I just bought the star adventurer and this video made my life easier. I’ve seen it multiple times and once I set up the tripod, the mount and the camera, polar alignment was really easy. Thank you so much!
Got my star tracker a week ago, today I tried polar aligning, couldn't find Polaris found a random star and roughly pointed at it... got 1 image before the clouds rolled in, turned out pretty fine for the first try! now I am here to learn!!
3:38 Why is Polaris slightly off the Celestial North Pole ? By that I mean, why was the Celestial North Pole (NOT Polaris) chosen at that point ? Is that the mathematically derived center of the rotation of the sky ? Thanks.
Yes. Polaris is near the celestial North pole but is not the exact point. That's why you align it slightly off from it based on the time of night and what the app tells you regarding it's location on the reticle.
@@LateNightAstronomy I’m sorry I was writing and suddenly I lost the page of message I was writing Than I made other message as I meant to ask here Thanks for the response
Thanks so much for you comment! The sky tracker pro is a solid mount. I bet you are getting some good use out of it. Anything in particular you are imaging now?
I'm using the SkyTracker Pro and it doesn't seem like I can adjust the reticle to point straight up... the manual says to point one "tick" to 12 o'clock, but its fixed at 12:15ish... Will this greatly effect my alignment?
Depending on the focal length you are shooting at it might not matter that much. Do some tests with your setup and various exposure lengths to see how long you can go without star trails being apparent!
Thank you for this. I'm new to astrophotography and considering buying the SkyGuider unit. I have a question though. If you're aligning your unit to Polaris but want to use it to photograph the galactic center which could be in another quadrant of the sky, how does the SkyGuider help you avoid star trails over long exposures? I think I must be missing something.
Good questions. Once you are locked in to Polaris you can move your camera rig to any part of the sky to image things. The rotation of the sky that you are locked in to with Polaris will allow you to track any other target without star trails. Check out my skyguider pro review and I think I talk a bit more about how to use it there!
Looking this tracker and the star adventure from SW. it looks like this one ranks better with polar scope and quote a few things but the alt-az latitude base is perhaps not as robust and as you’ve mentioned before the fine tuning on the polar alignment has some flex with the alt-azi adjustment bolts. Is the flex pretty easily overcome? You seems to get past it by small adjustments. Is it pretty simple? Appreciate any insight. Thanks
Great points. Yes, the base is the weak point of this mount but the slight adjustments I do have diminished any negative side effects from it. The polar scope and motor on this thing are rock solid and with proper alignment I can push it up to 75 and 90 seconds of exposure time on most nights if I need to. I would still go with this one if I had to make the choice over again after 3 years of using it.
@@LateNightAstronomy thank you you sooooo much for taking the time to respond. I really appreciate it and your insight. I was on the fence on this but from my research it seems this is the right choice for me between this and the 2i.
@@dannymartinez3600 My pleasure! Please consider buying it through the link in the description of this video and the one I did reviewing it to help support the channel! Take care and let me know if you have anymore questions.
Great tutorial! Can you comment or do a video on the level of accuracy that can be expected with an excellent polar alignment with the Sky Guider Pro? How much can guiding improve star sharpness with the Skyguider pro? How does leveling affect all of this? I’ve heard that you don’t really need a dual axis mount and the sgpro with good PA can track sharp stars at 5-10min subs. Is that true? Sorry for all the questions but I’d love to see a video on this topic in your channel. Again, thanks for your awesome tutorial!
Thank you, Robert! I have more videos planned for deep sky imaging beginning in early 2021. Until then, here are some answers to your great questions. With spot on polar alignment and the weight of the equipment I use, I have found a practical limit of about 3 minutes for capturing subs. Anything longer than that and a light gust of wind or the gears ever so slightly adjusting can throw off a whole image for use. If you were to autoguide with the SkyGuider pro my guess is you could squeeze out another minute or two. Most of my favorite images have been composed of subs ranging from 60 seconds to 90 seconds. I have read that leveling does not impact your imaging as long as you have proper polar alignment. I still like to make things perfectly level because it looks more sturdy and also I still feel like being completely off balance could possibly impact the counter weight system. I consider the SkyGuider pro to be the perfect mount to get started in astrophotography. I plan on using it for several years before moving "up" to a more expensive and complicated mounting system! Feel free to check out this video review I did of the Skyguider Pro earlier this summer. ruclips.net/video/3DPaX-2iXGE/видео.html
Hi mate! I've a quick dumb question. I recently bought the skywatcher star adventurer 2i pro pack, which is very similar to the iOptron here. My confusion is, since I've never used this before, once the polar alignment is done, do you tighten the clutch disc/knob before starting to shoot? I mean what part moves with the earth's rotation if everything is tighten?
Good question! Once you polar align early in the evening that alignment will stay stick for the rest of the night as long as you don't move your mount. For mine, I align early in the evening just after sunset, tighten down all the claps and then come back out about an hour later to begin my imaging! Let me know if you have anymore questions or if I misunderstood what you were asking!
You forgot to mention to calibrate the horizontal and vertical axes of the reticular -> clock. You need to put the 12 and 6 o'clock at the most accursed vertical position for the 12 and 6 o'clock. That for you need to place the Polaris int the middle of the cross in the reticular and from that point go down with the star in the scope as fare you can go to reach the end of the 6 o'clock vertical line if it's not following the line you need to put the star on the line to do so you just need to unlock the clutch and rotate the camera holder till the star is on the line. As soon the star is on the line close the clutch and go up to the middle of the cross again back, and it should follow the cross line till it reach the middle of the cross if not redo the steps. As soon you reach the middle of the cross it means that you have an accursed timescale and an accursed time position of the clock if you do not do this your clock will not be positioned at the right place and a drift will appear on the camera doing long exposure. So now after checking the app where the star should be on the clock you can use the AZ button of the mount to position Polaris at the right place in the clock. Have fun Clear sky
Great advice. Thanks for such a detailed listing of all the steps required to do that. I have not had any difficulties with alignment and tracking using the method shown in this video but the higher the focal length and longer the exposure, the more accurate you obviously want it to be! Thanks again and clear skies!
@@markwelsh9068 You may have already figured this out by now but what he means is to position the image you see in the alignment scope, by loosening up the clutch, and rotating the image until it is oriented the same as the image in your app. The 60', 65' and 70' degree marks will be to the left of the 12 O'clock vertical line. That is the way I do it. Hope this helps.
I have a fork mounted SCT. once I found Polaris I rotate the scope 90' to re-centre it in the centre. It's ball ache sometimes. Will Polar Scope Align Pro help me with this type of scope?
I'm not exactly sure if it will help with your setup but there is a free version of it "Polar Scope Align" that has most of the features shown in this video. Give that a download and see if it helps you out before you pay for the more premium version!
Some times I ask myself what if I pointed my polar finder mistakenly to some other bright star near by or there is no one. I’m finding out that my polar finder and the mount is not 100% lined with my scope I don’t know if is the way to fix that Than I would know if is the right star . Not even the finder scope is aligned with my polar finder scope I’m talking about eq6R Sky watcher. Give me your thoughts please Thanks for excellent video.
Having a rough polar aligning to the area near Polaris will be fine for shorter level exposures and wide field imaging with a 25 or 50mm lens for example. I still like to align it accuratley regarding of what I'm shooting just to get the best results. The polar scope and tracking mount will be fixed on the area of Polaris while the scope or camera/lens is moved to the targets you are imaging.
Hi .. which polar scope reticle type to select in the polar scope align app there are 25 types i.e how to determine which type is in the polar scope? Thx
I chose the one that most closely matched my tracking mount. I believe there was an actual one for the SkyGuider Pro that perfectly matched it. See if they have one for the brand of tracking mount you may have.
Great video! 👍🏼 I am using my new Skyguider pro tomorrow night and am researching the setup procedure. I'm not so sure many people put enough emphasis on making sure the reticle is perfectly vertical (2:50 in video). I guess that if this isn't perfect then error can occur. I am going to buy a tiny spirit level (keyring size) and tape it to the side of the counterweight bar, so as to ensure the reticle is vertical just before polar aligning. What are your thoughts on this?
Congrats on your purchase. It's a great piece of equipment that I've had for about 2 years now. I'm not sure if the tiny level will be necessary since the reticle being vertical helps make sure 12 o'clock is North for polar alignment but I may be miss reading what you are describing. Let me know if you have anymore questions and please stop back by to let me know how your astrophotography is going.
Hi! Yes I know the reticle displays a vertical line but using only your eyes risks it being not vertical. The same principle of the pictures hanging in your house. If you align them all using your eyes and judgement, that’s ok. But you’d be surprised if you put a spirit level on each one afterwards. I think just judging that the reticle is vertical prior to polar alignment, might risk the reticle to be 1” -2” off. Does this make a bit more sense? Happy new year BTW👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼🥂
@@markcook999 Yes, I see what you are saying now. One way to fine tune this is to slowly move Polaris up and down in the reticle until it perfectly follows the line that is between 12 and 6 o'clock top to bottom. I use this technique now but didn't when this video was produced!
I am a student and I don't understand what is polar alignment, what is star tracking, why is it important? Can you please make a separate video about the brief explanation of these things.
Great question. Polar alignment allows the equipment to follow the motion of the stars throughout the night. This lets us take long exposure images of the night sky to bring out faint details. Without tracking you could maybe shoot something for a few seconds. With polar alignment following the night skies rotation you can track objects for 30 seconds, 90 seconds, 5 minutes in some cases.
You are exactly right. I still like to get an accurate lock on Polaris regardless of the focal length I'm using by as you said 24mm will be very forgiving, especially at short exposures.
PS Align Pro is absolutely worth the asking price. To polar align I use the day align feature first to get Polaris in my reticle. Then I use the accurate alignment picture to put Polaris at the proper position. Just for fun I’ve also tried the manual method using the date/clock rings around the mount. I wasn’t as precise, but it was still a fun exercise to try it more old school 😂
Nice guide but I couldn't help but notice that the wedge and tracker is on the wrong way round. You set it to -37. In the manual it says that the wedge is -40 to 60. At 2:22 if you took the tracker off and swapped it 180 so it faces the ground then you could move it to +37. It doesn't matter because it works either way but if you ever went somewhere above -40 you'd probably have a brain freeze like I did. Took me a while to figure out how I was meant to get to 51 degrees when it only went to 40 and realising I had it on the wrong way.
Thanks for your comment. That's the way it came installed from the company but you are right that it would need to be reversed if I traveled above -40. Do you own the SkyGuider Pro or do any astrophotography?
@@LateNightAstronomy Recently own the skyguider. Tried to use it two days ago but cloud rolled in as per. Cloud every night since. Other than that a 10" Newt 1200mm F6, Newt 6" 460mm F5. Coming in March a 480mm triplet F5. I have all the gear like a guide camera, EQ mount, etc, but nothing worth sharing for now. You?
Beginner here. I read about the Astrotracer function in some Pentax cameras with GPS support. Are there any regular trackers out there that use the same technology with GPS to properly set your location and then follow the rotation? Or is it manual only no matter how expensive tracker you buy?
Good question. I'm not quite sure about that. This is the best "budget friendly" mount out there in my opinion but I'm sure some of the more advanced ones dabble in those techniques. Do you currently own a Pentax or ae you just getting started in astrophotography?
Thanks Mike this really helped me to align my scope. My question though, when the scope gets aligned the bracket that goes over the grooves has the tightening screw at the bottom and not at the top. Wouldn’t this affect my using the bracket that the camera and counterweight goes on since it shouldn’t be disturbed after finding Polaris? Or it doesn’t matter as long as the elevation and azimuth remains the same?
You are very welcome! If I'm reading your question correctly you will be fine connecting equipment regardless of if you need to use the counterweight system or not. Just make sure everything is locked down tight on the SkyGuider Pro after aligning to Polaris. Let me know if I'm missing the point of what you are asking.
I am new to this, but I discovered this same issue. Some diagonals are designed with two baseplates. One gets firmly secured to the tripod and the upper plate has some ability to twist against the base by using the RA (AZ?) adjustment knobs. The upper plate needs to be slightly loose to swivel during polar alignment. However, if it is loose there can be some wobble, especially with heavy equipment on top. This is something I think needs to be addressed to have a very stable mount. So.....after I have Polaris at the perfect position on the reticle (using RA adjustment knobs to move right and left, etc.), I believe it is best to tighten the base screw knobs to secure the diagonal into place against its baseplate. However, when you do this, the polar alignment usually drifts off slightly. So you need to loosen the baseplate knobs slightly again, align again and tighten the baseplate knobs again. I repeat this process (Catch 22 situation) in finer and finer increments until I have tight lockdown AND good alignment. No one seems to talk about this, but I think it is important. Also, I think this might only be a feature of certain inexpensive and popular diagonals. There must be better designed diagonals (more expensive?) out there that do not have this problem, I suspect.
@@paulcizdziel3769 Your offer a great explanation of the problem and a nice solution as well! Thanks for sharing your knowledge on this! Anything out now that you are hoping to image?
@@LateNightAstronomy I got my first telescope 2 months ago (small refractor AT60ED). I have not even imaged anything at prime focus yet, since I do not yet have a DSLR set-up, only a cell phone camera! And now rainy season is about to start here in Japan, so my chances are slim for the next month or so. So I am an absolute rank amateur with little to no experience, but my professional science background and experience with instrumentation and concepts makes me very analytical so I notice small things like the lockdown screws and the significance and impact. Probably those screws can be reasonably tight and still allow some swivel since they have teflon washers, but one should definitely be aware of them and the implications for wobble or slippage. Wishing you clear skies! Oh, and BTW, a friend just lent me an old NIKON D600. So I am planning for my first target to be the Cocoon Nebula.....unless you have a better suggestion for a first target in June/July?
Great Tutorial Micheal. I have Not Been Able to Find Polaris In My Night Sky Beacuse Buildings Obstruct the View : ( I live At 17° N Latitude so Polaris I'd Low On The Horizon.
It is not a go to mount. You will have to manually find the object you wish to photograph. There are lots of apps that will help you locate an object in the night sky.
My biggest problem is, I use Polar Align Pro, and example it will say around the 4pm mark, i'll set it, but If i check the app again a bit later, it has moved and is then saying something in the opposite direction like 11pm. I don't know if something is going on with my phone. I use a Galaxy S21. Could it be i'm losing calibration with my phone somehow? I normally do the figure 8 thing to calibrate.
You only need to align it once at the start of your imaging session. After that, you are good for the night. As long as the start are still tracking with no star streaks you are good!
I'm sorry to hear that it is just for ios now. I'm honestly don't know much about android apps but hope you can find another channel with a review/answer to your question! Take care and clear skies!
If you are doing low focal length imaging, exact polar alignment matters less and less. Using a 20mm lens for wide angle views of the milky way at short exposure lengths would be fine with the method you are describing.
Thanks for this video! I have one question tho.. I have the ioptron, but I have an android phone. All the android polar alignment apps I´ve found display a ´single circle´ with a dot at the edge. The viewfinder of the ioptron polar scope shows 2 circles and they have a thickness to them. How do I know if I should focus on the inner or outer circle or even inbetween? I´m in Belgium at about 51°. It really is kinda BS that they only made an official app for Iphones
Is the App "PS Align Pro" not available for android? I just put your coordinates into my app that was shown in this video and it looks like you will always be in the center circle of the two. Hope that helps a bit!
I've noticed that after I polar align using the app, the polaris dot moves on the app as time goes by. Does that mean I have to keep re-polar aligning to the different polaris position? I thought the whole point of polaris is that it doesn't move so I am just wondering.
Hi Mike. Great video and quite well explained. My concern is related to right position of Polaris. Why do we have to place Polaris in the exact point marked in the app? I mean, when you lead Polaris to the circle in the reticule, the NCP is already located in the cross right in the center of the circle and Polaris is going to turn all around this point and we don't need to know where exactly it is. So, why is it so important? Thanks in advance for any light you can drop on this topic and best regards. Greatings from Sevilla, Spain.
Good question. Polaris is not at the exact point of rotation. It's slightly off, which is why i long exposure photography even Polaris will shift a bit. Putting it in the correct spot in the reticle will ensure the most accurate tracking possible for this mount.
Hi there! Great tutorial! However, for us down here in the Southern Hemisphere, it gets quite harder to do it. But now they have iPolar, either already built in the SG Pro or as an accessory for those who have already bought the guider without it. My SG Pro is the old model, so I've just ordered the iOptron to help me with alignment. With the iPolar you just need a laptop and the free proprietary software. There's no need to find any particular star, you just have to find North (or South if you're in the Southern Hemisphere) and fine tune with the aid of the software. Clear skies!
Great information!!! I have looked into iPolar but for where I live, the included scope works just fine. I thought about trying to tackle the Southern Cross and Southern Alignment for my friends in the southern hemisphere but trying to figure that out gave me a bit of a headache!!!
Esa es una buena pregunta. Necesitará usar algo llamado "Cruz del Sur". Consulte algunos sitios web y videos de RUclips para ver si pueden ayudarlo un poco más.
Polaris will be 11 degrees above the horizon to the north. Depending on your terrain and buildings around that may not be an option for you. I would encourage you to also look up aligning to the Southern Cross to see if that would better for where you live.
@@LateNightAstronomy wow you have responded in Russian language) do you mean place mount head horizontally with bubble level and 0/12 will be in correct place?
@@LateNightAstronomy только что проверил свою теорию и оказалось что при горизонтальном положении головы монтировки шкала внутри искателя расположена не верно. зато я обратил внимание, что совпадает две метки. Одна метка на основании где вкручивается искатель, а другая метка на самом искателе. значит искатель находится в верном положении. метки совмещаются только тогда когда голова монтировки расположена ровно вертикально. На самом искателе есть металическая "юбка" с разметкой (шкалой). Ее можно вращать независимо от искателя. шкала от 1 до 12. ниже находится маленькая шкала от 20 запад до 0 и до 20 восток. Может нужно провернуть внутреннюю шкалу?
I just bought the star adventurer and this video made my life easier. I’ve seen it multiple times and once I set up the tripod, the mount and the camera, polar alignment was really easy. Thank you so much!
You are very welcome. Let me know if I can help you with anything else!
Got my star tracker a week ago, today I tried polar aligning, couldn't find Polaris found a random star and roughly pointed at it... got 1 image before the clouds rolled in, turned out pretty fine for the first try! now I am here to learn!!
That's a great first attempt. I hope the video helps you out and stop by with anymore questions!
Very informative video. Thanks
I appreciate that! Thank you!
Thank you. This was a very informative toturial.
Clear Skies!!!
3:38 Why is Polaris slightly off the Celestial North Pole ? By that I mean, why was the Celestial North Pole (NOT Polaris) chosen at that point ? Is that the mathematically derived center of the rotation of the sky ? Thanks.
Yes. Polaris is near the celestial North pole but is not the exact point. That's why you align it slightly off from it based on the time of night and what the app tells you regarding it's location on the reticle.
Excellent awsome video. Merci beaucoup!
You're Welcome. Clear skies!
Great video. Thank you. Subscribed and on my way to watch your other stuff. Thank you.
I appreciate that! Let me know if you have any questions along the way!
I have been reading on how to find the north star. your video made it clear. the hint about not just centering the scope was the first I've found.
Thanks for your comment and I'm glad you found the video helpful.
short simple and easy to understand
very helpful
you cached my mistake I use to put polar right in the center of the polar scope.
Thanks.
so much.
I really appreciate that! Take care and clear skies!
Another question when positioning the North Star does mount have to be lucked in home position ?
Thanks for another great video!!
Glad you like them!
you saved my life, thank you so much!
You're welcome!
Great video man. What tripod are you using?
It is the 1.25 inch ioptron tripod. It cost about 80 dollars when I purchased it in 2019.
@@LateNightAstronomy thank you!
Great tutorial
Question do I have to have the mount In position
Thanks. Could you be a bit more specific with your question and time stamp a part you may be referring to.
@@LateNightAstronomy
I’m sorry I was writing and suddenly I lost the page of message I was writing
Than I made other message as I meant to ask here
Thanks for the response
I found this video most helpful, very well explained and to the point among all videos in this category.
Thanks very much! Let me know if you have any questions on astrophotography!
Happy to see ads on your channel😍😍
As am I. I would make these videos either way, but it was nice to be accepted into the RUclips Partner Program!!!!
Awesome tutorial Dude, Will give this a go next time I go out and take long exposures i use it’s little brother the sky tracker pro.
Thanks so much for you comment! The sky tracker pro is a solid mount. I bet you are getting some good use out of it. Anything in particular you are imaging now?
I'm using the SkyTracker Pro and it doesn't seem like I can adjust the reticle to point straight up... the manual says to point one "tick" to 12 o'clock, but its fixed at 12:15ish... Will this greatly effect my alignment?
Depending on the focal length you are shooting at it might not matter that much. Do some tests with your setup and various exposure lengths to see how long you can go without star trails being apparent!
Thank you for this. I'm new to astrophotography and considering buying the SkyGuider unit. I have a question though. If you're aligning your unit to Polaris but want to use it to photograph the galactic center which could be in another quadrant of the sky, how does the SkyGuider help you avoid star trails over long exposures? I think I must be missing something.
Good questions. Once you are locked in to Polaris you can move your camera rig to any part of the sky to image things. The rotation of the sky that you are locked in to with Polaris will allow you to track any other target without star trails. Check out my skyguider pro review and I think I talk a bit more about how to use it there!
Thank you for taking the time to make this. I am a smarter person for watching it. Okay, maybe not smarter, but definitely more informed. Lol.
I'm glad you found it helpful!
Looking this tracker and the star adventure from SW. it looks like this one ranks better with polar scope and quote a few things but the alt-az latitude base is perhaps not as robust and as you’ve mentioned before the fine tuning on the polar alignment has some flex with the alt-azi adjustment bolts. Is the flex pretty easily overcome? You seems to get past it by small adjustments. Is it pretty simple? Appreciate any insight. Thanks
Great points. Yes, the base is the weak point of this mount but the slight adjustments I do have diminished any negative side effects from it. The polar scope and motor on this thing are rock solid and with proper alignment I can push it up to 75 and 90 seconds of exposure time on most nights if I need to. I would still go with this one if I had to make the choice over again after 3 years of using it.
@@LateNightAstronomy thank you you sooooo much for taking the time to respond. I really appreciate it and your insight. I was on the fence on this but from my research it seems this is the right choice for me between this and the 2i.
@@dannymartinez3600 My pleasure! Please consider buying it through the link in the description of this video and the one I did reviewing it to help support the channel! Take care and let me know if you have anymore questions.
Great tutorial! Can you comment or do a video on the level of accuracy that can be expected with an excellent polar alignment with the Sky Guider Pro? How much can guiding improve star sharpness with the Skyguider pro? How does leveling affect all of this? I’ve heard that you don’t really need a dual axis mount and the sgpro with good PA can track sharp stars at 5-10min subs. Is that true? Sorry for all the questions but I’d love to see a video on this topic in your channel. Again, thanks for your awesome tutorial!
Thank you, Robert! I have more videos planned for deep sky imaging beginning in early 2021. Until then, here are some answers to your great questions. With spot on polar alignment and the weight of the equipment I use, I have found a practical limit of about 3 minutes for capturing subs. Anything longer than that and a light gust of wind or the gears ever so slightly adjusting can throw off a whole image for use. If you were to autoguide with the SkyGuider pro my guess is you could squeeze out another minute or two. Most of my favorite images have been composed of subs ranging from 60 seconds to 90 seconds. I have read that leveling does not impact your imaging as long as you have proper polar alignment. I still like to make things perfectly level because it looks more sturdy and also I still feel like being completely off balance could possibly impact the counter weight system. I consider the SkyGuider pro to be the perfect mount to get started in astrophotography. I plan on using it for several years before moving "up" to a more expensive and complicated mounting system! Feel free to check out this video review I did of the Skyguider Pro earlier this summer. ruclips.net/video/3DPaX-2iXGE/видео.html
Is it recommended to use the star tracker with an additional polar wedge for higher accuracy?
For the type of focal lengths I'm working with 50mm to 150mm for astrophotgraphy the acuracy of this for polar alignment is more than enough.
I'm using NINA 3-point alignment; do u know how to manually pick where to aim shots 2 and 3?
I do not know how to do that.
Hi mate! I've a quick dumb question. I recently bought the skywatcher star adventurer 2i pro pack, which is very similar to the iOptron here. My confusion is, since I've never used this before, once the polar alignment is done, do you tighten the clutch disc/knob before starting to shoot? I mean what part moves with the earth's rotation if everything is tighten?
Good question! Once you polar align early in the evening that alignment will stay stick for the rest of the night as long as you don't move your mount. For mine, I align early in the evening just after sunset, tighten down all the claps and then come back out about an hour later to begin my imaging! Let me know if you have anymore questions or if I misunderstood what you were asking!
You forgot to mention to calibrate the horizontal and vertical axes of the reticular -> clock.
You need to put the 12 and 6 o'clock at the most accursed vertical position for the 12 and 6 o'clock.
That for you need to place the Polaris int the middle of the cross in the reticular and from that point go down with the star in the scope as fare you can go to reach the end of the 6 o'clock vertical line if it's not following the line you need to put the star on the line to do so you just need to unlock the clutch and rotate the camera holder till the star is on the line.
As soon the star is on the line close the clutch and go up to the middle of the cross again back, and it should follow the cross line till it reach the middle of the cross if not redo the steps.
As soon you reach the middle of the cross it means that you have an accursed timescale and an accursed time position of the clock if you do not do this your clock will not be positioned at the right place and a drift will appear on the camera doing long exposure.
So now after checking the app where the star should be on the clock you can use the AZ button of the mount to position Polaris at the right place in the clock.
Have fun
Clear sky
Great advice. Thanks for such a detailed listing of all the steps required to do that. I have not had any difficulties with alignment and tracking using the method shown in this video but the higher the focal length and longer the exposure, the more accurate you obviously want it to be! Thanks again and clear skies!
@@LateNightAstronomy Could you do a video on what this guy just said because I didn't follow a word of it. Totally lost me.
What a great idea! I just picked up the SGP and was trying to figure out how to know when the 12 was truly at the top. Thank you!!
@@markwelsh9068 You may have already figured this out by now but what he means is to position the image you see in the alignment scope, by loosening up the clutch, and rotating the image until it is oriented the same as the image in your app. The 60', 65' and 70' degree marks will be to the left of the 12 O'clock vertical line. That is the way I do it. Hope this helps.
I have a fork mounted SCT. once I found Polaris I rotate the scope 90' to re-centre it in the centre. It's ball ache sometimes. Will Polar Scope Align Pro help me with this type of scope?
I'm not exactly sure if it will help with your setup but there is a free version of it "Polar Scope Align" that has most of the features shown in this video. Give that a download and see if it helps you out before you pay for the more premium version!
Wish we had a star as bright as polaris in the south hemisphere. It's so hard for me do a correct alignment but im hoping to get good results
I know. I've heard the southern cross is more difficult to use for alignment.
Thanks Mike, is this app only for Iphone? Mine is android, any recommendation? Thanks!
I am not sure if it is available for android. If not, I'm sure there are other options if you type in Polar Alignment into your app store.
Some times I ask myself what if I pointed my polar finder mistakenly to some other bright star near by or there is no one.
I’m finding out that my polar finder and the mount is not 100% lined with my scope
I don’t know if is the way to fix that
Than I would know if is the right star . Not even the finder scope is aligned with my polar finder scope I’m talking about eq6R Sky watcher.
Give me your thoughts please
Thanks for excellent video.
Having a rough polar aligning to the area near Polaris will be fine for shorter level exposures and wide field imaging with a 25 or 50mm lens for example. I still like to align it accuratley regarding of what I'm shooting just to get the best results. The polar scope and tracking mount will be fixed on the area of Polaris while the scope or camera/lens is moved to the targets you are imaging.
Hi .. which polar scope reticle type to select in the polar scope align app there are 25 types i.e how to determine which type is in the polar scope? Thx
I chose the one that most closely matched my tracking mount. I believe there was an actual one for the SkyGuider Pro that perfectly matched it. See if they have one for the brand of tracking mount you may have.
Great video! 👍🏼 I am using my new Skyguider pro tomorrow night and am researching the setup procedure.
I'm not so sure many people put enough emphasis on making sure the reticle is perfectly vertical (2:50 in video). I guess that if this isn't perfect then error can occur.
I am going to buy a tiny spirit level (keyring size) and tape it to the side of the counterweight bar, so as to ensure the reticle is vertical just before polar aligning. What are your thoughts on this?
Congrats on your purchase. It's a great piece of equipment that I've had for about 2 years now. I'm not sure if the tiny level will be necessary since the reticle being vertical helps make sure 12 o'clock is North for polar alignment but I may be miss reading what you are describing. Let me know if you have anymore questions and please stop back by to let me know how your astrophotography is going.
Hi!
Yes I know the reticle displays a vertical line but using only your eyes risks it being not vertical.
The same principle of the pictures hanging in your house. If you align them all using your eyes and judgement, that’s ok. But you’d be surprised if you put a spirit level on each one afterwards.
I think just judging that the reticle is vertical prior to polar alignment, might risk the reticle to be 1” -2” off.
Does this make a bit more sense?
Happy new year BTW👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼🥂
@@markcook999 Yes, I see what you are saying now. One way to fine tune this is to slowly move Polaris up and down in the reticle until it perfectly follows the line that is between 12 and 6 o'clock top to bottom. I use this technique now but didn't when this video was produced!
Aw yes that also would work!!! Well I still am yet to use mine, I can’t seem to find the off switch for the cloud generator 🙄😆
I am a student and I don't understand what is polar alignment, what is star tracking, why is it important?
Can you please make a separate video about the brief explanation of these things.
Great question. Polar alignment allows the equipment to follow the motion of the stars throughout the night. This lets us take long exposure images of the night sky to bring out faint details. Without tracking you could maybe shoot something for a few seconds. With polar alignment following the night skies rotation you can track objects for 30 seconds, 90 seconds, 5 minutes in some cases.
I assume using a wide-angle lens say 24mm you dont need to be as accurate in terms of PA if taking a shot at the MW?
You are exactly right. I still like to get an accurate lock on Polaris regardless of the focal length I'm using by as you said 24mm will be very forgiving, especially at short exposures.
Great tutorial
Thanks so much!
PS Align Pro is absolutely worth the asking price. To polar align I use the day align feature first to get Polaris in my reticle. Then I use the accurate alignment picture to put Polaris at the proper position. Just for fun I’ve also tried the manual method using the date/clock rings around the mount. I wasn’t as precise, but it was still a fun exercise to try it more old school 😂
Thanks for sharing those features of PS Align Pro. It is a great piece of software for a reasonable asking price!
Was that a live view of the polar scope? Because I can’t see any stars through mine at all
No, I recreated what it would look like for the purpose of the video.
Nice guide but I couldn't help but notice that the wedge and tracker is on the wrong way round. You set it to -37. In the manual it says that the wedge is -40 to 60. At 2:22 if you took the tracker off and swapped it 180 so it faces the ground then you could move it to +37. It doesn't matter because it works either way but if you ever went somewhere above -40 you'd probably have a brain freeze like I did. Took me a while to figure out how I was meant to get to 51 degrees when it only went to 40 and realising I had it on the wrong way.
Thanks for your comment. That's the way it came installed from the company but you are right that it would need to be reversed if I traveled above -40. Do you own the SkyGuider Pro or do any astrophotography?
@@LateNightAstronomy Recently own the skyguider. Tried to use it two days ago but cloud rolled in as per. Cloud every night since. Other than that a 10" Newt 1200mm F6, Newt 6" 460mm F5. Coming in March a 480mm triplet F5. I have all the gear like a guide camera, EQ mount, etc, but nothing worth sharing for now. You?
@@Kyle_Hubbard Nice setup. I shoot with the Canon SL2 using a 135mm Samyang f/2 lens on the Skyguider Pro. Keep me updated on how things go for you!
@@LateNightAstronomy OK, will do. Supposed to get a clear night tonight so hoping I can try the tracker.
Thank you!
My Pleasure!
Beginner here. I read about the Astrotracer function in some Pentax cameras with GPS support. Are there any regular trackers out there that use the same technology with GPS to properly set your location and then follow the rotation? Or is it manual only no matter how expensive tracker you buy?
Good question. I'm not quite sure about that. This is the best "budget friendly" mount out there in my opinion but I'm sure some of the more advanced ones dabble in those techniques. Do you currently own a Pentax or ae you just getting started in astrophotography?
Why different apps shows polaris in a different point? Which one is reliable?
It will depend on your location and the time of night when you are looking at it. The one I use in this video has always been accurate for me.
Thanks Mike this really helped me to align my scope. My question though, when the scope gets aligned the bracket that goes over the grooves has the tightening screw at the bottom and not at the top. Wouldn’t this affect my using the bracket that the camera and counterweight goes on since it shouldn’t be disturbed after finding Polaris? Or it doesn’t matter as long as the elevation and azimuth remains the same?
You are very welcome! If I'm reading your question correctly you will be fine connecting equipment regardless of if you need to use the counterweight system or not. Just make sure everything is locked down tight on the SkyGuider Pro after aligning to Polaris. Let me know if I'm missing the point of what you are asking.
I am new to this, but I discovered this same issue. Some diagonals are designed with two baseplates. One gets firmly secured to the tripod and the upper plate has some ability to twist against the base by using the RA (AZ?) adjustment knobs. The upper plate needs to be slightly loose to swivel during polar alignment. However, if it is loose there can be some wobble, especially with heavy equipment on top. This is something I think needs to be addressed to have a very stable mount. So.....after I have Polaris at the perfect position on the reticle (using RA adjustment knobs to move right and left, etc.), I believe it is best to tighten the base screw knobs to secure the diagonal into place against its baseplate. However, when you do this, the polar alignment usually drifts off slightly. So you need to loosen the baseplate knobs slightly again, align again and tighten the baseplate knobs again. I repeat this process (Catch 22 situation) in finer and finer increments until I have tight lockdown AND good alignment. No one seems to talk about this, but I think it is important. Also, I think this might only be a feature of certain inexpensive and popular diagonals. There must be better designed diagonals (more expensive?) out there that do not have this problem, I suspect.
@@paulcizdziel3769 Your offer a great explanation of the problem and a nice solution as well! Thanks for sharing your knowledge on this! Anything out now that you are hoping to image?
@@LateNightAstronomy I got my first telescope 2 months ago (small refractor AT60ED). I have not even imaged anything at prime focus yet, since I do not yet have a DSLR set-up, only a cell phone camera! And now rainy season is about to start here in Japan, so my chances are slim for the next month or so. So I am an absolute rank amateur with little to no experience, but my professional science background and experience with instrumentation and concepts makes me very analytical so I notice small things like the lockdown screws and the significance and impact. Probably those screws can be reasonably tight and still allow some swivel since they have teflon washers, but one should definitely be aware of them and the implications for wobble or slippage. Wishing you clear skies! Oh, and BTW, a friend just lent me an old NIKON D600. So I am planning for my first target to be the Cocoon Nebula.....unless you have a better suggestion for a first target in June/July?
@@paulcizdziel3769 Sounds like a great target to me. Let me know how it goes!
Great Tutorial Micheal. I have Not Been Able to Find Polaris In My Night Sky Beacuse Buildings Obstruct the View : (
I live At 17° N Latitude so Polaris I'd Low On The Horizon.
Try iPolar, it helps considerably with the alignment. It's an accessory for SG Pro.
@@marcosjpinto8450 Thanks 😊
I appreciate you say that. Yeah, I bet that does make it a hard target for sure!
Is it a go to mount? I mean how will I track and trace deep sky objects and go to them for imaging?
It is not a go to mount. You will have to manually find the object you wish to photograph. There are lots of apps that will help you locate an object in the night sky.
The fact that it is not go to definitely forces you to learn the night sky which van be frustrating at first but rewarding over time!
My biggest problem is, I use Polar Align Pro, and example it will say around the 4pm mark, i'll set it, but If i check the app again a bit later, it has moved and is then saying something in the opposite direction like 11pm. I don't know if something is going on with my phone. I use a Galaxy S21. Could it be i'm losing calibration with my phone somehow? I normally do the figure 8 thing to calibrate.
You only need to align it once at the start of your imaging session. After that, you are good for the night. As long as the start are still tracking with no star streaks you are good!
i guess the application which you have mentioned is only available for ios , can you suggest any similar app for android
I'm sorry to hear that it is just for ios now. I'm honestly don't know much about android apps but hope you can find another channel with a review/answer to your question! Take care and clear skies!
is it possible to make polar alignment with GPS without seeing Polaris?
If you are doing low focal length imaging, exact polar alignment matters less and less. Using a 20mm lens for wide angle views of the milky way at short exposure lengths would be fine with the method you are describing.
Thanks for this video! I have one question tho.. I have the ioptron, but I have an android phone. All the android polar alignment apps I´ve found display a ´single circle´ with a dot at the edge. The viewfinder of the ioptron polar scope shows 2 circles and they have a thickness to them. How do I know if I should focus on the inner or outer circle or even inbetween? I´m in Belgium at about 51°. It really is kinda BS that they only made an official app for Iphones
Is the App "PS Align Pro" not available for android? I just put your coordinates into my app that was shown in this video and it looks like you will always be in the center circle of the two. Hope that helps a bit!
@@LateNightAstronomy yes the official one is only on iPhone. But it definitely helps knowing I´ll have to use the center circle. Thank you very much!
Knowledgeable video 🎉🎉🎁🙏 thank you for sharing ❤️🙏😀🎉🎉🎉
Anytime! Let me know if you have any questions along the way.
@@LateNightAstronomy Sure :)
What if the north sky including polaris is totally blocked??
If you are doing wide angle astrophotography you can get away with pointing it towards where Polaris is and putting in your longitude.
@@LateNightAstronomy I actually am planning on getting into deep sky objects and with an EdgeHD 8" I'm going to need very good alignment.
@@area51xi Yeah, that's a great scope. Do you live in the Southern Hemisphere?
@@LateNightAstronomy No I'm in LA but there are houses in that direction that completely block that part of the sky.
Best polar alignment app for android? (I have the Samsung S23 Ultra).
I would suggest this one if it's on there. If not, I'm not sure.
I've noticed that after I polar align using the app, the polaris dot moves on the app as time goes by. Does that mean I have to keep re-polar aligning to the different polaris position? I thought the whole point of polaris is that it doesn't move so I am just wondering.
Great question. No, once you do the initial alignment it will last the whole night.
Hi Mike. Great video and quite well explained. My concern is related to right position of Polaris. Why do we have to place Polaris in the exact point marked in the app? I mean, when you lead Polaris to the circle in the reticule, the NCP is already located in the cross right in the center of the circle and Polaris is going to turn all around this point and we don't need to know where exactly it is. So, why is it so important? Thanks in advance for any light you can drop on this topic and best regards. Greatings from Sevilla, Spain.
Good question. Polaris is not at the exact point of rotation. It's slightly off, which is why i long exposure photography even Polaris will shift a bit. Putting it in the correct spot in the reticle will ensure the most accurate tracking possible for this mount.
Don't you also see all the other stars in the polar scope? What amount of magnification does the polar scope have, how hard is finding Polaris?
Thankfully, Polaris isn't surrounded by many other stars of similar brightness. Try using the guide I talk about in this video to find it.
i have question can you how us how to photography uranus or neptun? i kn0w its hard hahaa
I hope to put out a video on those two planets sometime in 2021. I have never imaged them before and look forward to the challenge!
Hi there! Great tutorial!
However, for us down here in the Southern Hemisphere, it gets quite harder to do it. But now they have iPolar, either already built in the SG Pro or as an accessory for those who have already bought the guider without it. My SG Pro is the old model, so I've just ordered the iOptron to help me with alignment. With the iPolar you just need a laptop and the free proprietary software. There's no need to find any particular star, you just have to find North (or South if you're in the Southern Hemisphere) and fine tune with the aid of the software.
Clear skies!
Great information!!! I have looked into iPolar but for where I live, the included scope works just fine. I thought about trying to tackle the Southern Cross and Southern Alignment for my friends in the southern hemisphere but trying to figure that out gave me a bit of a headache!!!
gracias, pero como debo alinear si me encuentro en el hemisferio sur ?, por favor
Esa es una buena pregunta. Necesitará usar algo llamado "Cruz del Sur". Consulte algunos sitios web y videos de RUclips para ver si pueden ayudarlo un poco más.
I live in India at latitude of 11°.how do I find polaris
Polaris will be 11 degrees above the horizon to the north. Depending on your terrain and buildings around that may not be an option for you. I would encourage you to also look up aligning to the Southern Cross to see if that would better for where you live.
вопрос есть. как убедиться, что шкала установлена ровно? в особенности на массивной экваториальной монтировке такой как EQ5, EQ6 и т.п.?
Для этого к этому креплению должен быть прикреплен пузырьковый уровень.
@@LateNightAstronomy wow you have responded in Russian language) do you mean place mount head horizontally with bubble level and 0/12 will be in correct place?
@@LateNightAstronomy только что проверил свою теорию и оказалось что при горизонтальном положении головы монтировки шкала внутри искателя расположена не верно. зато я обратил внимание, что совпадает две метки. Одна метка на основании где вкручивается искатель, а другая метка на самом искателе. значит искатель находится в верном положении. метки совмещаются только тогда когда голова монтировки расположена ровно вертикально. На самом искателе есть металическая "юбка" с разметкой (шкалой). Ее можно вращать независимо от искателя. шкала от 1 до 12. ниже находится маленькая шкала от 20 запад до 0 и до 20 восток. Может нужно провернуть внутреннюю шкалу?
i thought polaris is on the opposit in the clock becouse in the scope everything is mirorred
With how this is setup. Aligning it as shown on this video with the app has been working well for me for years.
@@LateNightAstronomy thank you that is good news
:)))
Still can't figure it out haha 😆 joys of being dumb
It's a tough thing to get and took me months to actually understand. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Unwatchable
Please let me know if you have any questions on polar alignment or astrophotography?