![]() ![]() ![]() This ensures accurate tracking without star trails, even at long focal lengths. When using any mount for astrophotography, a general rule to follow is keeping your payload at approximately half of the total stated capacity for the mount. This includes anything riding on top of the star tracker or mount including your camera, lens/telescope, and any other accessories like a guide scope. Payload capacity is a specified maximum weight that the star tracker or mount can carry. What is payload capacity on a star tracker? Thankfully, the wide angle views supported by star trackers do not require this level of precision to capture high quality images. Some astrophographers go so far as to have a second camera and small telescope tasked with maintaining perfect polar alignment. ![]() Some higher-end star trackers come with a proper polar alignment scope that make this step much easier. The more accurate your polar alignment is, the longer you can expose for before stars begin to blur or trail. Polar alignment is a critical step to using a star tracker or any equatorial mount. This makes the stars appear to stay still from your camera's point of view, allowing for much longer exposures, and therefore much better images of the night sky. When properly aligned, the rotation of the star tracker cancels out the Earth's rotation. Polar alignment is the process of aligning a star tracker or equatorial mount's axis with the north or south celestial pole, which is the same axis Earth spins on. Plus, when paired with a telephoto lens, you can capture wide field views of deep sky objects such as galaxies, nebulae, and more! You can capture even more detailed views of the Milky Way with a star tracker. In contrast, when using only a stationary tripod, you will be limited to capturing the Milky Way or constellations. This means that you can use some lightweight telescopes such as the William Optics RedCat 51 with them. Even at long focal lengths of up to 200mm or more, a star tracker can keep your photos free if blur and movement. ![]() Using a star tracker can allow for up to a 10x increase in effective exposure time, giving you endless possibilities of objects to photograph. This greatly increases the detail, overall brightness, and sharpness of your astrophotography images. To that point, using a star tracker will cancel out the motion of the Earth's rotation, which allows for up to several minutes of exposure at a time without trails appearing. A motorized star tracker is able to rotate at the same speed as the earth, allowing the stars to appear to stay still. The longer the focal length of your lens, the shorter your exposures must be to avoid these star trails. Star trails appear as stars streaking in lines across your image. Taking astophotographs with only a camera on a tripod limits your exposures to 30 seconds or less before star trails appear due to the Earth's rotation. Why are star trackers great for astrophotography? Star trackers are a perfect entry into the hobby of astrophotography, as you don't need a telescope to begin. As a result, they make it easy to attach a DSLR or Mirrorless camera and lens to capture stunning astrophotographs. Star trackers have increased in popularity over in the last few years. This allows for long exposure astrophotography. What is a star tracker?Ī star tracker is a type of motorized telescope or camera mount that can counteract the motion of the stars. It's important to understand how they work so you can decide which one is right for you. Star trackers come in many shapes and sizes. ![]()
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