Astronomy - New 'Enhanced Vision Telescope' Amplifies Cosmic Light for Skywatchers

The new Enhanced Vision Telescope (eVscope) provides a clearer and brighter view of the cosmos (right) compared to that provided by conventional telescopes, according to Unistellar, the French startup that makes the eVscope.

Credit: Unistellar

A new backyard telescope accumulates and intensifies light, bringing the shapes and colors of cosmic objects into clearer view for amateur astronomers, the instrument's makers say.

The Enhanced Vision Telescope (eVscope) uses optics and electronics to increase celestial objects' brightness in the eyepiece in real time, according to representatives of Unistellar, the French startup behind the instrument. The eVscope is being shown this week at the CES 2017 tech showcase in Las Vegas. You can see the latest news from CES 2017 here from our sister site Tom's Guide. 

"Can you imagine finally being able to see colors and shapes of galaxies, live and directly through the eyepiece of a portable telescope where even a large and expensive 16-inch telescope wouldn’t let you see more than a gray mist?" Unistellar co-founder Laurent Marfisi said in a statement. "We expect it to revolutionize the hobby the same way consumer drones rocked aeromodelling."

This amplification system can be switched off if users wish to use the evScope as a traditional telescope, Unistellar representatives added.

The eVscope also features a "field recognition system," which lets users know just what they're observing — objects' names and distances from Earth, for example.

Unistellar is demonstrating the eVscope every evening at CES, which runs from today (Jan. 5) through Sunday (Jan. 8). Additional demos this month will take place in San Francisco and Marseilles, France, according to the startup's website.