OPT Telescopes

In honor of Valentine's Day, we present IC 1805! Swipe right to check out a collection of our favorite Heart Nebula Shots!

The Heart Nebula, or IC 1805, is an emission nebula located roughly 7500 light years away from Earth. Located in the constellation Cassiopeia, this nebula has an apparent magnitude of 18.3 and an absolute magnitude of 6.5.The nebula typically glows in a bright red light due to its more prominent emissions of hydrogen.

Image Credits:
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2. .ebeler
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5. .space

Happy MOONday! Today's shot is brought to you by .

Don't miss out on the Explore Scientific Keys to the Universe Sale that's running from today through the end of the month! Save up to 40% on select Explore Scientific products!

The Radian75. Our new and improved scope that was released last month. What can it do, you ask? Swipe to find out 😏

This was the rig that used to capture this A👏MAZ👏ING👏 shot of the Orion Nebula. Look at how clear it is. Look at all that it was able to capture.

Consider buying one? You won't be disappointed.

For those of you that have one already: what can YOU do with it? Tag us and share your images with us by using .

Taking a break from our usual MOONday posts because we had the share this AMAZING shot of Orion the Horsehead Nebula, captured by !

The Horsehead Nebula is a small, dark nebula that can be found just south of Alnitak, the easternmost star of Orion's Belt, in the Orion Constellation. It's located about 1,500 light years away from us here on Earth!

The Orion Nebula is a little closer, existing 1,344 light years away. It is one of the brighter nebulae, and can even be seen with the naked eye in night skies with an apparent magnitude of 4.

What's your favorite celestial object to capture? Let us know in the comments below!

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Comet C/2022 E3 (ZFT) is at it's brightest this week! Don't miss your chance to capture it!

Image credit:
Captured on January 21, 2023, at magnitude 6.

Happy MOONday! This image was captured and brought to you by . Look at those colors!

Don't miss out on a chance to save 10% on select items, only at OPT! Only 30 hours left! Click the banner on our website to explore your savings, or type the code: OPT10%2023 at checkout 🤑🤑🤑

Want to be featured next week? Be sure to tag us in your lunar photography shots and you might just be picked!

The Leo Triplet is a trio of galaxies toward the constellation Leo. It is a beautiful grouping that shines relatively close to one another, ay about 35 million light years apart.⁠
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These galaxies are close enough to each other to be gravitationally bound. In the upper left, the tidy spiral galaxy M65 appears to be the least disturbed.⁠
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Below that on the left, is the spiral M66. M66 shows an extended and offset outer halo. The bright blues and magenta patches in the arms indicate that it is actively forming new stars. These features point toward a past interaction with a neighbor.⁠
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Image details:⁠
Celestron 8-inch RASA⁠
ZWO ASI533MC Pro⁠
Astronomik L-1 UV/IR cut⁠
~6 hours total exposure
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📷: ⁠
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It's new moon tomorrow night! 🌚 Be sure you don't miss this imaging opportunity! Let us know what you're observing/imaging in the comments! 👇⁠
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Photo by ⁠ captured with the L-eXtreme, which is currently in stock ✅⁠ Click the link to get yours today!

https://optcorp.com/products/optolong-l-extreme-dual-band-filter-2-inch?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=newmoon&utm_content=lextreme
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Today's MOONday shot is brought to you by Riedl Rudolf⁠.
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Do you find yourself frustrated for missing imaging opportunities? Want to know daily moon phases? Check out our new Astronomy Events collection by clicking the link! Updated monthly.

Gear:
Celestron C11 XLT⁠
ZWO ASI 290 MM⁠
Sky-Watcher EQ-8 pro⁠
Astronomik IR 742nm⁠ filter
Software: Registax6, AS3, Fitswork4, Photoshop⁠
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Special promotion time 👀

From now until the 14th of February, you can receive a FREE Unistellar eVscope Backpack with the purchase of the all-new Unistellar eQuinox 2 Smart Telescope(now available for pre-order)!



Order now! https://optcorp.com/products/unistellar-evscope-equinox-2-smart-telescope?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=post&utm_campaign=unistellar&utm_content=equinox2

The Radian 75MM Petzval Refractor Telescope is in stock and shipping!

What can you do with this new scope? Check out this image of the Orion Nebula (M42), captured by using the Radian75!

What can YOU capture with this scope? Be sure to tag us and use to be featured on our feed!

With this new year comes countless new astronomy opportunities! What are you looking forward to the most? Let us know in the comments!

Photo Info/Credits: Approximately 10,000 galaxies fill a small area of sky called the Hubble Ultra Deep Field. This is the deepest image of the universe ever made at optical and near-infrared wavelengths.

📷️: NASA, ESA, S. Beckwith and the HUDF Team (STScI), and B. Mobasher (STScI)

Only 6 days left on the ZWO End of Year Sale. Be sure you don't miss out on these savings!

This image of the Orion Nebula was captured using the ZWO ASI 294MM and the ZWO ASI 224MC. Both of which are on sale now! Check out more on our site!

Image credit: (IG)

Today's MOONday shot was brought to you by . It is another shot of the Mars opposition that occurred earlier this month. Astounding!!!

Just a quick reminder that we are currently closed for the holidays, but we will be back on the 27th!

Have a splendid day!

Happy holidays from all of us at OPT!

We hope your holidays are stress free and full of joy!

Clear skies and happy minds :)

Image: Allexxandar from Getty Images

A notice from OPT: In observance of the upcoming holidays, we will be closed from Thursday, December 22nd up until the morning of Wednesday, December 27th.

If you are still looking for an astronomy-related-gift for your loved one(s), be sure to place that order before 9AM PST on 12/21/2022 in order for it to be shipped out!

Image: November’s total lunar eclipse captured from
(IG)'s backyard in Connecticut.
S T U N N I N G ! ! ! !

This shot captured by is titled "The Horse and the Hunter".

This one image shows the Orion, Horsehead, and Flame nebulae! It was captured in a Hubble SHO color palette, meaning that it mapped Hydrogen to green, Sulfur to Red, and Oxygen to blue.

This was captured at 275mm focal length with a full frame camera.

Check out how dominant Hydrogen is in this area! Do you have any images where Hydrogen greatly overpowers? Share it and tag us in the post for a chance to be featured!

The Geminids Meteor Shower is known as the "king" of all meteor showers. Considered to be one of the best showers, it produces up to 120 multicolored meteors per hour at its peak!

The shower runs annually from December 7th-17th, with the peak landing on the night of the 13th and the morning of the 14th.

Shown here is an image from the 2017 Geminids Meteor Shower, captured by James Capo.

Were you able to catch the show? Did you capture any of it? Let us know by tagging us in your image!

This past Thursday, Mars was at opposition on the same night as the Cold Moon.

When a planet is in opposition, it is brighter than any other time of the year, as the face of the planet is fully illuminated by the Sun.

Today's MOONday image is brought to you by . It is a photo of this exact occurrence.

Who else was able to capture the Red Planet in its opposition? Let us know by tagging us in your images!

Cosmo? Wanda? Is that you?

Askar/Sharpstar has released two new scopes. The Askar 65PHQ Flatfield APO and the Askar 65PHQ Flatfield APO - Limited Pink Edition!!!

Pre-order yours now!

Today's MOONday shot is brought to you by . A lovely layout of a lunar eclipse!

Are you worried that you might have missed out on the sweet Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals? Fear not! There are still tons of holiday sales still going! Check out the "Holiday Deals" section on our website!

An ethereal image of the Milky Way Galaxy captured by (IG)!!!

Milky Way photography is popular, because a full astrophotography setup isn't always necessary. Its entirely possible to image the Milky Way with only a camera and a decent star tracker. Although some stacking and editing may be necessary, anyone can do it!

Want to learn how? Click the link in our bio to learn more!

Don't miss out! Get 5% off all used gear, only at OPT!

Click the link in our bio to explore the deals while you can, the sale ends today!

Today's MOONday shot was brought to you by (IG)

It's Black Friday and we at OPT Corp have the widest selection of deals from your favorite manufacturers! Visit optcorp.com to explore some of these sweet savings!

Order now while supplies last!

2 days left and counting until Black Friday! Go optcorp.com to shop the holiday promotions that have started early! Don't miss out on these amazing deals!

The Serpentine Spiral Galaxy shown here was captured by the Hubble Space Telescope and is located approximately 80 million light-years away from Earth.

For today's MOONday shot, we have this lovely Waxing Crescent Moon captured by ⁠ during an Earthshine night in early 2021.

We wanted to take this chance to share this image with you today, as it is the start of ZWO's End of Year Sale. This shot was captured with the ZWO ASI 533 MC Pro, which is included in this special sale.

Go to optcorp.com to see all the crazy deals in this sale!

Messier 16; the Eagle Nebula.⁠
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This is a false-color image of the region with the central part being known as the Pillars of Creation. Interesting note, these were possibly destroyed 1,000 years ago but given that they’re 6,000 light-years away it’ll still be several thousand years before we see that happen!⁠
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Photo Credit: ATMOS .astro.man⁠
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The Jellyfish Nebula! Shot by .

This mind-boggling picture was captured using a PlaneWave CDK telescope. And, guess what? We happen to have one or two in stock!

PlaneWave Instruments is well known for providing the highest quality observatory-class products for astronomers.