Unoffical Seestar Wiki

Many, perhaps most, people have been attracted to the ZWO Seestar for two reasons: 1) ease of use, and 2) price/value. Both factors have attracted many people to astronomy that are of a different ilk than 'traditional' backyard astronomers.

“All generalizations are bad, including this one,” as someone put it, but as a generalization, until the advent of smart telescopes ‘traditional’ astronomers were attracted to astronomy more for intellectual reasons than aesthetics. Learning their way around the night sky, discovering for themselves the awe in astrophotography, learning details of how the sky and, perhaps particularly, how their instruments work, gave them pleasure. To do that required a great deal of reading, learning, patience, and attention to fussy details. These folks tend to use PixInsight for post-processing and hang out at CloudyNights.com.

People who have come to astronomy because of the advent of smart scopes, on the other hand, are attracted to the beauty of celestial objects and the joy of sharing the pictures they create. The device, the Seestar in this case, is a means to an end. It is supposed to “just work.” When they want to see the moon it should just show it to them with as little fiddling as possible. When it does and they get a nice sharp picture that makes friends and family go, “Oh, wow!”, it makes them happy. They’re not particularly interested in how the Seestar works, and they don’t get pleasure in figuring out why, when it doesn’t. These people tend to use Siril for post-processing, if anything, and they look for help on Facebook.

Those are bad generalizations because some people who use the Seestar have decoded the firmware and have written programs for session management and mosaics. Others have used the Seestar for esoteric scientific purposes such as variable star photometry, detecting exoplanets, and tracking asteroids. Others have made beautiful enlargements that hang on their wall and they share their images online.

Where the tension comes is when someone complains their Seestar doesn’t work but it’s obvious they don't know how to use it. When they're told to go read the manual and learn how to use it properly they are justifiably resentful when ZWO ads proclaim “The S50 smart telescope is intelligently designed for effortless star tracking and stunning captures. Ready to use right out of the box, it’s your gateway to exploring the universe with simple touches.”

The core issue seems to be a matter of expectations, a mismatch between the marketing of the Seestar and the reality of using it. Attempts to narrow the gap are made difficult by the growing incivility in social media prompted by relative obscurity for bullies and trolls.

Community moderators need to take a more active role in curbing bullying and trolling. Clear guidelines and swift action against offenders can make the Facebook forums more welcoming and conducive to learning.

ZWO needs to make it clear that while the Seestar is easy to use, there is a learning curve and some troubleshooting may be required. Regardless, better software QA and better technical support would go a long way toward mitigating the frustration exhibited on Facebook.

Experienced users who visit Facebook need to realize that the Seestar forums are primarily populated by people who are new to astronomy and who are looking for an “it just works” experience. Helping to make their Seestar work and helping manage expectations needs to be job one.

People new to astronomy need to understand that astrophotography and using the Seestar is not as simple as ZWO makes it sound. Some reading and learning is required to make the most of what Seestar can do. It is a marvelous device but, like a mobile phone or a laptop, it does require a certain level of knowledge and that’s the user’s responsibility, not anyone else’s.

The point of this long diatribe is to suggest we need to find a way to make astronomy accessible and enjoyable for everyone. By bridging the gap between expectations and reality and fostering a supportive community, we can ensure that the Seestar serves as a delightful gateway to the universe.

More people ‘looking up” is good for us all.