Explore the OpenAstroTech Shop!
Precision parts. DIY kits. Everything you need to build your next astronomy project.
"Space is for everybody. It’s not just for a few people in science or math, or for a select group of astronauts. That’s our new frontier out there, and it’s everybody’s business to know about space.Christa McAuliffe
Teacher, Astronaut"
OpenAstroTech
Open-source Astronomy Equipment
Who doesn’t look up to the stars from time to time and ponders about the endless wonders out there, in this vast and endless universe. The countless stars that sometimes lighten up the night sky. The galaxies, so far away that their light that reaches us is older than humankind itself. The nebulae in all their many colors and shapes, more beautiful than any painter could ever paint it.
We all know the incredible pictures taken by Hubble, but you can take pictures of these things too! From your backyard, balcony or an empty field.
Astrophotography equipment can be very expensive. With 3D printing becoming more and more available to the broad public, we want to create a platform for publicly available, 3D printable astrophotography equipment to make the entry into the hobby much easier.
OpenAstroTracker (OAT)
Open-source DIY star tracker which can be build from simple, affordable and 3D printed parts
Many days and nights have been spend in CAD, papers full of calculations, frustration over code. Hours out in the cold for calibration and testing. Kilos and kilos of filament wasted. Incredible amounts of coffee consumed. But it’s finally finished, the bugs are removed and everything is working. We are incredibly proud to present you this project and that we are able to give something back to the amazing 3D printing community.
- GoTo
- Full 180 degrees movement in every direction
- ASCOM and Guiding support
- Long Exposures
- Community made addons, such as autoPA
It is our love for both the open-source community and astronomy that made us decide to make the project files publicly available instead of selling them. We strongly believe that others can find different purposes for this device that we couldn’t even think of. So we don’t want any progress or innovation be locked behind a paywall or strict licensing.
However, not everyone has access to a 3D printer or is willing to spend over 60 hours printing parts. OpenAstroTracker Kits and other hardware is available at the shop.
OpenAstroExplorer (OAE)
Affordable DIY GEM Mount, featuring GoTo, autoPA and great portability.
The OpenAstroExplorer is a compact and portable equatorial mount designed for light to midrange astrophotography setups.
It features a fully belt driven RA axis, resulting in very low backlash and PE, using the same two-stage 9:1 gearbox as OAM. It also includes a magnetically detachable RA ring, a compact worm gear driven DEC axis, and a foldable ALTAZ mechanism, optimized for easy transportation and quick setup in the field. Despite its focus on portability, the OAE offers precise tracking and guiding with a good payload capacity.
A built-in Auto Polar Alignment (AutoPA) mechanism simplifies setup, making the mount user-friendly for both experienced and new astrophotographers.
- Weight: 4kg + Tripod + counterweights
- Payload: 5kg
- Performance: 0.6-0.9″ RMS (PHD2)
- Latitude support: 25-65° N/S
OpenAstroGuider v3.1 (OAG)
Open-source, Affordable Autoguiding Solution
An integrated imaging sensor and 50mm optics make a great autoguiding platform. As the first of its kind, the OAG now also comes with a build-in dew heater.
Sensor:
- IMX290 sensor: very light-sensitive sensor used in low- to midrange Astrocameras
- 5.6×3.1mm sensor size
- 2.9 µm pixel size, 2.1 MP
- Power supply and interface over USB
Optics
- Aperture: 50mm
- Focal length: 183mm
- High quality achromatic lens doublet
- f/4 fast optics
Pixel Scale: 3.3″/px
Fully compatible with PHD2. Partly compatible with Linux/Raspberry Pi.
OpenAstroMount (OAM)
Open-source DIY star tracker which can be build from simple, affordable and 3D printed parts
The OpenAstroMount is a mount meant for larger telescopes that the OpenAstroTracker can’t handle. It’s fairly heavy and bulky, but can pack quite some payload. It is the first mount ever to have built in autoPA, a feature that we at OpenAstroTech developed and that first came to OAT as an addon. Both RA and DEC are driven entirely by belts, resulting in extremely low backlash.
Resources
Here are the different resources