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My polar alignment took three hours last night and I'm not sure if it was worth it
I was trying to image the Andromeda Galaxy from my backyard in Phoenix, but my star tracker kept getting trails after 30 seconds. I spent the whole evening redoing the alignment with my phone app, checking the tripod level over and over. Some people say you need perfect alignment for deep sky shots, but others say close enough is fine for a beginner setup. How much time do you all usually spend on polar alignment before you call it good?
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morganj8129d agoMost Upvoted
Ever see a guy at a star party spend four hours on alignment? My buddy did that once... then a cloud rolled in and he packed up without taking a single shot. How long does it take you to feel okay with it?
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thomas.piper29d ago
Honestly, if it takes more than 30 minutes I just switch to a wide-field target. The perfect alignment chase can totally ruin a good night, so I set a hard limit. Getting SOME data is always better than getting none.
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