Remote Telescopes: SLOOH

Disclaimer: I didn't do anything other than clicking a few buttons to get this photo. But this is the kind of photo you can get by using SLOOH's remote telescopes.

M42 - Orion Nebula. 3x5min via SLOOH Chile Two (17") telescope

Following through my hunt for telescope-as-a-service offerings, my next evaluation was SLOOH. Originally started back in 2002, SLOOH's telescopes became available to the public in 2004. SLOOH currently operates two sites, Chile and Canary Islands and has a total of 8 telescopes.

SLOOH is not just a remote telescope or telescope-as-a-service offering. It also has a community set up where remote operators, astronomers, SLOOH staff can discuss various aspects of astrophotography as well as astronomy.

SLOOH does not have a free access like the MicroObservatory. It's minimum plan starts at 50 USD per annum and you basically piggyback on missions that are set up by others and extract the same photos they take. They offer a 100 USD per annum and a 300 USD per annum offering as well which provides more control. You can find their full offering here: https://vega.slooh.com/docs/Slooh_Membership_Matrix.png

I tried the 50 USD plan of SLOOH and tried piggybacking over two telescopes, Canary Two and Chile Two. 

M31 - Andromeda Galaxy. 1x5min Canary Two (17") telescope

M42 - Orion Nebula. 1x5min Chile Two (17") telescope

Barnard 33 - Horsehead Nebula. 1x5min Chile Two (17") telescope

 

The image quality of SLOOH telescopes seem to be way above what I came across in MicroObservatory. Considering that the above are single shots, without any tracking, most people might even consider that it self to be good enough.

Given that a basic tracking scope with a go-to capability will cost upwards of 600 USD and a camera will cost another 600-700 USD, and that you would have to spend a lot of time (and get through lot of frustration with rain, clouds, lights etc.), this certainly does sound like a real bargain. However the biggest downside of this is a psychological one. There is a telescope, somewhere far away, perfectly aligned and tracked, and you just pay 50 (or 300 USD at most) to access it. And without ever stepping out, you just get access to images other astrophotographers don't. Would you still feel like you are an astrophotographer?