-level telescope it paves the way for the user to graduate to increasingly more sophisticated telescopes at a later date.

Celestron Moon Mission 100mm Tabletop Dobsonian review

Celestron Moon Mission 100mm Tabletop Dobsonian: Design

• Quick and simple set-up
• Portable

The Celestron Moon Mission 100mm Tabletop Dobsonian comes out of its box complete, other than its eyepieces and red-dot finderscope in plastic bags. Set-up takes literally minutes — remove the plastic cap over the aperture and the cap on the focuser, insert your eyepiece of choice, screw on the finderscope and you are ready to go. No tools such as screwdrivers or Allen keys are needed— it is just a matter of unscrewing thumbscrews.

We found the finderscope went on easily — more about that later. However, the tiny thumbscrews that lock in the eyepiece were incredibly tight. Pliers didn’t help much and risked damaging the screw. In the end, we found elbow grease was just about enough to unscrew them, but if our review model is typical, then children will definitely need the help of an adult to unscrew these. Once they are unscrewed, they can be tightened to more forgiving tolerances.

Overall we can recommend the build quality of the Celestron Moon Mission 100mm Tabletop Dobsonian. Everything is sturdily made, from the Dobsonian base, the optical tube, the easily adjustable tilt and focuser knobs. The mount has a single arm and rotates on a ‘lazy Susan’ turntable.

Celestron Moon Mission 100mm Tabletop Dobsonian: Performance

• Three
• Bullet
• Points

This is where we thought that the Celestron Moon Mission 100mm Tabletop Dobsonian excelled. For such a small telescope, it was decently versatile.

For example, on the night of April 5, our first target was Jupiter, which was bright in Gemini, and unmistakable as it lay not far from the constellation’s twin stars Castor and Pollux. Jupiter appeared as a bright disk, with perhaps the merest hint of its banding — or was that our imagination? What certainly were real were the four Galilean moons: Io and Europa on one side, Ganymede and Callisto on the other. It was a sight sure to impress beginners and casual observers.

We moved the Celestron Moon Mission’s view towards the multiple star Castor, and the telescope capably split the main binary pair as two close, white stars using the 20mm eyepiece. Another popular multiple star is Mizar and Alcor in Ursa Major. Of course, Mizar and Alcor can be split with the naked eye, but the third visible star in the system is for telescopes only, and again the Celestron Moon Mission showed the three stars clearly.

Slewing east, Arcturus — the second brightest star visible from the U.K., and fourth brightest in the entire sky — appeared a glorious red, evoking its nature as a red giant.

While waiting for the moon to rise (and before taking some time out to watch the Artemis II coverage), we decided to track down some faint fuzzies. The box that the Celestron Moon Mission comes in highlights the Orion Nebula and the Andromeda Galaxy as two deep sky objects that the telescope can see. At the time of testing, the Orion Nebula was too low in the west, while the Andromeda Galaxy was not visible. Instead, we hunted down two other nearby galaxies, M81 and M82, in Ursa Major.

Searching for these two galaxies, which are located next to each other in the same field of view, is where the real challenge of using the finderscope, as we described in the Functionality section, really reared its head. In the end, we decided to star hop to the galaxies and struck out in roughly the right direction. Soon the telescope alighted on the two galaxies, visible as two fuzzy patches of light. Looking at them straight on, we found it difficult to discern their shape, but by using averted vision as we looked through the 20mm eyepiece of the Celestron Moon Mission, we could make out the broad disk-shape of the spiral M81, and the elongated cigar shape of M82, and even caught hints of mottling with brighter spots in the edge-on M82 that are better seen in images.

After we watched the live NASA feed of Artemis II going around the far side of the moon, the moon finally rose from our location after midnight. Its phase was a waning gibbous three days after full. As such, the moon appeared bright and reddish, being low to the horizon. Through the 20mm we could see the whole disk, though the phase meant that for most of the lunar surface there was no contrast, making it harder to distinguish craters except for at the terminator.

Adding the 1.25-inch moon filter — more properly known as a neutral density filter that dims the incoming light — helped to limit the contrast and make the details stand out more. Switching to the 8mm eyepiece, with a magnification of 50x, the view jumped closer to the moon and the lunar surface filled the field of view, with bright crater rays visible on dark lunar mares.

Celestron Moon Mission 100mm Tabletop Dobsonian: Functionality

• Finderscope is awkward to use when pointed at the zenith
• Focusing is adequate
• Simple to use

The tabletop nature of the telescope poses some challenges for adults using it. As its name suggests, the telescope is designed to go on the top of a table. Usually when we think of Dobsonian telescopes, we think of very large instruments with very large apertures, and eyepieces close to standing height. This Dobsonian, on the other hand, is very small, and without a very tall table we found that we spent a lot of our time bent double looking through the eyepiece. Of course, this also means it is the perfect height for a child.

We found it did pose a problem when using the finderscope. For objects at low elevations, such as Jupiter in Gemini during spring 2026, we found it wasn’t too bad. However, when we wanted to direct the telescope towards Ursa Major at the zenith, the only way we could look through the finderscope was by literally getting on the floor to look through it. This is a problem with all tabletop telescopes, not just the Celestron Moon Mission, and it would be unfair to suggest otherwise — but it is a problem nonetheless.

Once we addressed the tightness of the focuser thumbscrews, we could switch the eyepieces in and out with ease. We found the focuser to be perfunctory. It provides only coarse focusing, with no careful fine-tuning, and sometimes it was tricky to find the sweet spot. Additionally, Newtonian reflectors like this one require collimating for perfect pin-sharp images. Collimating refers to adjusting the secondary mirror (the primary mirror is fixed at the base of the optical tube) so that it aligns and focuses light reflected from the primary just so. It’s also a fact that astronomers hate collimating, as it is a finicky procedure.

Out of the box, the collimation wasn’t bad, and we felt it was also unreasonable to expect beginners and children, whom this telescope is undoubtedly aimed at, to collimate the instrument with no guidance or tools included. Therefore, we reviewed the telescope as it came out of the box, to replicate the experience that beginners and children would receive. Had we collimated the telescope, then it probably would have improved the image a tad.

We found that actually using the telescope, in terms of positioning and pointing, was very simple. It’s worth remembering that Newtonian reflectors reverse their image (up becomes down), and after using smart telescopes, GoTo telescopes and Celestron’s StarSense telescopes with directions provided by a smartphone for so long, that took a little getting used to again! It may confuse beginners and children, but before the days of smart telescopes and GoTo, everybody had to get used to navigating across the sky using a reversed image, so it’s no bad thing.

Should you buy the Celestron Moon Mission 100mm Tabletop Dobsonian

If you want to introduce your children to astronomy, then the Celestron Moon Mission 100mm Tabletop Dobsonian is the perfect instrument. It is safe to use, with no risk of knocking something heavy over, as it weighs about the same as a bag of sugar, which is amazing really. It is simple to use, in the sense that it is just a matter of pushing and turning, although children might need assistance in pinpointing the location of targets. It’s also a fair all-rounder, as all Dobsonians are – it excels at showing the moon, displays the planets very well, and shows deep-sky objects as best it can for a 100mm-aperture telescope

If you want to see fainter galaxies and nebulae, then you will need a telescope with a larger aperture. If you want to do imaging, then you will need a telescope with a motorized equatorial drive to enable you to track the objects while imaging.

And if you want assistance in finding celestial objects without having to star-hop, then a GoTo or smart telescope might be best for you.

If the Celestron Moon Mission 100mm Tabletop Dobsonian isn't for you

If you're looking to spend less, Celestron offers a smaller Dobsonian, the Celestron Firstscope 76. For a more flexible telescope, take a look at the Celestron Inspire 100Z. Or if neither fits the bill, we've rounded up the best telescopes and best beginner's telescopes.

How we tested the Celestron Moon Mission 100mm Tabletop Dobsonian

We used the Celestron Moon Mission 100mm Tabletop Dobsonian during the occasional clear nights in the first two weeks of April 2026 from our south-facing garden in the United Kingdom. The temperature was clement, about 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius), with some modest light pollution to the north and dark skies to the south looking towards a more rural area.

We began observing after 10 pm, with the skies completely dark. The moon was near full at the time of testing — in fact, quite fittingly, one of the nights was the same night that the Artemis II mission went around the moon. However, the moon remained low the entire night, meaning it could only be viewed near moonrise after midnight, close to the horizon, before it became hidden behind a nearby bank of trees for the rest of the night.

Looking forward to the 2026 solar eclipse, happening on Aug. 12? I know I am and even though it's not a total solar eclipse here in the UK (the path of totality crosses Greenland, Iceland and northern Spain), we'll still get to watch the moon obscure around 90% of the Sun, a sight that terrified our ancient ancestors.

However, you'll need proper eye protection, such as solar eclipse glasses, to watch the eclipse safely. Sunglasses are not sufficient for a solar eclipse; instead, you need eclipse glasses that follow ISO 12312-2:2015, the standard for solar viewers. If that number's not somewhere on the glasses, you're at risk of damaging your eyesight, maybe even permanently.

So, read on as we round up the best solar eclipse glasses to buy in the UK. Want a slightly better view? Here are the best places in the UK to see the partial solar eclipse.

• We've got you covered with reviews and rankings of the best telescopes, binoculars, star projectors, cameras, drones, Lego, streaming and more.

The best smart telescopes have transformed astrophotography over the past few years, combining small telescope optics and automated mounts with dashcam-style camera sensors and image-processing software. The result? Compact devices that can be controlled entirely from a smartphone. Impressively, the DwarfLab Dwarf Mini pushes that concept even further.

Roughly the size of a thick paperback book, it’s one of the smallest smart telescopes yet produced — tiny enough to fit in a jacket pocket while still capable of imaging nebulae, star clusters, the moon and even sunspots. It's also one of the best telescopes for beginners.

Positioned below the larger Dwarf 3 in DwarfLab’s lineup, the Mini sacrifices aperture and resolution for portability. It uses a 30mm refractor paired with Sony’s IMX662 sensor and relies on automated stacking to gradually reveal deep-sky objects. The telescope connects to a phone via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth and handles alignment, tracking and imaging automatically through the DwarfLab app.

With built-in filters, optional equatorial tracking, and advanced software features such as Mega Stack and Stellar Studio processing, the Dwarf Mini is aimed at beginners and traveling astrophotographers who want a compact, automated imaging system that doesn’t require lots of extra kit — and works well even in light-polluted cities.

DwarfLab Dwarf Mini smart telescope review

DwarfLab Dwarf Mini: Design

• Ultra-compact 30mm refractor telescope
• Internal motorized filter wheel
• Magnetic solar filter
• Lightweight design
• Ideal for travel and eclipse chasing

The defining characteristic of the Dwarf Mini is its size. The body includes a 360-degree rotating base and an articulating lens arm that moves through 225 degrees, allowing the telescope to cover most of the sky. It's significantly smaller than its competitors, including the larger Dwarf 3, making it easy to pack for travel. In fact, it’s easily small enough to slip into a camera bag or carry-on luggage, making it an appealing option for traveling astrophotographers — perhaps including eclipse chasers preparing for the upcoming trio of total solar eclipses beginning in 2026, since a magnetic solar filter is included in the box. Nice touch!

The telescope itself is a 30mm f/5 refractor with a focal length of 150mm. This produces a field of view of about 2.4 degrees, roughly five times the apparent diameter of the full moon. That optical system is paired with a Sony IMX662 sensor, a 1/2.8-inch sensor capable of 2.1MP resolution (1080p). This sensor is all about low noise and sensitivity, making it well-suited to short astrophotography exposures, but not to high-resolution images. Compared with the Dwarf 3’s Sony IMX678 Starvis 2 sensor, which delivers 8.3MP and 4K resolution, the Mini is a step down in terms of detail. However, in practice, the difference is smaller than expected, particularly after image stacking and processing.

The device also features a motorized internal filter wheel, allowing users to switch between broadband and dual-narrowband filters directly in the app to mitigate light pollution and better image nebulae. This avoids the need to install external filters, which are an add-on accessory with some smart telescopes.

The box includes a magnetic solar filter, a USB-C charging cable and a lens cloth. However, a small tripod is not included in the box, which feels like an omission given the Mini’s travel-friendly design. That's not a deal-breaker since any small tabletop (or full-size) tripod can be used, but the all-in-one feel is sacrificed.

DwarfLab Dwarf Mini: Performance

• Reveals deep-sky objects even under light pollution
• Plate-solves stars and stacks short exposures
• Mega Stack combines data from multiple sessions

The Dwarf Mini performs surprisingly well considering its small optics. During testing, it proved capable of capturing bright deep-sky targets such as the Orion Nebula (M42) and the Pleiades (M45), as well as open clusters like M44, even from suburban skies.

Smart telescopes compensate for small apertures by stacking many short exposures over time, gradually building up a deeper image. In standard alt-az mode, exposures are typically limited to around 10-15 seconds to prevent field rotation (which can cause blur). This technique allows the telescope to perform well even under heavy light pollution and/or strong moonlight, making it particularly useful for urban astronomers, where the chance of seeing faint nebulae is virtually zero.

One particularly useful feature is Mega Stack, which combines multiple imaging sessions of the same targets. Instead of capturing everything in a single session, data from several shorter sessions can be added later — even months or years later — to produce deeper images. That's handy when windows of clear skies are few, or if you plan occasional trips to dark skies where better data might be possible.

For more advanced imaging, the telescope also supports an equatorial (EQ) tracking mode, something professional astrophotographers insist upon. EQ mode may not be essential on a travel-friendly smart telescope like this, but its inclusion is impressive. It requires the purchase of an equatorial wedge, such as Dwarf Mini’s Mini Tripod accessory, which we were not able to test during this review. After a simple alignment with Polaris, the mount tracks the sky’s rotation, allowing exposures of up to 90 seconds. It can make a marked difference with very faint targets — though it’s not an essential feature on a smart telescope aimed at beginners.

Daytime performance is also strong. With the included solar filter, the Mini easily captured sunspots and solar activity, while lunar images also showed impressive crater detail.

The main limitation is resolution. The 2MP sensor produces images that look excellent on smartphones and social media, but they lack the detail needed for large prints or serious astrophotography. But for a telescope this small, the results are genuinely impressive.

DwarfLab Dwarf Mini: Functionality

• Smartphone control via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth
• Sky Atlas feature for automatic target selection
• Manual pointing and mosaic imaging modes

The Dwarf Mini is designed to be controlled entirely through the DwarfLab smartphone app, which connects via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.

Once connected, users can browse a built-in sky atlas, which displays objects currently visible from their location. Selecting an object prompts the telescope to plate-solve the surrounding stars, automatically align itself, slew to the target and begin stacking exposures. Imaging sessions can be stopped at any point if you’re happy with the result so far. The app also displays session details such as exposure count and total integration time.

For users who want more control, the telescope can also be manually aimed at any patch of sky, which is particularly useful when imaging newly discovered comets or objects not yet included in the atlas database. For objects larger than its field of view, such as the Andromeda Galaxy (M31), Mini has a mosaic mode, which allows the telescope to capture multiple adjacent frames and stitch them together.

Captured images can then be processed using Stellar Studio, DwarfLab’s built-in image processing software, which is very good at removing noise and adding contrast. Images can be saved in JPG, TIFF or FITS formats, giving beginners a set of sharing-friendly options and more advanced users the chance to download files into desktop processing software.

It’s all remarkably easy to operate once you’re comfortable with how the app works. Beginners can capture solar, lunar and deep-sky images within minutes of set-up, while more experienced astrophotographers can still access advanced features such as EQ tracking and mosaic imaging.

Firmware updates are frequent and install easily through the app, so it’s worth connecting the telescope to your home Wi-Fi before heading to a dark-sky site — you never know when new features will appear!

Should you buy the DwarfLab Dwarf Mini smart telescope?

The DwarfLab Dwarf Mini offers a tempting combination of portability, automation and surprisingly capable astrophotography performance. It won’t replace a full astrophotography setup, but for beginners, urban astronomers, travelers and eclipse chasers, it provides an easy way to capture the night sky — and the sun — without bulky and expensive equipment.

If the DwarfLab Dwarf Mini smart telescope isn't for you

If you're after something with a little higher resolution, the DwarfLab Dwarf 3 is a larger, more powerful version with a 4K sensor and a slightly larger aperture.

ZWO Seestar S30 is a similar smart telescope with automated tracking and an included tabletop tripod, though it's recently been surpassed by the slightly pricier ZWO Seestar S30 Pro, a higher-resolution alternative that boasts superior optics and imaging.

For an overview of the top telescopes in this category, read our 2026 guide to the best smart telescopes.

User reviews

Online reviews of the Dwarf Mini often highlight its portability, simplicity and image quality. One reviewer described it as a “great piece of kit for deep space astrophotography.”

Another wrote: “I had no trouble getting it imaging within a few minutes out of the box,” praising the image quality, autofocus, GoTo accuracy, tracking, and the app. “It's a brilliant piece of kit,” said another user.

However, several users also reported poor quality in planetary images — and that’s certainly true (though it can find the moons of Jupiter).

How we tested the DwarfLab Dwarf Mini smart telescope

Our observations took place on a few clear nights during February and March 2026, in temperatures down to lows of 43 degrees Fahrenheit (6 degrees Celsius) and highs of about 54 F (12 C). Light pollution was between 5 and 6 on the Bortle scale — urban conditions with bright city lighting. Battery life averaged around 4 hours, though longer imaging sessions were supported using an external USB power bank connected to the telescope's USB-C slot.

Smart telescopes like the Seestar S30 Pro have changed astrophotography and, arguably, urban astronomy. The Seestar S30 Pro takes that concept further than most. Small enough to fit inside a camera backpack, it combines a refractor telescope, motorized mount, dual cameras and image-processing software into a compact unit controlled entirely from a smartphone. Within minutes of powering on, it can align itself to the night sky, slew to a specified target and begin stacking exposures to reveal galaxies, nebulas and star clusters — even from light-polluted locations.

It makes astrophotography — once a complex and expensive hobby — possible with a single, automated device, though what makes the Seestar S30 Pro particularly interesting is not just its simplicity, but how it changes the experience of observing. Instead of actively operating a telescope, users watch a digital image build in real time. Sure, your eyes don’t see the photons coming from distant galaxies, but that misses the point — urban astronomers can’t see much of those galaxies anyway when using an optical telescope.

Positioned as an upgrade to the original Seestar S30, it introduces higher-resolution 8.3MP imaging, equatorial tracking support and expanded imaging modes aimed at more advanced users.

Designed for beginners, urban astronomers and astrophotographers of any level who are looking for a portable rig, the Seestar S30 Pro is about convenience, capability and a different way to explore the night sky.

ZWO Seestar S30 Pro smart telescope review

ZWO Seestar S30 Pro: Design

• Lightweight design
• Dual-camera system
• Full smartphone control

At first glance, the Seestar S30 Pro barely resembles a telescope, being closer in size to a telephoto lens than a traditional optical instrument. That portability is one of its defining strengths — this is a telescope you can realistically take anywhere, whether into a backyard, onto a balcony or on a dark-sky trip. You could even take it as hand luggage on a trip to see a total solar eclipse in a distant land.

The design is deliberately minimal. Aside from a power button and USB-C slot, there are no physical controls. Everything — from slewing and focusing to image capture and processing — is handled through the Seestar app. Once connected to a phone via its own WiFi network, the system operates entirely offline, connecting directly to your phone without requiring an internet connection in the field.

A key feature of this new, improved model is its dual-camera system. The primary telephoto camera is dedicated to deep-sky imaging, using a Sony IMX585 sensor that’s capable of 8.3MP (4K) images, while the secondary wide-angle uses an equally capable Sony IMX586 sensor for sky alignment and wide-field imaging modes.

The included tabletop tripod is solid, if small, so users with backyards surrounded by buildings or trees will benefit from mounting the device on a full-size photographic tripod. It also comes with a handy, high-quality padded shoulder bag to store the telescope and all its accessories.

ZWO Seestar S30 Pro: Performance

• Automatic stacking with intelligent frame rejection
• EQ mode enables longer exposures
• Strong results under urban/suburban skies

Using the Seestar S30 Pro is less about operating equipment and more about using an app. After powering on and connecting via WiFi, the telescope automatically plate-solves the stars overhead, determines its position and slews to a selected target. Within minutes, it begins capturing short exposures — typically around 10 seconds — which are stacked in real time to reduce noise and improve detail. Crucially, the system automatically discards poor-quality frames caused by tracking errors, wind shake or star trailing.

The effect of the image stacking is gradual. As more data is collected, a faint patch of light slowly resolves into a nebula or distant galaxy. The longer the telescope runs, the clearer and more detailed the final image becomes, with nebulosity and spiral arms becoming visible. Stars remain sharp across the field of view — the Seestar S30 Pro’s optics may be small, but they are excellent quality. During our test, we produced some superb images of the Orion Nebula (M42), as well as Bode’s Galaxy (M81) and the Cigar Galaxy (M82), the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) and the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules (M13).

Stacking images is a hugely effective way to do observational astronomy under light-polluted urban skies. By stacking multiple exposures and applying built-in filters (there are three), the Seestar S30 Pro can reveal objects that would otherwise be invisible through the eyepiece of a traditional optical telescope.

The all-new equatorial (EQ) mode extends performance further, though aligning the telescope with Earth’s rotation requires purchasing the add-on Seestar TH10 Fluid Tripod Head. This is easy to set up, thanks to an in-app setup process that perfectly positions the tripod and ball head. With Expert Mode engaged, exposures of up to 60 seconds are possible. We tried it on two faint targets — the Whirlpool Galaxy (M51) and the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules (M13) — and got much greater detail.

Planetary imaging is less impressive, with planets appearing small and lacking fine detail. That said, we did manage to image Jupiter and its moons. The telescope is clearly optimized for deep-sky imaging rather than solar system work — the exception being the moon, which looked fabulous through the Seestar S30 Pro.

ZWO Seestar S30 Pro: Functionality

• Intuitive smartphone app
• Automated imaging and Plan mode
• Built-in processing and FITS export

The Seestar app is central to the entire experience. It acts as both controller and processing platform, offering a planetarium-style sky atlas that displays objects visible from the user’s location. Selecting a target triggers automatic alignment, slewing and image capture. Once imaging begins, the app displays real-time progress, including exposure count and total integration time. Users can stop a session at any time or continue it for deeper results. The telescope can operate largely unattended, making it easy to leave running and check later.

If all of this is beginning to sound like the Seestar S30 Pro is ideal for lazy astronomers, it doesn’t end there. Cue the app’s Plan mode, which allows users to schedule multiple targets for imaging overnight. Orion Nebula not rising until 3 a.m.? No problem. Pre-sunrise comet? Stay in bed. Assuming you’ve checked for clear skies beforehand, the Seestar S30 Pro can observe while you sleep. However, Plan mode does come with limits: exposure time and gain cannot be fine-tuned per target, so users must rely on default settings. For most, that won’t deter.

For those interested in post-processing, the Seestar S30 Pro supports FITS file export, enabling images to be refined in external software such as Siril, PixInsight, DeepSkyStacker or Photoshop (though advanced users dealing in FITS files may find that the system’s 128GB internal storage needs frequent attention). Alternatively, the built-in Deep Sky Stack provides quick results with minimal effort, allowing frames to be discarded and the effective AI Denoise pipeline to be engaged — something that takes a little patience, but delivers excellent results.

How we tested the ZWO Seestar S30 Pro

Testing took place over multiple nights during late winter and early spring, under suburban Bortle 6 skies in cold but not freezing temperatures. It was also used in Bortle 2 skies in sub-zero temperatures, with no ill effects on the 6-hour battery life. The telescope was used to image a variety of deep-sky objects, with sessions ranging from short captures to integrations lasting several hours. Both standard alt-az mode and EQ mode were tested.

Should you buy the ZWO Seestar S30 Pro?

The Seestar S30 Pro is best understood not as a traditional telescope, but as an automated imaging system designed to make astrophotography accessible. It’s also an upgrade on the Seestar S30 that may or may not be worth the money, depending on your needs.

For beginners, it provides a clear pathway into astrophotography without the usual financial or technical barriers. For more advanced users, it’s an efficient grab-and-go system for casual or supplementary imaging.

If the ZWO Seestar S30 Pro isn't for you

If you’re looking for a more affordable entry point, the ZWO Seestar S30 offers similar ease of use, but with lower (2MP) resolution and fewer advanced features. For those who simply want basic, shareable images, it remains a strong alternative.

The DwarfLab Dwarf Mini is even smaller and more portable but it is limited to 2MP imaging. At the other end of the market, the Unistellar Odyssey is a premium smart telescope offering much larger apertures and access to citizen science campaigns, albeit at significantly higher prices.

For an overview of the top telescopes in this category, read our guide to the best smart telescopes.