Vaonis Vespera Pro - Information (2" Refractor)

Introduction | About Vespera Pro | Look | Sensor, Pixel Data, Field of View, Image Size (Pixels) | Visited Sky Objects | First Experiences and Photos | Photo Attempts | First Conclusions | Links || Appendix: Technical Data | Appendix: Comparison of the Vaonis Vespera, Vaonis Vespera Pro, and the Unistellar eVscope (2)

On this page, I provide some information about my future electronic 2" refractor telescope Vaonis Vespera Pro 50 mm/250 mm (f/5). I pre-ordered it on June 14, 2023; shipment was promised for May 2024. And that was indeed the case. UPS initially reported a delivery of my Vespera Pro on May 3, 2024, but after two sort erors it only arrived on May 8, 2024. Not too bad!

Note:

 

Introduction

         

Photo: My Vaonis Vespera Pro (May 8, 2024)

Vespera Pro is an update of the Vespera electronic telescope from the French company Vaonis (in the meantime there appeared a version limited to 222 samples called Passenger and the successor model Vespera II). It has been available for pre-order on the Vaonis Website since mid-June 2023. Delivery of the telescope was promised to take place in May 2024 for the first pre-orders and started in the beginning of May 2024. Later pre-orders are to be delivered from July 2024 on; the price has also been gradually increased.

In the following, I try to collect information about the Vespera Pro as far as I could get them from the Vaonis Vespera Pro product page or other sources and from my experiences with my own sample (particularly the unboxing photos).

 

About Vespera Pro

What is Vespera Pro?

Vespera was meant to become a small and affordable version of Stellina. The Vespera Pro is an evolution of the Vespera with some changes from the original Vespera (sensor, focal length, aperture ratio). It also has some "pro features" that the other Vespera models do not offer.

Thus, the Vespera Pro is also a refractor, the lens again is a quadruplet with 50 mm aperture (like binoculars), but with a focal length of 250 mm (aperture ratio f/5) and with a specially designed "pro" field corrector. It looks more or less identical to the other Vespera models, has the same size and weight as the other models.

The Vespera Pro uses a Sony IMX676 Starvis 2 sensor with a resolution of 3536 x 3536 pixels (12.5 MP). This delivers a field of view of 1.6° x 1.6°, which makes also the Vespera Pro a small rich field telescope. Its image scale or sampling rate is 1.65"/pixel, which is much better than that for the original Vespera (2.99"/pixel). With a weight of 5 kg and a height of 40 cm, the Vespera Pro has remained light and compact, making it an ideal travel telescope. The internal battery lasts for 11 hours, which is quite a long time. I decided to go for the simple package without an additional high tripod (2000 EUR instead of 2500 EUR), which I had already bought.

Here are some technical data:

Technique

     

Optics

     

Mount
  • Weight: 5 kg
  • Size: 15 x 8 x 3.5 in (40 x 20 x 9 cm)
  • Power supply: AC power with USB power supply
  • Autonomy: ≈ 11 hours of use with internal battery
  • Image processing: Integrated and adapted to target
  • Alignment: Automated
  • Focusing: Automated
  • Water resistance: IP43
  • Accessories included: an adjustable tripod, a hygrometer sensor
  • Control: Smartphone/Tablet
  
  • Objective: ED quadruplet refractor with Lanthanum glass (S-FPL52) and "pro" field corrector
  • Aperture: 2 in (50 mm)
  • Focal length: 10 in (250 mm)
  • Focal ratio: F/5
  • Focus: Integrated autofocus
  • Field of view: 1.6° x 1.6°
  • Magnification: 40 x???
  • File formats: JPEG, TIFF, FITS (16-bit RAW)

Sensor

  • Sensor: Sony CMOS IMX676 (12.5 MP)
  • Pixel Resolution: 3536 x 3536
  • Pixel Size: 2.0µm x 2.0µm
  
  • Type: Alt-azimuth
  • Pointing: Automated with star aiming technology
  • Guiding: Autonomous autoguiding included
  • Field derotation: done in the software

Other

  • Filter: Light pollution (CLS), Dual Band, and Solar filter optional
  • Dew control: Dew sensor integrated (heater inbuilt), same hygrometer sensor as for the original Vespera

More on this telescope on the Vespera Pro product page.

Why Did I Opt for the Vaonis Vespera Pro?

Especially since the introduction of the Mosaic mode, I am very fond of my Vespera. The appeal of the Vespera Pro for me was that the new sensor has a higher resolution and its field of view is 1.6° square. This makes the Vespera Pro almost a rich-field telescope, especially in mosaic mode (maximum 2.6° squared).

Who is Behind the Vaonis Vespera Pro?

    

Cyril Dupuy, founder and CEO of Vaonis, in an interview

 

The manufacturer's team

(Photos from the Vaonis-Website (EN); permission for use granted)

Vaonis is a French company based in Montpellier, France, that designs and manufactures telescopes and accessories. The company was founded in 2016 by Cyril Dupuy, a young start-up entrepreneur, after obtaining his Bachelor in Optics and Aerospace. From his experience of using different telescopes with complex installation, long user guides and recurring breakdowns, he imagined and designed Stellina, the world's first all-in-one telescope connected to a mobile app. Vaonis' products are designed and developed by specialists in optics, mechanics, electronics, material and ergonomics, giving special attention to its design, quality and safety. (From the Vaonis Website, adapted)

 

Look

Here I present photos of the unboxing, the telescope itself, and its initially delivered and bought accessories. Since much of it looks like the original Vespera, I will show less photos here.

The Box, the Hard Case, the Content, ...

         

The outer box

 

Outer box opened, hard case visible

  

Outer box and hard case (taken out of the box)

   

Technical data on the hard case

 

The hard case (for storage and transportation)

 

Hard case opened, content visible
   

Hard case opened, content closer view

 

Hard case opened, content closer view

 

Empty hard case (content taken out)

Unpacked Hard Case Content, Telescope, ...

          

Content of the hard case...

 

Ditto, tripad assembled (with bubble level) but not extended

 

"Vespera Pro" label on the telescope

       
   

Technical data at the bottom and USB-C connector

  

 
 
 

Vespera Pro with bubble level on tripod

  

Arm starts to move

 

Arm stopped moving...

Charger

Vaonis does not include a charger with the Vespera Pro. You have to buy one and also a USB-C cable on your own. For more information, see page Vaonis Vespera Pro - Accessories > Charger

           
UGREEN USB-C charger and (extra) Anker USB-C charging cable  

UGREEN USB-C charger and (extra) Anker USB-C charging cable

   
 
 

UGREEN USB-C charger (65 W)

 

Ditto

  

Vespera Pro charging

Further Accessories

   

Lens cover for dark and flat frames

 

Ring, used when working without filters

 

Safety lock

         

Lens cover for dark and flat frames, installed

 

Ring, used when working without filters, installed

 

Vespera Pro with cover on tripod

   

Bubble level

 

Ditto, bottom side

 

Vespera Pro with bubble level on tripod

   
Bubble level installed   Bubble level installed  

Vespera Pro charging (with bubble level)

 

Sensor, Pixel Data, Field of View, Image Size (Pixels)

The Vespera Pro uses the new sensor Sony IMX676 (CMOS; Starvis 2), with a used pixel size of about 12.5 megapixels, or 3536 x 3536 pixels (H/V). The pixel size is 2.0 µm (quadratic pixels).

With this, all sizes are known to calculate the field of view of the Vespera, which amounts to 1.6° x 1.6°.

The following table shows the Vespera Pro, Vespera, eVscope, and eVscope 2 in comparison with my current telescope (plus the C8 that I owned) tubes at a selection of cameras that I own(ed):

 
Field of View
IS*  
Telescope Reducer Focal
Length 		Aperture f ASI224MC* ASI294MC* ASI462MC* Atik Infinity*   Remarks
PS 72/432 --- 432 72 7 0.65° x 0.48° 2.54° x 1.73° 0.74° x 0.42° 1.19° x 0.89°   The largest FOV of my tubes
C5 --- 1250 127 10 0.22° x 0.17° 0.88° x 0.60° 0.26° x 0.15° 0.41° x 0.31°   FOV like C8 with reducer
C5 f/6.3 787.5 127 6.3 0.36° x 0.17° 1.40° x 0.95° 0.41° x 0.23° 0.65° x 0.49°   FOV a little smaller as with TLAPO1027
C8* --- 2032 203 10 0.14° x 0.1° 0.54° x 0.37° 0.16° x 0.09° 0.25° x 0.19°   The smallest FOV
C8* f/6.3 1280 203 6.3 0.22° x 0.16° 0.86° x 0.58° 0.25° x 0.14° 0.4° x 0.3°   FOV like C5
TLAPO1027* --- 714 102 7 0.39° x 0.29° 1.54° x 1.05° 0.45° x 0.26° 0.72° x 0.54°   FOV a little larger than for C5 with reducer
          in Degrees in Minutes        
eVscope* --- 450 114 4 0.61° x 0.46° 36.7' x 27.6'     1.72 Same sensor as ASI224: Sony IMX224
eVscope 2* --- 450 114 4 0.78° x 0.57° 47' x 34'     1.33 New sensor: Sony IMX347
Vespera*   200 50 4 1.6° x 0.9° 96' x 54' (ca.)     2.99 Same sensor as ASI462: Sony IMX462
Vespera Pro   250 50 5 1.6° x 1.6° 96' x 96' (ca.)     1.65 New sensor: Sony IMX676

*) No longer in my possession
*) IS = image scale: describes the relative sizes of objects at 1:1 pixels (the larger the number, the smaller the objects)

Image Size (Pixels)

Sony's IMX676 sensor can be used with 3536 x 3536 pixels (12.5 MP; recommendation by Sony). However, the resulting photos may often be somewhat smaller because they are automatically cropped, probably in response to field rotation.

Field of View (FOV)

The Vespera Pro has nearly double the FOV of the Vespera (calculated with astronomy.tools):

Vespera Pro in red (Custom Camera)

Simulation of the FOV by Vaonis, rotated for 180° (product page for Vespera Pro):

And another comparison with the Sky-Watcher EvoGuide 50ED (calculated with astronomy.tools):

The EvoGuide 50ED with ASI676 and the Vespera Pro have nearly identical FOVs; Vespera Pro in red (Custom Camera)

Field of View in Mosaic Mode

4.18° x 2.45° or 3.2° x 3.2°

 

Visited Sky Objects

These are the very first DSO (during the first two months) and objects that I observed with my Vespera Pro:

All the DSO that I observed with my Vespera Pro can be found on page My Deep Sky Observations with the Vespera Pro (Complete List of Observed DSO). A few sample photos:

    

NGC 2024 und B 33 mit NGC 2023, 26.12.2024 - groß (2740 s), TIFF zusätzlich entrauscht (DN) und Farbton korrigiert

 

M 20 - Jun 25, 2024, 1800p (217 frames, 2170s), mosaic, 1:1 section, processed (PSE) and denoised (DN)

 

M 33 - Nov 3, 2024, 2100 (361 frames = 1 h), section, processed (Siril, AP) and denoised; with white balance

  

M 42/43 with NGC 1977 and NGC 1980, Dec 26, 2024 - 2000 (121 Frames = 20 min), processed, white balance

 
NGC 6992/5, Dec 26, 2024 - 2000 (241 frames = 40 min), TIFF processed, denoised, and further processed  

NGC 7789, Aug 25, 2024 - 1800p (90 frames = 900s), section, processed

 

First Experiences and Photos

For space reasons, I moved my first experiences with and photos taken with my Vespera Pro to a seperate page.

 

First Conclusions

I had high hopes for the Vaonis Vespera Pro, thanks in part to the full-bodied advertising by Vaonis. I waited almost a year for it until I actually received it (on time) at the beginning of May 2024. In the meantime, however, I kept asking myself whether I had made the right choice.

Although the new sensor offers a higher resolution than its predecessor, many amateur astronomers consider its predecessor to be the better telescope. Its successor, the Vespera II, is also rated better by many than the Vespera Pro, mainly because it produces faster results, that is, it requires significantly shorter exposure times for a similar result (about half the time...). In addition, the photos of the Verspera Pro are much noisier than those of the Vespera and the Vespera II due to the small pixels (2.0µm). The noise of the Vespera Pro is said to become "acceptable" only after an hour of exposure time, sometimes it takes even longer (the new trend is to expose for days, but this applies to all Vesperas)... For me as an old EAA user who liked to observe 20-30 objects in the evening, this is of course nothing! That is why I "muddle through" with relatively short exposure times and leave the denoising to the software. This sometimes works well and sometimes less well.

However, there are also some arguments in favor of the Vespera Pro! I find the square sensor much better than the "towel format" sensors of the Vespera and Vespera II (HD format). This should also have advantages for mosaics because larger areas can be used when assembling the mosaic. This allows you to make more passes, but I have not really seen any faster results yet... In principle, the new sensor also shows more detail, and the objects are slightly larger, which is an advantage over the Vespera for many tiny DSOs (I have not compared the Vespera II yet).

As the "top model" of Vaonis, only the Vespera Pro has dithering for normal photos (they all dither for mosaics, which is why many Vespera owners only take mosaics). I find that quite pleasant, because I do not always want to take mosaics! With normal shots, I can stop exposing when I am satisfied with the quality and I do not have to wait for a "mosaic round" to complete. With a comparable integration time, the normal shot should also have a better quality than a mosaic shot.

The latest achievement, again reserved for the Vespera Pro, was the introduction of master darks at the beginning of 2025, which should lead to a general improvement in image quality (including less noise). I have not tried this function yet and found only little about it in forums. Perhaps this function will help me to achieve respectable results with shorter exposure times. All in all, I hope that I can make friends with my Vespera Pro after all...

 

Links

 

Appendix: Technical Data for the Vaonis Vespera Pro

Hardware

Bag

Electronics

Smarts

Sensor Data

 

Appendix: Comparison of the Vaonis Vespera, Vaonis Vespera Pro, and the Unistellar eVscope (2)

  Vespera Vespera Pro eVscope eVscope 2
Weight 5 kg (11 lbs) 5 kg (11 lbs)

9 kg (19.8 lbs) including tripod

9 kg (19.8 lbs) including tripod
Height 40 cm (15 in) 40 cm (15 in) 65 cm (25.5 in) 65 cm (25.5 in)
Width 20 cm (8 in) 20 cm (8 in) 23 cm (9 in) 23 cm (9 in)
Depth 9 cm (3.5 in) 9 cm (3.5 in) n.a. n.a.
Telescope type Refractor Refractor Reflector (Newtonian) Reflector (Newtonian)
Lens/Mirror Apochromatic Quadruplet Apochromatic Quadruplet mirror mirror
Lens/Mirror special features Extra low dispersion S-FPL52 equivalent (ULD) with lanthanum glass Extra low dispersion S-FPL52 equivalent (ULD) with lanthanum glass BK7 glass mirror BK7 glass mirror
Aperture 50 mm 50 mm 112 or 114 mm 112 or 114 mm
Focal length 200 mm 250 mm 450 mm 450 mm
Focal ratio F/4 F/5 F/4 F/4
Field of view 1.6° x 0.9° 1.6° x 1.6° 0.61° x 0.46° (36.7' x 27.6') 0.78° x 0.57° (47' x 37')
Mount Alt-azimuth Alt-azimuth Alt-azimuth Alt-azimuth
Field derotator no, done in software no, done in software no, done in software no, done in software
Image sensor Sony IMX462 Sony IMX676 Sony IMX224 Sony IMX347
Resolution 1920 x 1080 (2 MP) 3536 x 3536 (12.5 MP) 1280 x 960 (1,2 MP) / 2560 x 1920 (2.4 MP) scaled (EV mode) 2048 x 1536 (3.2 MP), 3200 x 2400 (7.7 MP) scaled (EV mode)
Sensor size 1/2.8" 1/1.6" 1/3" 1/1.8"
File formats JPEG, TIFF, FITS (TIFF/FITS in 16 bits) JPEG, TIFF, FITS (TIFF/FITS in 16 bits) PNG PNG
USB port (pictures download) no (with Wi-Fi) no (with Wi-Fi) no (with Wi-Fi) no (with Wi-Fi)
Autofocus yes yes no no
Light pollution filter Optional Optional no, done in software no, done in software
Dew control Yes as soon as the (optional) sensor is installed yes no no
Temperature/humidity sensor Optional yes no no
Battery type Integrated Integrated Integrated Integrated
Battery life up to 8 h up to 11 h up to 10 h up to 10 h
Water resistance IP43 IP43??? n.a. n.a.
Multi user mode up to 8 users up to 8 users yes (number unknown) yes (up to 10 users)
Number of objects in data base 300+ (July 2023)
4000 (extended) 		300+ (July 2023)
4000 (extended) 		> 5000, > 120 with descriptions > 5000, > 120 with descriptions
Object access via coordinates yes yes yes yes
Solar pointing yes (with optional filter) yes (with optional filter) yes (with optional filter) yes (with optional filter)
Connected battery possible possible possible possible
Connection to Wi-Fi hotspots no no no no
Scheduling of observations yes yes no no
Expert mode (camera control) yes yes manual pre-processing (brightness, background) already available in 2020 manual pre-processing (brightness, background)
HDR Image processing yes yes no no
Pictures stocking in the app up to 100 images up to 100 images no, on the smartphone depending on its memory size no, on the smartphone depending on its memory size
Mosaic mode 3.2° x 1.8° (4 x sensor field) at maximum, up to 8 MP 3.2° x 3.2° (4 x sensor field) at maximum, up to 50 MP no no

 

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29.01.2025