Before we begin, note that the app seems to have been designed with a tablet in mind, so you might try one, if you can.¹⁾

Also, at this point we assume you have your mobile device talking to Seestar, and you’re looking at the Home Screen. If you haven't, go top the quick start page.

Now, if you’re about to embark on your first session with the Seestar, do it during daylight when you can see what you’re doing.

Start by selecting the Scenery Mode in the center of the Home Screen.

On the right side of the screen you see three dots at the top. Tap that and you'll see a little control panel pop-up with a white slider dot named MF, which stands for Manual Focus. Drag the slider to the right and the manual focus panel will appear on the left side of the screen. It will stay there from now on, even if you leave the scenery mode.

Below the MF slider is a button labeled Tutorial, tap that and you'll see a nice explanation of what all the buttons on the right do.

The little white circle with four arrows in it turns on what amounts to a “joystick” that you control by sliding your finger on the screen. It has a Slow and Fast mode both of which are, frankly, frustrating because they aren’t very precise. And when you return the “joystick” to the center, the scope keeps going and overruns what you wanted to look at. It is especially bad in the Fast mode. But with a little practice you’ll get the hang of it.

Slide the joystick up on the screen and the Seestar arm with the scope in it (known as the OTA or Optical Tube Assembly) will elevate in altitude. Move the joystick left and right and you’ll see the Seestar slew in azimuth²⁾. Practice by centering distant targets and fiddle with the focus so you learn how that works. Terrestrial objects are closer than galaxies and nebulae (duh) so you'll always have to refocus in Scenery Mode because the scope automatically goes to the default focus number (the number between the focus arrows) set at the factory. ³⁾

If you happen to be in a location where distant objects move slowly such as ducks on a lake or boats on the ocean the Seestar will track them if you tap the square with a dot in it and then draw a line across the object you want to track. The Seestar will put a box around it, move it to the center of the screen, and then keep it there. It’s not the most reliable feature and is easily confused by objects passing in the foreground and background or low contrast. But when it works, it’s fun to use to make a movie or timelapse.

Now let’s go get some pictures of our closest star using Solar System Mode. First make sure the compass has been calibrated and the scope is level. (See Settings). Then, use the Open Arm button at the top of the screen to access the lens opening.

Now, tap the solar icon on the Solar System Screen, and insert the solar filter as directed. Once you install the solar filter, click the strangely named Go Gazing button and level the scope if it complains. The scope will now try to find the Sun. Patience, it takes a while—you may even see the Sun flash across the screen as it hunts for it.⁴⁾

If the Seestar doesn't locate the Sun, use the crack between the OTA and the base as an aiming sight and point the scope using the joystick. To avoid looking at the Sun, just watch the shadow on the ground or hold your hand behind the scope.⁵⁾ When the crack appears as a bright line in the shadow, point the scope a little left. Now tell it to GoTo the Sun again. If that doesn't work, try maneuvering the scope yourself to find the Sun. You'll know you're close because the edge of the screen will get brighter. If it gets darker you're going the wrong way.

Now that you’ve found old Sol, you can use the same process in Lunar Mode, even during the day if you can see the Moon in the sky.

Both the Sun and Moon Modes have 2x and 4x enlargement (not zoom) buttons, so you can have some fun looking at Sunspots and craters. The zoom buttons will select a small portion of the image and display it full-screen like this 2X view. DSLR folks refer to it as digital zoom so you’re forgiven if you think there is some actual zoom involved. But nothing in the optical path changes in the Seestar (or DSLRs). You’re looking at the same data, just displayed larger.

Imaging planets is a little different because the planets appear teeny tiny thanks to the short focal length (250mm) of the Seestar, and because they’re very bright spots in the black night sky. ⁶⁾

If you tap the image of any planet in the Solar System menu, the Sun, or the Moon you’ll get a nice description and some data. Scroll down and you’ll see a handy chart that shows what time the planet is visible from your location and its current altitude and azimuth. Use that so you'll know if it’s going to be below the horizon or behind that tree before you waste time asking Seestar to find it. The white dot graphically shows you what the current time is and the line shows the planet’s altitude when it’s above the horizon. Drag the dot and it will show altitude at a given time, but unfortunately reported Alt and Az values don’t change, which would be useful.

The Seestar won’t slew to a solar system object unless you press the Go Gazing button at the bottom of the screen.

Left to its own devices, the Seestar will expose planets for the dark background and completely blow out (over-expose) the planet, obliterating the dark bands and light zones on Jupiter, the rings of Saturn, and frost on the pole of Mars. Fiddle with the exposure and gain (the circle with the + and - in it brings up an exposure slider) and you'll be able to turn down the brightness and see some details.

If you zoom out using the minus button while it’s slewing you’ll see a blue rectangle (where your scope is pointed) moving toward the red rectangle (your target).

Note that you can drag the sky around when the scope is not slewing so that other planets (anything, actually) are under the red rectangle. When it is a recognizable object (one of 12,000), the Seestar will name it and present the GoTo button for your viewing pleasure.

The most awe inspiring feature of the Seestar is its Stargazing Mode (which should be called DSO Mode). This is where the Seestar really proves that the Seestar is a great value.⁷⁾ This is the mode for capturing images of Deep-Sky Objects. Here's what it does:

Automatic Image Calibration: The Seestar automatically takes and applies dark, flat, and bias frames to the image, correcting for readout noise, sensor noise, and image train imperfections such was dust.

Live Preview: The app provides a real-time view of the night sky through the Seestar's camera. This allows you to see (dimly) what the telescope is pointed at and make adjustments as needed using the joystick or Sky Atlas.

Target Selection: You can select your desired target either from the app's recommendations or by manually choosing an object from the Sky Atlas. You can also create a list of your own favorites by entering a name, Declination (Dec), and Right Accession (RA). A new feature allows you to double the field of view of the captured image, essentially by creating a mosaic.

Automatic GoTo and Tracking: Once you've selected a target, the Seestar automatically slews to the object and begins tracking it, compensating for the Earth's rotation.

Image Capture and Stacking: The Seestar captures multiple short exposures of the target and stacks them together in real-time. This stacking process reduces noise and enhances faint details in the image.

Narrowband filter: If you're shooting nebulae, Seestar will apply the dualband filter to emphasize Hydrogen alpha (Ha) and Oxygen three (OIII) emissions. If you’re in a light-polluted area, you can enable the filter to minimize its impact on an image.⁸⁾

Image Saving and Sharing: Once you're satisfied with the image, it'll be saved to the Seestar's internal storage, your mobile photo app, and your can share the result with the whole Seestar Community.

In essence, Seestar's DSO Mode (er, Stargazing Mode) takes care of the technical aspects of capturing astroimages⁹⁾, allowing you to focus on enjoying and sharing the lovely images of deep-sky objects you and Seestar produce.

The Seestar Sky Atlas is a comprehensive star map feature integrated into the Seestar mobile app for both Android and iOS devices. It includes an extensive database of celestial objects and provides a “tonight's best” list of recommended targets to observe.

The red target frame can be moved to a target and blue pointing frame will GoTo Searchable collection of deep-sky objects such as emission and reflection nebulae, supernova remnants, and globular clusters

Features

• GoTo with plate-solving accuracy
• Recommends optimal targets for viewing each night
• Live sky compass allows you to point mobile device at a target and the GoTo
• Framing mode lets you select an area up to 2x and rotate the frame for optimum composition of a mosaic

While Sky Atlas is great for controlling the telescope, some users have found ways to use third-party software like SkySafari for additional object database access.

Now you know enough to use your Seestar, but there are some subtleties you should know about, such as field rotation.