Explorers of the 20th century lived in a horribly unfortunate circumstance: born too late to explore the world, and too early to explore the universe. Explorers of the 21st century, however, have the Hiuni Smart Telescope. The Smart Telescope started off as a Kickstarter campaign but became wildly successful seemingly overnight – and for good reasons. In opposition to traditional telescopes, the Hiuni renders brilliant celestial images electronically, allowing its users to interact with the cosmos. The Hiuni Smart Telescope pairs with an intuitive mobile app that’s loaded to the brim with interesting content. It:

• Has a built-in celestial calendar that notifies you of all cosmic events taking place in the near future. This way, you’ll never miss a meteor shower or a rare comet that only passes Earth every thousand years.
• Takes you through guided tours of the galaxy. These tours include activities, challenges, and fun facts.

Stargazing is a wonderful hobby, but telescopes take so long to set up properly that it discourages their owners. The Hiuni, on the other hand, uses intricate modern technology to calibrate itself. It even has a built-in camera so you won’t have to create some chaotic apparatus to shoot photos through the Smart Telescope. By the time this post is published, the Hiuni team is testing out prototypes, meaning that their early bird rate still applies. It’s currently on Kickstarter for $539, but the price will jump up to $1190 once production starts in the summer of 2019.