I Bought a Celestron Origin

I’ve been going back and forth on this idea for a while now about buying a Celestron Origin. I am going to tell you how I arrived at the decision to purchase one.

First off, I want to say it is not because I lack in terms of high-quality instruments or mounts. My Hyperstar 8 with the ASI533 MC Pro on the NEQ6 mount is an outstanding fast light bucket that makes for high-speed imaging with results. I have no issues with post processing and have learned enough about PixInsight to maneuver my way around with it and get some decent results. All of that adds up. But it truly is a 7-carry and heavy setup that takes about an hour with polar alignment and 15 to 20 minutes to tear down at the end of the night. That means it gets used rarely. This is an ideal setup for an observatory though.

My little Seestar S50 that I bought last summer is promising as well. I can set it out in under a minute and power it on and be inside and collect light all I want. With a 50mm f/5 apochromatic lens, autofocus technology and built in dew heater it is really a nice simple instrument to use anywhere. Just a bit small and at f/5 about 6 times slower than the Hyperstar 8. I am just now getting to where this can be my all-night imaging station with ease. I can set both systems up quickly now, or perhaps I will sell the Seestar down the road.

My plan in buying an Origin is to combine the best of these two rigs into one. With RASA technology working at f/2.2, sitting on an equatorial wedge, autoguiding in the plans soon, and built in dew heaters all working under the control of a tablet, the Origin is my way of entering a world of being able to set up without all the trips and reduce that now to 2 lightweight trips, and set up quickly and tear down even faster at the end of the night. The mount can stay in the garage. When I go to star parties, the whole setup can go into my van at the end of the night and be fully protected.

I’ll keep you all posted on my impressions of this rig.