Nebulas and galaxies on your smartphone: The Unistellar eVscope, reviewed

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  The eVscope on its tripod outside of Shelbyville, Illinois. [credit: Eric Bangeman ]

When you work with the world’s best space reporter, it’s hard not to be caught up in his enthusiasm for the starry skies. Unfortunately for me, light pollution in my Chicago suburb makes stargazing, watching the Perseid meteor showers, and checking out other cool astronomical phenomena a dicey proposition. Even if we get a clear night, the sky is bright enough that watching the nighttime skies is an exercise in frustration.

So when I got an email touting the Unistellar eVscope and its ability to cut through light pollution and give a clear view of the heavens no matter where you are, I was intrigued. Even better, I had the ideal test setup: my home in suburban Chicago and my family’s place a few miles outside of Shelbyville, Illinois (about 70 miles from Springfield). I could stargaze from a suburban backyard and the edge of a cornfield to see if the eVscope lived up to the hype.

An accumulation of light

The eVscope emerged from a Kickstarter campaign launched in late 2017. In an attempt to “give the sky back to all of us,” Unistellar promised a “compact, intelligent, and powerful telescope” that was not only simple to use but could also enable city dwellers to see objects like galaxies and nebulae that couldn’t be seen through traditional telescopes.