I can't stress how much of a lifesaver this tutorial was for me. Ever since I got my motorized EQ mount I could hardly get 20seconds of exposure without trailing. Using your method I was blown away by being able to achieve 30 second subs with round looking stars.
Thank you for taking the time to explain this. My apartment building blocks polaris so I’m thinking of trying this out. Love the visuals, they were great!
Thanks for watching. I swear I put hours and days of thought into it. At first glance people might think “wth?!” Lol. I really wanted to illustrate the technique properly and especially for folks limited on equipment.
@@GarnettLeary I was actually looking for information on how to polar align using the reticle and the date/hour dials on the back of the mount. Can't seem to find that info anywhere, everyone says to use an app. Finally had ChatGPT explain it to me, and it also mentioned drift alignment for even more precise alignment. Now _that,_ I thought to myself, is a search query that might yield some good results. And lo and behold, you delivered! 😀 Bookmarking this in my astrophotography playlist.
This was a great explanation of how to drift align. I've been reading so many "how to's" and found them extremely confusing. You made it so easy to understand. Great video! Thank you!!
This is great. The on paper explanation is a great way to quickly demonstrate what needs to be observed. More people might watch the whole video if you cut out the first 4 minutes or so.
Thank you. I found it really complicated to do hands on. Using a cut out came to me one morning out of the blue. It’s a really complicated topic to explain and I really wanted people to get a grasp on it so not discouraged. Future videos will ignore things like the first 4 min you mentioned. You’re absolutely right. This is a technical and information channel and nothing more is required. I started sliding into the lame music and intro trap. Lol. Efficiency is the key. A well executed idea and explanation. Thanks for watching. Clear skies.
Thank you, this was a perfect explanation, the while North-South thing was very confusing for me on online tutorials.I'm trying to build my own RA motor using a stepper and an arduino but nobody told me that the camera needs to be in a certain orientation :)).With the help of your video now I'm able to figure out if I'm running the motor at the correct speed or not and I'm able to finally polar align.
I appreciate the effort at time index 7:00 how it is important to grasp, understand drift aligning before moving onto computer assist Astro programs - great video! At first, I thought you were held hostage for ransom on some maritime ship. lol
I believe an understanding of exactly what the pc is doing is essential for everyone. This is most useful for folks on manually guided systems and lower end equipment. There are many who would benefit from it. Not hostage just real busy. Hope all is well with you. Clear skies.
I believe an understanding of exactly what the pc is doing is essential for everyone. This is most useful for folks on manually guided systems and lower end equipment. There are many who would benefit from it. Not hostage just real busy. Hope all is well with you. Clear skies.
Thank you. I love your work. I thought it was funny to see your arrow. It reminded me of my attempt. I really like your work with Maksutovs. Clear skies.
This video is indeed quite clear. As a beginner, having just upgraded my EQ5 with a motor drive set, I am facing the polar alignment issue all too obviously. Until now, I managed to image series of short exposures with SharpCap with my 190/1000 Mak-Newt. But that only allowed me to capture rather bright objects, such as M42. There's no way to capture the Horsehead nebula in that manner. I have been getting used to manual corrections all the time, lacking a motor drive, but that is going to change now. So, thanks for this clear explanation. I hope I can put it to good use.
At 1,000mm if you’re getting any results at all manually you’re doing fantastic. That’s a very unforgiving focal length. I’m guessing that’s the 90mm Maksutov. That high focal ratio combined with tracking motors is definitely a learning curve. If you drift align it you will definitely get longer exposures but you’ll still have to toss occasional sub frames due to periodic error. You’re taking on a very difficult setup. I applaud to that. With that setup I would be using a top mounted guide scope and use the crosshair function in Sharpcap. I’d use the controller to nudge the mount toward the guide star. It can be done this way. You can also drift align using this method. Understanding drift alignment is an essential skill IMO. There would be far less confusion in PHD2 forums if people actually understood what the software was doing. There would be far more appreciation for equipment also. People forget that a guider was once an actual human, sometimes inside a telescope. Imagine this process on film. Precision is more about the astronomers skill and less about the price of the gear. Good luck to you. Keep pushing forward. It’s far more rewarding than just tossing money at a problem.
Ah the good old days, of film and manual guiding. My scope is the classic Celestron C-8 orange tube. I couldn't afford Celestron's guider control, but with knowledge in electronics I modded the 12v to 120v power supply (used to run the drive motors from car battery when away from 120V) It used a 555 Timer Chip to create a 60HZ square wave at an amplified 120V. Altering resistors in the 555 circuit change the frequency output a few HZ and sped up or slowed down the motors. I never did get out to do any of the deep sky objects I was dreaming about, but did get the Hale Bopp comet with a SLR/90mm piggy backed on the C-8. 12mm eyepiece in the scope with homemade cross hair (literally my own hair glued across the inside of the eyepiece) I guided for exposures of 5-10 minutes. 8 minutes turned out to be good, and the stars were pretty round. Shot on Kodak Royal 1000. Good Times. Now I have a DSLR /300mm telephoto and a Star Adventurer tracker. Get decent shots, but wanted to check out drift alignment for better tracking long exposures. Also want to get the old C-8 back out and with much higher magnification accurate polar alignment will be critical. Thanks for your explanation. Cheers
Your video with the stardrift visual aid helped me get a better understanding of the star path compared to me telescope tracking path. When these paths dont align it would make the target star drift north or south. My scope must be tracking a bit ahead or in front of the actual path my scope should be tracking. Adjusting the azimuth would place the two tracking paths right on top of eachother. 👍Thanks a lot. Clear skies!
A great visual with the low tech ridicule! All other videos I have seen demonstrate this with an actual polar scope. It is dark and hard to see on the screen. Your video is perfect in demonstrating what needs to be done. Keep up the good work. I have just subscribed.
Thank you. I struggled with the topic years ago and did a lot of brainstorming on how to avoid those same demonstrations you mention. Thanks again. Clear skies.
I’m fine. Yeah, been busy. Upgrading my license. Been in school a lot. I should get done with most all of it but years end. Thanks for the message. I’ve got a lot of ideas and I want to make higher quality videos. I’m not sure what equipment I’ll use but I will be building a studio space soon. I hope you’re doing well. I appreciate the concern. Clear skies friend.
not having a great webcam (neximage5) i cant rely on sharp cap like some others can.. once you told me about drift align i did my research on it and its the way to go for me.. if in the future i manage to get a decent guide scope and a dedicated camera for it i might try using sharp cap.. until then its a polar align scope and drift align... thanks again Garnett.. ive been using my dslr with the grid function and my longest focal length scope.. i think im going to be buying an eyepiece like the one you got for even better results... as of right now i have to have the star slightly out of focus for the dslr to display a big enough image for me to use...
This is unfortunately a very little known technique and I know it’s the key to a lot of folks troubles. Sometimes you have to chase back history to find the answer you need. You’re a sharp study. You’ll be knocking it out soon. I just had to get this video out. Was impossible to video so after the apple fell I used paper lol. Looking forward to your next video. Maybe continue the trend so more people can be exposed to the technique. Clear skies.
Garnett Leary once I get my new eq Mount I will try to do it live as I use eos utility with a grid to aid me and I can record my screen... I’m waiting on the new Meade lx85 or I just might go with skywatcher’s new eqm 35.. it a light weight mount but I don’t plan on using anything bigger than a small refractor
i just decided on a mount.... i cant wait to use it... i'll be giving a good review provided it friggin works out of the box... im just unlucky.. the nextstar 4se has been my rock.. man i cant wait to really use an eq mount. here is the mount... firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/skywatcher-eqm-35-pro-synscan-goto-modular-mount.html
That looks nice. I’m very impressed with the widefield mobility camera only option. That’s what I hated about my Atlas. It was rock solid but rediculous to carry anywhere. Camera only was a bit clumsy.
I have question for you about filters.. I’ve tried asking a popular ap guy but he hasn’t replied.. you recommended baaders moon and sky glow filter once b4 but I don’t have a modded dslr and it still has an ir filter built in... would the baader filter be too much ir cut? Should I go with a non ir cut filter like a uhc narrowband or does the extra ir cut from the baader M&SG filter be fine.. I don’t want to kill all the light coming in.. I’m not familiar on how they work... I saw Orion has a sky glow filter but no mention of ir cut like baader.. have you tried Orion’s version... also have you tried Celestron’s uhc lp wideband? With a stock canon t6 what filter do you recommend.... I live in a 7 lp area
if you are in town in Kenya or Ecuador which sits on the equator or a country close to the equator, the celestial equator is almost over head. Since drift alignment methods expects you to pick a star due south but a little not of the celestial equator, how do you compensate for this? In this example, when you pick a star due south, it means the star will be south of the celestial equator when you are required to actually pick a star due south but north of the celestial equator. Hence, do you pick a star directly overhead to make sure it is still not of the equator? I don't know if you under this question.? Thanks
I think I have this. This has been a puzzling topic for many as well as myself. An interesting forum I read once was from a kid asking for help at 5 degrees. He couldn’t even make out Polaris because it was so low on the horizon. I know it’s a headache for a lot of folks at that latitude. I’m doing my best to carefully imagine it in my head but I really can’t honestly guess at how to resolve the problem. If I were there I would rely on a trusty old compass. To solve the problem easily I would automate using PHD2 but assuming you’re going old school you’ll have to find a way to carefully measure your mounts pointing degrees and go at it blindly it seems. You pose a very interesting question and unfortunately I can’t give you a solid answer. What I will do is ask around and pin your question in hopes that someone who is more knowledgeable can help. You’ve got me really interested and I wish I were there to figure it out. Good luck and if I find any solid info I will reply here.
According to the original works of Julius Scheiner who invented and first described this method in 1897 archive.org/details/diephotographied00sche/page/98/mode/2up on pages 99 and 100 you need a star anywhere on the meridian (ideally close to the zenith because declination does not matter, drift is the same everywhere on the meridian). And for the Altitude adjustment you use a star with an hour angle of 6 or 18 (declination does not matter here either, ideally choose a star close to the pole). The recommendation to choose a star on the western or eastern horizon or on the celestial equator is wrong and leads to suboptimal results!
Back in the day when i started out, drift alignment was a right of passage, no Goto, Pole master, lap top, etc, you had to work for it . I'm one of the Ancients lol. I still do it the old fashion way once in awhile to stay sharp. BTW good Vid.
That’s awesome and props. I think modern technology has eliminated the need for it but at the same time has created a generation of folks who don’t understand what is being corrected. I feel it’s important to know the practical parts of everything. That’s me being an engineer I suppose. Thanks for watching. Clear skies.
I’m still rather new to astrophotography and this video has explained drift alignment pretty well. I’ll be sure to implement it in my next imaging session... I currently use a D750 paired with a Tamron 150-600 for my DSO imaging on a Star Adventurer Mount but I have been frustrated at only being able to get a maximum exposure time of around 30 seconds even at lower focal lengths. This is going to train me up pretty well for when I can afford to purchase my first telescope.
@@jessekerr6544 Wondering how you are doing now PA wise. I have the same tracker, and using a Canon 7D Mk ii with 300mm lens and some times 1.4 teleconverter. Getting decent subs at 2 minutes regularly. My earliest problems centered around proper balance. I added 2.5 more pounds to the rig and it helped. Still wanted to learn drift align because it never hurts to get PA tighter, and/or if something else fails knowing the 'hard way' is a useful skill. I never want to be a person that can only carry out a task, if i have all the $$$ tools Cheers
Joe Shmoe I’m still imaging with the Tamron 150-600 and my Nikon D750 (unmodded). If I spend a good 20-30 minutes performing drift alignment, I can pull my exposures up to between 45 and 60 seconds with no guiding when imaging at 600 mm. I can get around 90-120 seconds of exposure at 300 mm. The Star Adventurer seems to have a little bit of periodic error - even if the mount is rather well balanced and polar aligned. Though my PA could still be off. If I’m doing wide angle photography (like say, with a 50, 35 or 24 mm lens), I can roughly polar align the Star Adventurer and manage 3-4 minute exposures. A stack of ten of these exposures will give me nice clean skies when blended back into the foreground. If I’m using longer FLs, I’m limited to shorter exposures and lower apertures so I’m forced to take many more exposures to create my stack (as I have to bump up the ISO by at least one stop).
@@jessekerr6544 I am stacking up to 100 frames or so. 200 if I was getting 1 minute subs. Our rigs are similar so it should be possible for you. D750 should allow pushing up the ISO. I was using 3200, now using 1600. If we keep shooting we will get better. If I learn anything new I can check back in to share.
I normally just HA align, and my autoguider can't compensate at all, and I get like 20-30 second subs on a HEQ5. I'm definitely going to give drifting a go as soon as the clouds go away and then try my autoguider again. Thanks for such a clear and easy way to follow.
thanks for the video. I just bought an autoguider for my mount but it can only control the RA axis, meaning my guiding gets more perfect as my polar alignment does. This will still come in very handy
Thanks for watching and it will. Corrections in RA are very forgiving. It’s DEC errors that murder an exposure. If you have a permanent setup location a drift alignment is a dream come true. Good luck with the new equipment. Clear skies.
@@GarnettLeary Thanks for this specific detail -- I have a tracking mount with a guide port, so it only corrects in the RA (like Gabe mentioned). Thanks for this tutorial as my locations do not allow for a direct view of NCP.
Great description and way to explain it, although I think you may have accidentally described the second drift directions backwards. If star drifts south, the axis is pointed too low.
I think I understand the process. And it seems reasonable to spend the time for a serious astrophotographer. Thanks for the video. It took some time to prepare the illustrator. Good job on getting the dual crosshairs made so neat and precise. I have a question. One of my polar scopes (on the Orion mount) has an adjustment for rotating the etchings used for Polar alignment. The adjustment I'm speaking of is entrely different from the adjustment where the mount is turned to make sure the "X" stays centered on a target. The adjustment I mean requires the polar scope to be taken out of it's place on the mount. The Polar scope has 3 allen screws which when loosened allow the images of Cassopia and Polaris to be rotated. Could that adjustment be made to the polar scope etchings after a drift alignment is done and would such an adjustment correct the error that seems to be inherrent in polar scopes? Thanks.
Centering the polar scope should be done prior to ever trying to polar align. It should be such that as the mount rotates in RA that a distant object remain centered in the scope. Centering it was very important. If it isn’t then you’ll notice a distant object go out of center as you rotate the RA axis. The polar scope itself is a rather wide field of view in most cases. That being true, a non-centered one, will still be way off sometimes by several degrees or so. It’s crucial if you depend on it that it stays center through 180 degrees of RA rotation. It definitely does correct the error. A precisely centered, then properly rotated to match the apparent rotation of Polaris, polar scope will give you excellent accuracy. The quality of the mount axis, the ground you have the tripod on, etc will effect it. I know for a fact that the ground here in Eastern NC is unreliable. Heavy mounts especially sink under their weight. It doesn’t take much to be degrees off. There’s some great videos on centering polar scopes. I’ll direct you to some if you can’t find them. By far the greatest thing I ever invested in is an annual subscription to Sharpcap. It’s not expensive. One thing you get that’s invaluable is its plate solving polar alignment. It literally takes minutes and is more accurate than I can dream of being. It uses your camera to check the stars from your home, or park, position. It then plate solves and asks you to rotate the RA 90 degrees. It will then plate solve again and use a reticle to guide your mount adjustments in altitude and azimuth. It’s absolutely perfect and far cheaper than a QHY Pole Master. It’s absolutely fantastic and has made me rather lazy I must admit. Have a look specifically at Amy Astros demo on Sharpcap Polar Alignment. I believe it was the clearest, easiest, video to watch on the topic. I personally am not a fan of subscription software. I do currently subscribe to Sharpcap and am glad I am.
Great explanation, and the card at the end sums it all up really nicely, I'm going to save that info for quick reference. But I just want to be clear on something...when referring to north/south drift, are you referring to the actual motion of the star (up meaning "northward" if looking south) or are you referring to the apparent motion which is inverted in the eyepiece, in which case "upward" would actually be toward the southern horizon? Is this a rookie question? I hope I'm not making it more complicated than it is, lol!
That’s a great question. A very complicated one to answer. As you know there is no up or down in space. Refractor give reversed images to newtonians etc. Use the cardinal directions in the video as reference. Reverse them when applicable. The main thing is to correct counter to the drift. I could say refractor but then suppose someone has one with a orientation corrective diagonal. Essentially all your corrections are opposite their errors in relative direction. I swear it’s complicated as hell to explain with words. If you go out and try then you’ll quickly understand it all. Keep in mind I used paper cut outs to demonstrate lol. I’ve been told I deserve an award for that idea. I’ve seen guys use lasers and all kinds of stuff. In the case specific to your question yes north could be perceived as up. That would be incorrect to imply but if it makes sense it’s correct. You see the issue? Lol. Circumnavigation is so much easier. I place trying to answer your question as equally difficult as explaining relativity. I swear if you go out and patiently watch you’ll be like “ohhhhh”. We’ll both be able to laugh at my attempt to answer. Clear skies friend.
@@GarnettLeary Roger all that, thank you for the explanation. I will correct for the inverted image in my Newtonian and generally rely on cardinal compass directions.
Great video Garnett. I hope to get out of my current living situation and into a house one day. That way I'll be able to use proper equipment instead of this goto unit I've been stuck with for the past couple years. Keep up the great work!
I still think the object at the upper right was an asteroid, but the other object could be a satellite as suggested. Another one of those things we'll never know! I hadn't had any other suggestions in the comments section either.
Weird. It’s odd what TH-cam pushes. If you b-rolled coffee and titled it “flat earth...” it probably would have 56k hits by now lol. I might test that theory with a stupid b-roll video. Algorithm test. Ha
Garnett Leary i was watching a pretty popular youtuber earlier today and he was taking about the algorithms. He said that people that put out videos daily have the best numbers and their videos get the most exposure
Hello - thank you for the video . Can you please explain again how to rotate the eye piece so that it is oriented correctly . If my scope is not well polar aligned ( which is the point of this video ) then aligning the eye piece at the beginning will be doing so with an unaligned scope . Seems a bit chicken and egg - I’m so confused 😞
Certainly. The easiest way to perform correct rotation is to watch the initial drift then place it in such a way that the star follows a path from center across the crosshair. Imagine it as a road the star is driving on. Parallel for lack of better words. On the line.
@@GarnettLeary thank you for your reply . If I align the the eye piece as you describe , I am forcing the alignment of the eyepiece to a star that is drifting . It’s like I am making the eyepiece align to a drifting star - when it’s the drift I am trying to capture . I am sorry I am not understanding.
It’s ok. It’s a complicated topic. Not easily described either. So your mount only moves in four directions. Right Ascension and declination. There’s two directions associated with both. Unfortunately it’s an arc rather than a straight line. One is east/west. One is north/south. All stars appear to rotate accordingly to Earths rotation. Some are more difficult to gauge off of such as Polaris because it doesn’t immediately seem to change position. So your goal in the eyepiece is to determine what is east/west during a correction and north/south for the other. The star at the center of a crosshair should move in a straight line out of center one of two directions over time. That is how you decide which way to lay the reticle and also determine where to adjust the mount. It’s time consuming but will center your polar axis to the NCP. For North/South you’re establishing how far above or below the crosshairs it drifts. It’s easiest to place the crosshairs as a plus rather than an x. Apparent drift up or down indicates your latitude adjustment is off in either direction. It seems counterintuitive until you try it. Even if you’re not successful after a period you should be able to detect unwanted motion outside of center. It will make sense I promise. Don’t be too fussy about what star so much at first. The guidelines for position, elevation, and location by meridian will make sense more as you try it. They are locations that more quickly resolve the method. Face south with decent altitude star. I don’t mind taking time to explain this at all. Trust me it’s difficult to imagine. There’s probably a lot of folks who are taking amazingly good photos that can’t perform a DA. They have the privilege of plate solving. Don’t give up. Hopefully this helped a little. In time you can literally do this the old school way with great precision in under an hours time. It’s literally like riding a bike once you get over the initial hurdle. Good luck.
@@GarnettLeary thank you for your patience and for your thoughtful reply - I appreciate it . I think understand now . I’ll try this on the next clear night . Thanks again !
Hello. Thank you very much for the video. I already read/watched a few drift alignment explanations (a Celestron Omni XLT manual I accidentally found online has a pretty good one) but I'm still looking for one that would clarify one thing: the terms "up" and "down" are ambiguous when different optical systems and accessories like diagonals are considered. I didn't find the clarification I'm looking for in your video, but since you took the effort with the paper models to explain this to us newbies, perhaps you could add some tips on this in the description or some other annotation, to make your video more complete. Thank you again, clear skies!
Oh and BTW, to anyone else who is confused by this up/down aspect, and actually to any astronomer, I think the best thing to do is try and UNDERSTAND what this is all about. First, verify whether your telescope configuration flips the image vertically (I often use my SCT without a diagonal, in which case it flips the image in both axes). Then, open Stellarium or any other sky map, turn on the equator and meridian, probably disable EQ and AZ grids. You can see that near the meridian, the celestial equator (and hence any star near it) is first rising, and then falling once it passes the meridian. So if e.g. your polar axis is too far "left" (east from the meridian, or west from the Polar Star) then even before the star you're observing passes the meridian, your mount will "think" it's already time to move down (in azimuth/height terms), whereas the star would still be rising! That's because your mount's own, incorrect meridian would be too far left (east). I hope that makes sense. It's more difficult to imagine the other part of drift alignment (east/west), at least for me though, but I'll keep thinking about it until I get it ;)
Absolutely solid points. Perhaps I will redo it with multiple scope types. I own practically every type except an RC. I will start working on this. Thank you for the feedback.
1) Accurately levelling the mount is not mandatory : you'll ALWAYS be able to make the hour axis parallel to the Earth rotation axis using azimuth and elevation screws 2) if your reticle eyepiece is not illuminated : bring your star out of focus => you'll still see the star, a circle that you still can center in your reticle 3) ~6:42 : more precsiely, choose a star that's near the hour angle of 0h (hour angle Oh = due south) 4) ~8:51 : it's the other way round : if the star goes south (you have to lower the declination axis to bring the star back in the center), it means your mount is too far west, not east 5) ~9:31 : wrong, well, not accurate at all : you must choose a star that has an HOUR ANGLE of 18h (east part of the sky) and CERTAINLY NOT on the celestial equator, it's obviously just on the horizon ! You have to chose a star that is higher in the sky => somewhere in the north-east part of the sky, let's say at 30° abov the horizon. What's the MOST IMPORTANT is the HOUR ANGLE of 18H (east) or 6H (west) because these are the areas where the DRIFT SPEED is the BIGGEST => corrections are MUCH more accurate and much more quickly achieved ! When your telescope is in its park position (tube pointing at the NCP, counterweights down), the HOUR ANGLE (not the right ascension ! This is a very common mistake among amateur astronomers : the graduations are not right ascensions, these are hour angles ! ), the hour angle should show 6H on your graduations. From that position you can move your tube, by only changing the declination, to the east => HOUR ANGLE = 18h, or to the west => HOUR ANGLE = 6H. Think of the 18H hour angle as a line going from the celestial pole to the east horizon (where it intersects the celestial equator). Same goes for the 6H, but to the west. If you intent to take pictures, first decide how many minutes you need to take one picture (your camera/DSLR installed on your telescope, focused, make a few tests anywhere in the sky to see what's the maximum time), if your drift alignment meets that criteria, you're good to go ! 6) ~13:49 : absolutely right ! Drift alignment is not complicated once you've done it 2 or 3 times, it'll quickly become natural to you and like he said, you can do that in 30 minutes
Doing good. Thanks for asking. I hope the same for you. Been real busy with work and my daughter. I’m planning to return here soon. Clear skies to you.
That was a fantastic job Thank you for making it simple to understand Can you tell my what is the difference that need to consider if I’m in the Southern Hemisphere?
Thank you. With a Southern Hemisphere drift alignment you will reverse the directions. Visualize an NCP alignment. The top of my scope points up towards Polaris. A southern alignment points down thru the ground towards the NCP. To simplify imagine drawing a straight line thru both yours and my polar axis of our mounts. The key is to visualize the opposite ends of that line pointing towards both the NCP and the SCP. Essentially we are both aimed simultaneously at both poles at all times. My “up” is north and your “up” is south thru the Earth towards the NCP. I hope this helps.
Yes and no. You don’t have the same degree of fine DEC and RA adjustment. For example you’re often relying on a tripod clutch rather than a hand controller connected to a dedicated gear. This varies across different models of course. The popular iOptron SG Pro for example allows you to set both but by loosening either they immediately swing free. It’s a battle of EXTREME finesse. Short answer is mechanically no unfortunately.
A drift north will be an east correction and the opposite true for south regardless if it passes. You’re better off completing it on one side or the other due to balance reasons.
What happened was after switching to a eastward star and adjusting elevation, the star had crossed. And for all practical purposes, low to the horizon there weren't any alternatives. Thank you, Gref
Hello. Very much interested in manual guiding for longer exposures with the dual track system that can be upgraded to the Orion Sky View Pro mount. I’m new to Astrophotography and interested in saving a few bucks if possible. While I was watching an Orion video on Auto guiding, the technician was animate that proper star guiding could not be achieved without an auto guider. Would you give me your opinion on the subject? To me, manual guiding would be no problem to perform and I’m certainly willing to try. Tx Gene. BTW, your tutorials are a god send.
Thank you and of course they say that. They are in the market to sale stuff. Autoguiding is new. Relatively. Astrophotography is not. The limitations you will face that autoguiding solves for is periodic error. That’s mechanical errors in gearing etc. The higher the quality the mount the less it will occur. I met a guy who could get ten minutes on an eq mount manually guiding. Such long exposures truly are only useful for narrowband imaging. Drift alignment should get you to a minimum of two minute exposures with a moderate focal length on a moderate mount. That’s just hypothetical and for most RGB targets that’s sufficient exposure time. Look what guys are doing on simple barn door mounts. Check out the work of Timmothy Ferris. Autoguiding is at the top yes, and superior to manual, but it’s not totally necessary just as it wasn’t years ago. If you have the patience for manual guiding I recommend you try. If nothing else you will gain a deeper appreciation for the craft. If I can help you don’t hesitate to ask. That’s why I make these videos. I love community and sharing knowledge. Ask the guys at Orion how it is there’s thousands of beautiful images of galaxies prior to the advent of pc guiding. Lol. Clear skies.
Garnett Leary oh Tx so much Garnet for your feedback. You raised points I hadn’t thought of. Had been looking for good vids on manual GUI. Glad I found yours. Have subscribed and will be staying tuned.Might have a question or two at a later date. I think manual will be fun and informative too. Tx again partner
"Hey My Friend" I have a question I thought maybe you could help. My finder scope finely died. I need a replacement, just wondering if you could point me (no pun intended) in the right direction. Looking for a good affordable one. Thanks
I personally like the Telrad. They are pretty popular too. You may want the optional dew shield for it. If I remember right the NexStar won’t take Orion finders. If you could retrofit their 7x50 that would be awesome.
When on the East horizon, I am still controlling to stay within the horizontal axis; correct? Last question, what do you consider a reasonable time to monitor? 5 minutes? 10? Thanks for the resonses Grrg
I am curious, my only fov of the night sky is west to somewhere close to southwest. Rest of the areas is blocked. Do you have any ideas how I could drift align with such limited fov?
Garnett Leary I’ve heard drift alignment described as the gold standard for pa but think this may have to do with it being he only option in times past. Even on mounts without a guideport, polar alignment software/camera could still be used. This could be a good technique for some of the sky trackers that are getting more popular for wide-field work but it may not matter as much with a shorter focal length. Your description is one of the better I’ve seen. Thanks!
Thank you. I saw a guy use a homemade rig and lights on a wall. I was searching for ways to show it without pc. I appreciate the feedback. I was a little reluctant posting this but then I remembered how helpful it is in situations.
Crude? Maybe. But incredibly helpful. Thanks. I guess I sorta started trying to figure out drift alignment on my own, but using the moon and sun instead. I kept wondering if the sun even moves in RA Or if it’s on some known somewhat wacky course that would affect someone trying to view it all day but simply moving the telescope in right ascension. Definitely resulted in me putting my head through a few walls in this house. But will try this method. There are a lot of trees and neighbor’s houses though. I wonder if they’d let me do a little demolition 🤔 l
The Sun is actually a commonly used drift target. It can get you extremely close before nightfall. The advantage other stars have is merely that they’re pinpoints of light and you can gain tighter accuracy. Tho the relative apparent motion of the Sun, Moon, and Stars is different in rate.. they still follow a course based on our axis and latitude. You we’re basically rediscovering observable science. I recommend sticking to astronomy over physics tho. There’s no need to discover how much Newton force is required to breach sheet rock with your skull. Lol! I’ve never considered demolition but I have wished at times I could EMP my neighbors. That sounds awful. For whatever reason people continue to think wolf ancestors need night lights to urinate. That’s troubling
How can you tell which is north / south / east / west in a plain eyepiece, without the crosshair? I'm currently drift aligning using a 6mm eyepiece on a Skywatcher 150P to get maximum movement. Also(!) how do you know how far you need to adjust the Alt / Az for each adjustment?
For example, I'm in the northern hemisphere and Arcturus is in the west. I can see that when I move my RA the star moves up and down in the eyepiece. Arcturus drifted to the left from the eyepiece view. Is this North... or South?
Great question and I should have included this information. You have to take into account wether it’s a refractor, newtonian, etc. You also have to consider wether you have a diagonal or not. All these factors determine a change in direction. The easiest way to be certain is to nudge the scope nose gently towards your east or west and north and south while looking thru it. A real gentle tap on the barrel should indicate your cardinal directions. Great question. Thank you for bringing it up. Clear skies.
You’d have to determine the cardinal directions by pushing the scope across RA and DEC. That combined with an understanding of which cardinal direction you are facing. I’m assuming your Skywatcher is the 750mm FL? That’s a power of 125. In your case a very small adjustment should make a big difference. You just got to feel it out really. I have had to simply nudge my mount. Additionally you can look up how to modify your eyepiece with crosshairs. I might do a video on that. It requires cutting notches and using filament. Sorry my answer is a bit vague but in truth your adjustments will vary quite much based on equipment and your accuracy as well as what power you operate at.
Garnett Leary i personally have a newt, would it be the same motions you made in your video then (since you showed a newt)? Thanks for the explanation btw!
@@GarnettLeary thanks for the quick reply. However, my question was obviously not precise. I am referring to you piggy back setup at position 4:51 in the video. How do you connect your camera to the female thread of the pipe clamp? It seems you use a sort of an adapter in between your camera and the pipe clamp.
A search for: “Orion Tube Rings” on Amazon will show you the adapter. I have never been able to locate just the adapter itself. That one came with the aftermarket rings. It has a 1/4-20 bolt which is square headed and recessed with a thumb tightening plastic wheel that works as a tensioner on the bottom of the camera. I considered making one for a larger set of rings I had. My idea was just a wing nut against a washer. I hope this helps.
Dumb question - could u put this in layman's terms? finding "a star due south, slightly left of the meridian, within 5 degrees declination from the celestial equator." Does that mean slightly east of south, 5 degrees up from the horizon? from straight up?
Certainly. In case you aren’t familiar with the celestial equator it’s basically an outward projection of the Earth’s equator. It varies depending on your latitude. In terms of declination or altitude you need to be within 5 degrees of that line. Everyone can apply the same regarding the meridian and yes it would be favored eastward or left of that line as you face due south. Did this clarify? Let me know. Clear skies. This is a great article: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celestial_equator
@@GarnettLearyYes, I know what the celestial equator is, and at my latitude of 40 degrees, I will want to eventually tilt up 40 degrees as my RA. So we should point within 5 degrees of the horizon? I can only see about 60 degrees east and west of south, and from up 15 degrees above the horizon to nearly straight up. Can this method still be used? Thanks.
@@GarnettLeary So I can do the polar alignment you prescribe because the lowest star that is 15 degrees above the horizon is still a good base for it? Would that increase the margin of error since it is so high up from the horizon (way past the 5 degrees u mention)?
Is this for a reflector scope? No diagonal? I will use my reflector and a DSLR. We need somebody to do vids on each type of scope instead of telling people they need to reverse directions, too confusing. Great tutorial man! Thanks.
Refractor without diagonal and a reticle ep installed. I see your point. It would be better to do each independently. The main point is to watch for drift and correct it. It’s by no means a fast process but if you adjust the wrong direction it becomes obvious very quickly. There are still many practical uses for manual drift alignment. A great deal of accuracy can be had even on simple mounts with clock drives.
@@GarnettLeary Isn't that a reflector your using in the vid? It would be nice if someone did a scope specific drift align. Would that be like 6 different vids for the 3 different scope types? I personally only care about the reflector 😋 Thanks for the reply, I see this has been up a couple years, Thanks again bother! 👍
@@GarnettLeary I use a CGEM with no index markers on it, I also can only use the western sky, too many trees east. Last night I used Arcturus to the west and Cebalrai in the south. I thought I had it about perfect, then I did a random 3 min exposure on Arcturus, the main star was great but the stars off to the sides were oblong. I'll do it again when the sky clears. I do use a coma corrector also. I had stars in the center for quite a while in both directions. Thanks for your help!
@@GarnettLeary well weather not looking good for Sunday night, however I do plan on setting up if it's clear. Weather was not good for 2 meteor showers last year. I am hoping that by March to have a AVX mount again stuff came up had to sell my old one. Seen a few on Cloudy nights Don't have the $700 yet for one of them otherwise it's gonna be $900 for a new one.
At 8 min 40 sec you start to say, "if the star drifts upwards....", but you don't define "upwards", as many of use use scopes that do or don't change the orientation of "up" and "down" depending on individual scopes and configurations. So when you say "up" do you mean "up" just in your set up and what you visually see regardless of whether that up is the real "up", or do you mean "up" as in higher in "real altitude" regardless of what is seen through the scope? - Having "S" for South at the top and "N" for North at the bottom in your video also doesn't help things if you don't mind me saying. The video was a good watch.
Good video, Garnett. This "old school" method of polar alignment is well worth the effort, especially if you have a permanent mount for your telescope. I have a semi-permanent pier in my backyard (an 8 foot pressure treated 6x6 sunk in the ground so 3 feet of it extends above ground) with a home built wedge for my old Celestron SCT. After drift aligning the pier-wedge system once I can now set up on clear nights in a few minutes. Picture at imgur.com/X3w0qko
I thought it would be helpful for a lot of people in varied situations. Sounds like you got a beast setup. I doubt it will go anywhere anytime soon ha. I’m still planning my backyard. Koi ponds and observing decks in mind. Thanks for watching and sharing. Clear skies.
@@GarnettLeary I watched it from my aunts backyard which was perfect no street lights very little light pollution. It's been raining for the last few days. Just happy the sky's cleared in time to catch it. I've been busy watching the NHL of late ...first time I've been out watching the stars in a while.
@@gamers7800 I forgot about the eclipse until right when it began, couldn't find my camera remote shutter so I hooked my Canon up to Backyard EOS with a 75-300 telephoto cheapo but the quickest shutter I could get was one second. Nice color there but the focus was crummy Still great fun to capture the whole sequence.
According to the original works of Julius Scheiner who invented and first described this method in 1897 archive.org/details/diephotographied00sche/page/98/mode/2up on pages 99 and 100 you need a star anywhere on the meridian (ideally close to the zenith because declination does not matter, drift is the same everywhere on the meridian). And for the Altitude adjustment you use a star with an hour angle of 6 or 18 (declination does not matter here either, ideally choose a star close to the pole). The often wrongly given recommendation to choose a star on the western or eastern horizon or anything that has to do with the celestial equator at all is wrong and leads to suboptimal results! In his book he gives the formula for the observed drift and it only depends on x sin 𝜏 + y cos 𝜏 where: x = error in Altitude y = error in Azimuth without any occurrence of δ anywhere. So just choose any two stars, one with 𝜏 = 0 and one with 𝜏 = ±6h and both ideally as high in the sky as possible to reduce atmosphere refraction problems.
I haven’t put anything up in a while. Still brainstorming and taking time off. Definitely need to up production skills. You’re last was really good. I have a hard enough time getting decent sound. I’m not much of a screen presence lol.
I can't stress how much of a lifesaver this tutorial was for me. Ever since I got my motorized EQ mount I could hardly get 20seconds of exposure without trailing. Using your method I was blown away by being able to achieve 30 second subs with round looking stars.
Thank you, you made my day. I struggled with the same thing. I had to find a way to illustrate the technique. Clear skies friend
This is the clearest explanation of how to carry out a drift alignment that I have come across. Well done and thank you.
Good teaching is better than bells and whistles. Very well done.
Thank you for taking the time to explain this. My apartment building blocks polaris so I’m thinking of trying this out. Love the visuals, they were great!
I’m so happy it was helpful. Another great video that may help you is here:
th-cam.com/video/L_Yn8BZ0Hm0/w-d-xo.html
Thank you, this is the best drift alignment tutorial there is!
Thank you for the encouraging words
I love that you show polar alignment without a computer or an app! Thanks.
Thanks for watching. I swear I put hours and days of thought into it. At first glance people might think “wth?!” Lol. I really wanted to illustrate the technique properly and especially for folks limited on equipment.
@@GarnettLeary I was actually looking for information on how to polar align using the reticle and the date/hour dials on the back of the mount. Can't seem to find that info anywhere, everyone says to use an app. Finally had ChatGPT explain it to me, and it also mentioned drift alignment for even more precise alignment. Now _that,_ I thought to myself, is a search query that might yield some good results. And lo and behold, you delivered! 😀
Bookmarking this in my astrophotography playlist.
This was a great explanation of how to drift align. I've been reading so many "how to's" and found them extremely confusing. You made it so easy to understand. Great video! Thank you!!
Thank you and for watching.
Awesome video. I've been obsessed with AP for few months now and had no idea what drift align meant. Now I understand what it is. THANK YOU.
Ty for watching. Good luck on your journey.
This is great. The on paper explanation is a great way to quickly demonstrate what needs to be observed. More people might watch the whole video if you cut out the first 4 minutes or so.
Thank you. I found it really complicated to do hands on. Using a cut out came to me one morning out of the blue. It’s a really complicated topic to explain and I really wanted people to get a grasp on it so not discouraged. Future videos will ignore things like the first 4 min you mentioned. You’re absolutely right. This is a technical and information channel and nothing more is required. I started sliding into the lame music and intro trap. Lol. Efficiency is the key. A well executed idea and explanation. Thanks for watching. Clear skies.
Thank you, this was a perfect explanation, the while North-South thing was very confusing for me on online tutorials.I'm trying to build my own RA motor using a stepper and an arduino but nobody told me that the camera needs to be in a certain orientation :)).With the help of your video now I'm able to figure out if I'm running the motor at the correct speed or not and I'm able to finally polar align.
I appreciate the effort at time index 7:00 how it is important to grasp, understand drift aligning before moving onto computer assist Astro programs - great video! At first, I thought you were held hostage for ransom on some maritime ship. lol
I believe an understanding of exactly what the pc is doing is essential for everyone. This is most useful for folks on manually guided systems and lower end equipment. There are many who would benefit from it. Not hostage just real busy. Hope all is well with you. Clear skies.
I believe an understanding of exactly what the pc is doing is essential for everyone. This is most useful for folks on manually guided systems and lower end equipment. There are many who would benefit from it. Not hostage just real busy. Hope all is well with you. Clear skies.
Fine job with the paper cross hairs
Thank you for the information. The history was the best part. I loved it!
Thank you for watching and your comment
Hi Garnett, excellent explanation, and your props are way more sophisticated than my cardboard NCP arrow!
Thank you. I love your work. I thought it was funny to see your arrow. It reminded me of my attempt. I really like your work with Maksutovs. Clear skies.
Great video ! Congratulations. Have not use this methot yet but after watching your video i am curious to try it !
That’s a great compliment from a skilled astrophotographer as yourself. Thank you friend.
This video is indeed quite clear. As a beginner, having just upgraded my EQ5 with a motor drive set, I am facing the polar alignment issue all too obviously. Until now, I managed to image series of short exposures with SharpCap with my 190/1000 Mak-Newt. But that only allowed me to capture rather bright objects, such as M42. There's no way to capture the Horsehead nebula in that manner. I have been getting used to manual corrections all the time, lacking a motor drive, but that is going to change now.
So, thanks for this clear explanation. I hope I can put it to good use.
At 1,000mm if you’re getting any results at all manually you’re doing fantastic. That’s a very unforgiving focal length. I’m guessing that’s the 90mm Maksutov. That high focal ratio combined with tracking motors is definitely a learning curve. If you drift align it you will definitely get longer exposures but you’ll still have to toss occasional sub frames due to periodic error. You’re taking on a very difficult setup. I applaud to that. With that setup I would be using a top mounted guide scope and use the crosshair function in Sharpcap. I’d use the controller to nudge the mount toward the guide star. It can be done this way. You can also drift align using this method. Understanding drift alignment is an essential skill IMO. There would be far less confusion in PHD2 forums if people actually understood what the software was doing. There would be far more appreciation for equipment also. People forget that a guider was once an actual human, sometimes inside a telescope. Imagine this process on film. Precision is more about the astronomers skill and less about the price of the gear. Good luck to you. Keep pushing forward. It’s far more rewarding than just tossing money at a problem.
Thank you for your explanation, will try this out next time
Thank you for watching and good luck on your adventures
Thank you and thank you. This is an amazing tutorial. Yeah old school, but so what. Really nice job.
Thank you. I’m a bit of a fossil lol. Clear skies
Ah the good old days, of film and manual guiding. My scope is the classic Celestron C-8 orange tube.
I couldn't afford Celestron's guider control, but with knowledge in electronics I modded the 12v to 120v power supply (used to run the drive motors from car battery when away from 120V)
It used a 555 Timer Chip to create a 60HZ square wave at an amplified 120V. Altering resistors in the 555 circuit change the frequency output a few HZ and sped up or slowed down the motors.
I never did get out to do any of the deep sky objects I was dreaming about, but did get the Hale Bopp comet
with a SLR/90mm piggy backed on the C-8. 12mm eyepiece in the scope with homemade cross hair (literally my own hair glued across the inside of the eyepiece) I guided for exposures of 5-10 minutes. 8 minutes turned out to be good, and the stars were pretty round. Shot on Kodak Royal 1000. Good Times.
Now I have a DSLR /300mm telephoto and a Star Adventurer tracker. Get decent shots, but wanted to
check out drift alignment for better tracking long exposures. Also want to get the old C-8 back out and
with much higher magnification accurate polar alignment will be critical.
Thanks for your explanation. Cheers
That’s an awesome story. I love tinkering myself. I also love film and the quality of older scopes. Clear skies.
Wow. Once again, when it's not possible to show what's really going on - you still find a way to knock an explanation out of the ball park!
Thank you. I struggled with this topic. Ended up with two sheets of paper lol. Awesome compliment from you. Hope all is well. Clear skies.
Pertaining to the subject:
Best. Video. Ever. At least for guys like me. That diagram was it!
Cheers
Thanks Garnett! Good presentation!
Thank you
Garnett, Good Job and Good Work. I use sharpcap and/or polemaster. But Great to learn what this is about.
Thank you and clear skies.
Thanks for this video. Looks like your new place has plenty of horizons.
It does. Lots of hurricanes too lol
Your video with the stardrift visual aid helped me get a better understanding of the star path compared to me telescope tracking path. When these paths dont align it would make the target star drift north or south. My scope must be tracking a bit ahead or in front of the actual path my scope should be tracking. Adjusting the azimuth would place the two tracking paths right on top of eachother. 👍Thanks a lot. Clear skies!
Thank you for the feedback. I love the astro community.
A great visual with the low tech ridicule! All other videos I have seen demonstrate this with an actual polar scope. It is dark and hard to see on the screen. Your video is perfect in demonstrating what needs to be done. Keep up the good work. I have just subscribed.
Thank you. I struggled with the topic years ago and did a lot of brainstorming on how to avoid those same demonstrations you mention. Thanks again. Clear skies.
You're an absolute genius! Thank you so much!
I wish. Thank you. Clear skies.
outstanding
Garnett, hope you are doing well. Haven't seen any videos from you in a couple months. Keep it up and take care.
I’m fine. Yeah, been busy. Upgrading my license. Been in school a lot. I should get done with most all of it but years end. Thanks for the message. I’ve got a lot of ideas and I want to make higher quality videos. I’m not sure what equipment I’ll use but I will be building a studio space soon. I hope you’re doing well. I appreciate the concern. Clear skies friend.
not having a great webcam (neximage5) i cant rely on sharp cap like some others can.. once you told me about drift align i did my research on it and its the way to go for me.. if in the future i manage to get a decent guide scope and a dedicated camera for it i might try using sharp cap.. until then its a polar align scope and drift align... thanks again Garnett.. ive been using my dslr with the grid function and my longest focal length scope.. i think im going to be buying an eyepiece like the one you got for even better results... as of right now i have to have the star slightly out of focus for the dslr to display a big enough image for me to use...
This is unfortunately a very little known technique and I know it’s the key to a lot of folks troubles. Sometimes you have to chase back history to find the answer you need. You’re a sharp study. You’ll be knocking it out soon. I just had to get this video out. Was impossible to video so after the apple fell I used paper lol. Looking forward to your next video. Maybe continue the trend so more people can be exposed to the technique. Clear skies.
Garnett Leary once I get my new eq Mount I will try to do it live as I use eos utility with a grid to aid me and I can record my screen... I’m waiting on the new Meade lx85 or I just might go with skywatcher’s new eqm 35.. it a light weight mount but I don’t plan on using anything bigger than a small refractor
i just decided on a mount.... i cant wait to use it... i'll be giving a good review provided it friggin works out of the box... im just unlucky.. the nextstar 4se has been my rock.. man i cant wait to really use an eq mount.
here is the mount...
firstlightoptics.com/skywatcher-mounts/skywatcher-eqm-35-pro-synscan-goto-modular-mount.html
That looks nice. I’m very impressed with the widefield mobility camera only option. That’s what I hated about my Atlas. It was rock solid but rediculous to carry anywhere. Camera only was a bit clumsy.
I have question for you about filters.. I’ve tried asking a popular ap guy but he hasn’t replied.. you recommended baaders moon and sky glow filter once b4 but I don’t have a modded dslr and it still has an ir filter built in... would the baader filter be too much ir cut? Should I go with a non ir cut filter like a uhc narrowband or does the extra ir cut from the baader M&SG filter be fine.. I don’t want to kill all the light coming in.. I’m not familiar on how they work... I saw Orion has a sky glow filter but no mention of ir cut like baader.. have you tried Orion’s version... also have you tried Celestron’s uhc lp wideband? With a stock canon t6 what filter do you recommend.... I live in a 7 lp area
if you are in town in Kenya or Ecuador which sits on the equator or a country close to the equator, the celestial equator is almost over head. Since drift alignment methods expects you to pick a star due south but a little not of the celestial equator, how do you compensate for this?
In this example, when you pick a star due south, it means the star will be south of the celestial equator when you are required to actually pick a star due south but north of the celestial equator.
Hence, do you pick a star directly overhead to make sure it is still not of the equator? I don't know if you under this question.?
Thanks
I think I have this. This has been a puzzling topic for many as well as myself. An interesting forum I read once was from a kid asking for help at 5 degrees. He couldn’t even make out Polaris because it was so low on the horizon. I know it’s a headache for a lot of folks at that latitude. I’m doing my best to carefully imagine it in my head but I really can’t honestly guess at how to resolve the problem. If I were there I would rely on a trusty old compass. To solve the problem easily I would automate using PHD2 but assuming you’re going old school you’ll have to find a way to carefully measure your mounts pointing degrees and go at it blindly it seems. You pose a very interesting question and unfortunately I can’t give you a solid answer. What I will do is ask around and pin your question in hopes that someone who is more knowledgeable can help. You’ve got me really interested and I wish I were there to figure it out. Good luck and if I find any solid info I will reply here.
@@GarnettLeary I would also be very grateful for an answer, I am at 4 ° latitude and I could not align polaris because it is not seen :(
See if this helps:
th-cam.com/video/L_Yn8BZ0Hm0/w-d-xo.html
According to the original works of Julius Scheiner who invented and first described this method in 1897 archive.org/details/diephotographied00sche/page/98/mode/2up on pages 99 and 100 you need a star anywhere on the meridian (ideally close to the zenith because declination does not matter, drift is the same everywhere on the meridian). And for the Altitude adjustment you use a star with an hour angle of 6 or 18 (declination does not matter here either, ideally choose a star close to the pole). The recommendation to choose a star on the western or eastern horizon or on the celestial equator is wrong and leads to suboptimal results!
Back in the day when i started out, drift alignment was a right of passage, no Goto, Pole master, lap top, etc, you had to work for it . I'm one of the Ancients lol. I still do it the old fashion way once in awhile to stay sharp. BTW good Vid.
That’s awesome and props. I think modern technology has eliminated the need for it but at the same time has created a generation of folks who don’t understand what is being corrected. I feel it’s important to know the practical parts of everything. That’s me being an engineer I suppose. Thanks for watching. Clear skies.
I’m still rather new to astrophotography and this video has explained drift alignment pretty well. I’ll be sure to implement it in my next imaging session... I currently use a D750 paired with a Tamron 150-600 for my DSO imaging on a Star Adventurer Mount but I have been frustrated at only being able to get a maximum exposure time of around 30 seconds even at lower focal lengths. This is going to train me up pretty well for when I can afford to purchase my first telescope.
@@jessekerr6544 Wondering how you are doing now PA wise. I have the same tracker, and using a Canon 7D Mk ii with 300mm lens and some times 1.4 teleconverter.
Getting decent subs at 2 minutes regularly. My earliest problems centered around
proper balance. I added 2.5 more pounds to the rig and it helped.
Still wanted to learn drift align because it never hurts to get PA tighter, and/or if something else fails knowing the 'hard way' is a useful skill.
I never want to be a person that can only carry out a task, if i have all the $$$ tools
Cheers
Joe Shmoe I’m still imaging with the Tamron 150-600 and my Nikon D750 (unmodded). If I spend a good 20-30 minutes performing drift alignment, I can pull my exposures up to between 45 and 60 seconds with no guiding when imaging at 600 mm. I can get around 90-120 seconds of exposure at 300 mm. The Star Adventurer seems to have a little bit of periodic error - even if the mount is rather well balanced and polar aligned. Though my PA could still be off.
If I’m doing wide angle photography (like say, with a 50, 35 or 24 mm lens), I can roughly polar align the Star Adventurer and manage 3-4 minute exposures. A stack of ten of these exposures will give me nice clean skies when blended back into the foreground.
If I’m using longer FLs, I’m limited to shorter exposures and lower apertures so I’m forced to take many more exposures to create my stack (as I have to bump up the ISO by at least one stop).
@@jessekerr6544 I am stacking up to 100 frames or so. 200 if I was getting 1 minute subs. Our rigs are similar so it should be possible for you. D750 should allow pushing up the ISO. I was using 3200, now using 1600. If we keep shooting we will get better.
If I learn anything new I can check back in to share.
I normally just HA align, and my autoguider can't compensate at all, and I get like 20-30 second subs on a HEQ5. I'm definitely going to give drifting a go as soon as the clouds go away and then try my autoguider again. Thanks for such a clear and easy way to follow.
thanks for the video. I just bought an autoguider for my mount but it can only control the RA axis, meaning my guiding gets more perfect as my polar alignment does. This will still come in very handy
Thanks for watching and it will. Corrections in RA are very forgiving. It’s DEC errors that murder an exposure. If you have a permanent setup location a drift alignment is a dream come true. Good luck with the new equipment. Clear skies.
@@GarnettLeary Thanks for this specific detail -- I have a tracking mount with a guide port, so it only corrects in the RA (like Gabe mentioned). Thanks for this tutorial as my locations do not allow for a direct view of NCP.
Great description and way to explain it, although I think you may have accidentally described the second drift directions backwards. If star drifts south, the axis is pointed too low.
I think I understand the process. And it seems reasonable to spend the time for a serious astrophotographer.
Thanks for the video. It took some time to prepare the illustrator. Good job on getting the dual crosshairs made so neat and precise.
I have a question. One of my polar scopes (on the Orion mount) has an adjustment for rotating the etchings used for Polar alignment. The adjustment I'm speaking of is entrely different from the adjustment where the mount is turned to make sure the "X" stays centered on a target. The adjustment I mean requires the polar scope to be taken out of it's place on the mount. The Polar scope has 3 allen screws which when loosened allow the images of Cassopia and Polaris to be rotated. Could that adjustment be made to the polar scope etchings after a drift alignment is done and would such an adjustment correct the error that seems to be inherrent in polar scopes? Thanks.
Centering the polar scope should be done prior to ever trying to polar align. It should be such that as the mount rotates in RA that a distant object remain centered in the scope. Centering it was very important. If it isn’t then you’ll notice a distant object go out of center as you rotate the RA axis. The polar scope itself is a rather wide field of view in most cases. That being true, a non-centered one, will still be way off sometimes by several degrees or so. It’s crucial if you depend on it that it stays center through 180 degrees of RA rotation. It definitely does correct the error. A precisely centered, then properly rotated to match the apparent rotation of Polaris, polar scope will give you excellent accuracy. The quality of the mount axis, the ground you have the tripod on, etc will effect it. I know for a fact that the ground here in Eastern NC is unreliable. Heavy mounts especially sink under their weight. It doesn’t take much to be degrees off. There’s some great videos on centering polar scopes. I’ll direct you to some if you can’t find them. By far the greatest thing I ever invested in is an annual subscription to Sharpcap. It’s not expensive. One thing you get that’s invaluable is its plate solving polar alignment. It literally takes minutes and is more accurate than I can dream of being. It uses your camera to check the stars from your home, or park, position. It then plate solves and asks you to rotate the RA 90 degrees. It will then plate solve again and use a reticle to guide your mount adjustments in altitude and azimuth. It’s absolutely perfect and far cheaper than a QHY Pole Master. It’s absolutely fantastic and has made me rather lazy I must admit. Have a look specifically at Amy Astros demo on Sharpcap Polar Alignment. I believe it was the clearest, easiest, video to watch on the topic. I personally am not a fan of subscription software. I do currently subscribe to Sharpcap and am glad I am.
Great explanation, and the card at the end sums it all up really nicely, I'm going to save that info for quick reference. But I just want to be clear on something...when referring to north/south drift, are you referring to the actual motion of the star (up meaning "northward" if looking south) or are you referring to the apparent motion which is inverted in the eyepiece, in which case "upward" would actually be toward the southern horizon?
Is this a rookie question? I hope I'm not making it more complicated than it is, lol!
That’s a great question. A very complicated one to answer. As you know there is no up or down in space. Refractor give reversed images to newtonians etc. Use the cardinal directions in the video as reference. Reverse them when applicable. The main thing is to correct counter to the drift. I could say refractor but then suppose someone has one with a orientation corrective diagonal. Essentially all your corrections are opposite their errors in relative direction. I swear it’s complicated as hell to explain with words. If you go out and try then you’ll quickly understand it all. Keep in mind I used paper cut outs to demonstrate lol. I’ve been told I deserve an award for that idea. I’ve seen guys use lasers and all kinds of stuff. In the case specific to your question yes north could be perceived as up. That would be incorrect to imply but if it makes sense it’s correct. You see the issue? Lol. Circumnavigation is so much easier. I place trying to answer your question as equally difficult as explaining relativity. I swear if you go out and patiently watch you’ll be like “ohhhhh”. We’ll both be able to laugh at my attempt to answer. Clear skies friend.
@@GarnettLeary Roger all that, thank you for the explanation. I will correct for the inverted image in my Newtonian and generally rely on cardinal compass directions.
Great video Garnett. I hope to get out of my current living situation and into a house one day. That way I'll be able to use proper equipment instead of this goto unit I've been stuck with for the past couple years. Keep up the great work!
Thank you and I hope you get your wish. Any good ideas on what was in your Jupiter footage yet?
I still think the object at the upper right was an asteroid, but the other object could be a satellite as suggested. Another one of those things we'll never know! I hadn't had any other suggestions in the comments section either.
Weird. It’s odd what TH-cam pushes. If you b-rolled coffee and titled it “flat earth...” it probably would have 56k hits by now lol. I might test that theory with a stupid b-roll video. Algorithm test. Ha
Garnett Leary i was watching a pretty popular youtuber earlier today and he was taking about the algorithms. He said that people that put out videos daily have the best numbers and their videos get the most exposure
Hello - thank you for the video .
Can you please explain again how to rotate the eye piece so that it is oriented correctly .
If my scope is not well polar aligned ( which is the point of this video ) then aligning the eye piece at the beginning will be doing so with an unaligned scope . Seems a bit chicken and egg - I’m so confused 😞
Certainly. The easiest way to perform correct rotation is to watch the initial drift then place it in such a way that the star follows a path from center across the crosshair. Imagine it as a road the star is driving on. Parallel for lack of better words. On the line.
@@GarnettLeary thank you for your reply .
If I align the the eye piece as you describe , I am forcing the alignment of the eyepiece to a star that is drifting . It’s like I am making the eyepiece align to a drifting star - when it’s the drift I am trying to capture .
I am sorry I am not understanding.
It’s ok. It’s a complicated topic. Not easily described either. So your mount only moves in four directions. Right Ascension and declination. There’s two directions associated with both. Unfortunately it’s an arc rather than a straight line. One is east/west. One is north/south. All stars appear to rotate accordingly to Earths rotation. Some are more difficult to gauge off of such as Polaris because it doesn’t immediately seem to change position. So your goal in the eyepiece is to determine what is east/west during a correction and north/south for the other. The star at the center of a crosshair should move in a straight line out of center one of two directions over time. That is how you decide which way to lay the reticle and also determine where to adjust the mount. It’s time consuming but will center your polar axis to the NCP. For North/South you’re establishing how far above or below the crosshairs it drifts. It’s easiest to place the crosshairs as a plus rather than an x. Apparent drift up or down indicates your latitude adjustment is off in either direction. It seems counterintuitive until you try it. Even if you’re not successful after a period you should be able to detect unwanted motion outside of center. It will make sense I promise. Don’t be too fussy about what star so much at first. The guidelines for position, elevation, and location by meridian will make sense more as you try it. They are locations that more quickly resolve the method. Face south with decent altitude star. I don’t mind taking time to explain this at all. Trust me it’s difficult to imagine. There’s probably a lot of folks who are taking amazingly good photos that can’t perform a DA. They have the privilege of plate solving. Don’t give up. Hopefully this helped a little. In time you can literally do this the old school way with great precision in under an hours time. It’s literally like riding a bike once you get over the initial hurdle. Good luck.
@@GarnettLeary thank you for your patience and for your thoughtful reply - I appreciate it .
I think understand now . I’ll try this on the next clear night .
Thanks again !
Anytime and good luck
Hello. Thank you very much for the video. I already read/watched a few drift alignment explanations (a Celestron Omni XLT manual I accidentally found online has a pretty good one) but I'm still looking for one that would clarify one thing: the terms "up" and "down" are ambiguous when different optical systems and accessories like diagonals are considered. I didn't find the clarification I'm looking for in your video, but since you took the effort with the paper models to explain this to us newbies, perhaps you could add some tips on this in the description or some other annotation, to make your video more complete. Thank you again, clear skies!
Oh and BTW, to anyone else who is confused by this up/down aspect, and actually to any astronomer, I think the best thing to do is try and UNDERSTAND what this is all about. First, verify whether your telescope configuration flips the image vertically (I often use my SCT without a diagonal, in which case it flips the image in both axes). Then, open Stellarium or any other sky map, turn on the equator and meridian, probably disable EQ and AZ grids. You can see that near the meridian, the celestial equator (and hence any star near it) is first rising, and then falling once it passes the meridian. So if e.g. your polar axis is too far "left" (east from the meridian, or west from the Polar Star) then even before the star you're observing passes the meridian, your mount will "think" it's already time to move down (in azimuth/height terms), whereas the star would still be rising! That's because your mount's own, incorrect meridian would be too far left (east). I hope that makes sense. It's more difficult to imagine the other part of drift alignment (east/west), at least for me though, but I'll keep thinking about it until I get it ;)
Absolutely solid points. Perhaps I will redo it with multiple scope types. I own practically every type except an RC. I will start working on this. Thank you for the feedback.
nice work on the video... Simple and effective!
youve got a pretty cool channl going - should post more :)
Thanks. I will eventually.
1) Accurately levelling the mount is not mandatory : you'll ALWAYS be able to make the hour axis parallel to the Earth rotation axis using azimuth and elevation screws
2) if your reticle eyepiece is not illuminated : bring your star out of focus => you'll still see the star, a circle that you still can center in your reticle
3) ~6:42 : more precsiely, choose a star that's near the hour angle of 0h (hour angle Oh = due south)
4) ~8:51 : it's the other way round : if the star goes south (you have to lower the declination axis to bring the star back in the center), it means your mount is too far west, not east
5) ~9:31 : wrong, well, not accurate at all : you must choose a star that has an HOUR ANGLE of 18h (east part of the sky) and CERTAINLY NOT on the celestial equator, it's obviously just on the horizon ! You have to chose a star that is higher in the sky => somewhere in the north-east part of the sky, let's say at 30° abov the horizon.
What's the MOST IMPORTANT is the HOUR ANGLE of 18H (east) or 6H (west) because these are the areas where the DRIFT SPEED is the BIGGEST => corrections are MUCH more accurate and much more quickly achieved !
When your telescope is in its park position (tube pointing at the NCP, counterweights down), the HOUR ANGLE (not the right ascension ! This is a very common mistake among amateur astronomers : the graduations are not right ascensions, these are hour angles ! ), the hour angle should show 6H on your graduations.
From that position you can move your tube, by only changing the declination, to the east => HOUR ANGLE = 18h, or to the west => HOUR ANGLE = 6H.
Think of the 18H hour angle as a line going from the celestial pole to the east horizon (where it intersects the celestial equator). Same goes for the 6H, but to the west.
If you intent to take pictures, first decide how many minutes you need to take one picture (your camera/DSLR installed on your telescope, focused, make a few tests anywhere in the sky to see what's the maximum time), if your drift alignment meets that criteria, you're good to go !
6) ~13:49 : absolutely right ! Drift alignment is not complicated once you've done it 2 or 3 times, it'll quickly become natural to you and like he said, you can do that in 30 minutes
Hello, thank you for the video. Just like to request perhaps you can teach ua from the south hemisphere how to drift align? Thank you
Hi Garnett, how r u doing. Haven't seen you in a while. Hope You're doing well. Clear Skies!!!
Doing good. Thanks for asking. I hope the same for you. Been real busy with work and my daughter. I’m planning to return here soon. Clear skies to you.
That was a fantastic job
Thank you for making it simple to understand
Can you tell my what is the difference that need to consider if I’m in the Southern Hemisphere?
Thank you. With a Southern Hemisphere drift alignment you will reverse the directions. Visualize an NCP alignment. The top of my scope points up towards Polaris. A southern alignment points down thru the ground towards the NCP. To simplify imagine drawing a straight line thru both yours and my polar axis of our mounts. The key is to visualize the opposite ends of that line pointing towards both the NCP and the SCP. Essentially we are both aimed simultaneously at both poles at all times. My “up” is north and your “up” is south thru the Earth towards the NCP. I hope this helps.
Is this process do-able with those portable trackers like skywatcher adventurer and ioptron skyguider pro
Yes and no. You don’t have the same degree of fine DEC and RA adjustment. For example you’re often relying on a tripod clutch rather than a hand controller connected to a dedicated gear. This varies across different models of course. The popular iOptron SG Pro for example allows you to set both but by loosening either they immediately swing free. It’s a battle of EXTREME finesse. Short answer is mechanically no unfortunately.
When tracking the star to the south, if it crosses the Meridian, how is that handled?
I am in a Bortle 8 area, and twnd.to have slim pickings.
A drift north will be an east correction and the opposite true for south regardless if it passes. You’re better off completing it on one side or the other due to balance reasons.
What happened was after switching to a eastward star and adjusting elevation, the star had crossed. And for all practical purposes, low to the horizon there weren't any alternatives.
Thank you,
Gref
Garnett, do you leave the orientation of the reticle unchanged from the azimuth drift set-up (reticle lines are up/down and left right).?
Yes
Hello. Very much interested in manual guiding for longer exposures with the dual track system that can be upgraded to the Orion Sky View Pro mount. I’m new to Astrophotography and interested in saving a few bucks if possible. While I was watching an Orion video on Auto guiding, the technician was animate that proper star guiding could not be achieved without an auto guider. Would you give me your opinion on the subject? To me, manual guiding would be no problem to perform and I’m certainly willing to try. Tx Gene. BTW, your tutorials are a god send.
Thank you and of course they say that. They are in the market to sale stuff. Autoguiding is new. Relatively. Astrophotography is not. The limitations you will face that autoguiding solves for is periodic error. That’s mechanical errors in gearing etc. The higher the quality the mount the less it will occur. I met a guy who could get ten minutes on an eq mount manually guiding. Such long exposures truly are only useful for narrowband imaging. Drift alignment should get you to a minimum of two minute exposures with a moderate focal length on a moderate mount. That’s just hypothetical and for most RGB targets that’s sufficient exposure time. Look what guys are doing on simple barn door mounts. Check out the work of Timmothy Ferris. Autoguiding is at the top yes, and superior to manual, but it’s not totally necessary just as it wasn’t years ago. If you have the patience for manual guiding I recommend you try. If nothing else you will gain a deeper appreciation for the craft. If I can help you don’t hesitate to ask. That’s why I make these videos. I love community and sharing knowledge. Ask the guys at Orion how it is there’s thousands of beautiful images of galaxies prior to the advent of pc guiding. Lol. Clear skies.
Garnett Leary oh Tx so much Garnet for your feedback. You raised points I hadn’t thought of. Had been looking for good vids on manual GUI. Glad I found yours. Have subscribed and will be staying tuned.Might have a question or two at a later date. I think manual will be fun and informative too. Tx again partner
"Hey My Friend" I have a question I thought maybe you could help. My finder scope finely died. I need a replacement, just wondering if you could point me (no pun intended) in the right direction. Looking for a good affordable one. Thanks
No problem. You’re on the SE right? Is it a Losmandy style mounting bracket?
@@GarnettLeary correct, it's the next star 4se. I could order the same finder scope , but since this small one broke I thought I'd up grade.
I personally like the Telrad. They are pretty popular too. You may want the optional dew shield for it. If I remember right the NexStar won’t take Orion finders. If you could retrofit their 7x50 that would be awesome.
th-cam.com/video/NH33pXGkNF8/w-d-xo.html
@@GarnettLeary Thanks my friend ...you are the man👍
When on the East horizon, I am still controlling to stay within the horizontal axis; correct?
Last question, what do you consider a reasonable time to monitor?
5 minutes? 10?
Thanks for the resonses
Grrg
Yes and ten minutes should be sufficient. A couple minutes in any axis should show error.
I am curious, my only fov of the night sky is west to somewhere close to southwest. Rest of the areas is blocked. Do you have any ideas how I could drift align with such limited fov?
I think this video answers your question:
th-cam.com/video/L_Yn8BZ0Hm0/w-d-xo.html
What about using sharpcap or polemaster for polar alignment? I use sharpcap and it works great!
It’s tethered and cpu assisted. That’s a fantastic option if it’s available to you.
Garnett Leary I’ve heard drift alignment described as the gold standard for pa but think this may have to do with it being he only option in times past. Even on mounts without a guideport, polar alignment software/camera could still be used. This could be a good technique for some of the sky trackers that are getting more popular for wide-field work but it may not matter as much with a shorter focal length. Your description is one of the better I’ve seen. Thanks!
Thank you. I saw a guy use a homemade rig and lights on a wall. I was searching for ways to show it without pc. I appreciate the feedback. I was a little reluctant posting this but then I remembered how helpful it is in situations.
Thx garnett good to see you on screen😀. I'm a sharpcap fan but good to know how drift alignment works, like the diagram !
My video skills are poo. Lol! You got a new one on the way?
Crude? Maybe. But incredibly helpful. Thanks. I guess I sorta started trying to figure out drift alignment on my own, but using the moon and sun instead. I kept wondering if the sun even moves in RA Or if it’s on some known somewhat wacky course that would affect someone trying to view it all day but simply moving the telescope in right ascension. Definitely resulted in me putting my head through a few walls in this house. But will try this method. There are a lot of trees and neighbor’s houses though. I wonder if they’d let me do a little demolition 🤔 l
The Sun is actually a commonly used drift target. It can get you extremely close before nightfall. The advantage other stars have is merely that they’re pinpoints of light and you can gain tighter accuracy. Tho the relative apparent motion of the Sun, Moon, and Stars is different in rate.. they still follow a course based on our axis and latitude. You we’re basically rediscovering observable science. I recommend sticking to astronomy over physics tho. There’s no need to discover how much Newton force is required to breach sheet rock with your skull. Lol! I’ve never considered demolition but I have wished at times I could EMP my neighbors. That sounds awful. For whatever reason people continue to think wolf ancestors need night lights to urinate. That’s troubling
How can you tell which is north / south / east / west in a plain eyepiece, without the crosshair?
I'm currently drift aligning using a 6mm eyepiece on a Skywatcher 150P to get maximum movement.
Also(!) how do you know how far you need to adjust the Alt / Az for each adjustment?
For example, I'm in the northern hemisphere and Arcturus is in the west. I can see that when I move my RA the star moves up and down in the eyepiece. Arcturus drifted to the left from the eyepiece view. Is this North... or South?
Great question and I should have included this information. You have to take into account wether it’s a refractor, newtonian, etc. You also have to consider wether you have a diagonal or not. All these factors determine a change in direction. The easiest way to be certain is to nudge the scope nose gently towards your east or west and north and south while looking thru it. A real gentle tap on the barrel should indicate your cardinal directions. Great question. Thank you for bringing it up. Clear skies.
Garnett Leary did you do this video considering you were using that reflector you showed?
You’d have to determine the cardinal directions by pushing the scope across RA and DEC. That combined with an understanding of which cardinal direction you are facing. I’m assuming your Skywatcher is the 750mm FL? That’s a power of 125. In your case a very small adjustment should make a big difference. You just got to feel it out really. I have had to simply nudge my mount. Additionally you can look up how to modify your eyepiece with crosshairs. I might do a video on that. It requires cutting notches and using filament. Sorry my answer is a bit vague but in truth your adjustments will vary quite much based on equipment and your accuracy as well as what power you operate at.
Garnett Leary i personally have a newt, would it be the same motions you made in your video then (since you showed a newt)?
Thanks for the explanation btw!
I have a fornax ii, thanks for the time to share this info, not everyone has guiding.
BTW I hope you've escaped now!
Thank you. Escaped?
Super helpful, actually. I plan to try on my ioptron sky tracker pro.
Best of luck and thanks for watching. Clear skies.
Picking a star due south. Left of the meridian is East. Correct? This is because when you face South, East by your left.
Correct. Reverse everything.
I'm waiting for the next video
Good stuff.
A difficult topic.
-- I think I have it.
Thank you and yes it is. Many would argue it’s irrelevant due to modern technology but I’m a stickler for knowing how and why.
What adapter do you use to attach your DSLR camera to your telescope, i.e. to the clamp?
It’s called a “T-adapter”. They come in 1.25” and 2” depending on your needs. Make sure you get one with a threaded nose so you can install filters.
@@GarnettLeary thanks for the quick reply. However, my question was obviously not precise. I am referring to you piggy back setup at position 4:51 in the video. How do you connect your camera to the female thread of the pipe clamp? It seems you use a sort of an adapter in between your camera and the pipe clamp.
A search for: “Orion Tube Rings” on Amazon will show you the adapter. I have never been able to locate just the adapter itself. That one came with the aftermarket rings. It has a 1/4-20 bolt which is square headed and recessed with a thumb tightening plastic wheel that works as a tensioner on the bottom of the camera. I considered making one for a larger set of rings I had. My idea was just a wing nut against a washer. I hope this helps.
Dumb question - could u put this in layman's terms? finding "a star due south, slightly left of the meridian, within 5 degrees declination from the celestial equator." Does that mean slightly east of south, 5 degrees up from the horizon? from straight up?
Certainly. In case you aren’t familiar with the celestial equator it’s basically an outward projection of the Earth’s equator. It varies depending on your latitude. In terms of declination or altitude you need to be within 5 degrees of that line. Everyone can apply the same regarding the meridian and yes it would be favored eastward or left of that line as you face due south. Did this clarify? Let me know. Clear skies.
This is a great article:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celestial_equator
@@GarnettLearyYes, I know what the celestial equator is, and at my latitude of 40 degrees, I will want to eventually tilt up 40 degrees as my RA. So we should point within 5 degrees of the horizon? I can only see about 60 degrees east and west of south, and from up 15 degrees above the horizon to nearly straight up. Can this method still be used? Thanks.
Yes. I’m at 34.5. There’s also the potential for using our Sun also.
@@GarnettLeary So I can do the polar alignment you prescribe because the lowest star that is 15 degrees above the horizon is still a good base for it? Would that increase the margin of error since it is so high up from the horizon (way past the 5 degrees u mention)?
Is this for a reflector scope? No diagonal? I will use my reflector and a DSLR. We need somebody to do vids on each type of scope instead of telling people they need to reverse directions, too confusing. Great tutorial man! Thanks.
Refractor without diagonal and a reticle ep installed. I see your point. It would be better to do each independently. The main point is to watch for drift and correct it. It’s by no means a fast process but if you adjust the wrong direction it becomes obvious very quickly. There are still many practical uses for manual drift alignment. A great deal of accuracy can be had even on simple mounts with clock drives.
@@GarnettLeary Isn't that a reflector your using in the vid? It would be nice if someone did a scope specific drift align. Would that be like 6 different vids for the 3 different scope types? I personally only care about the reflector 😋 Thanks for the reply, I see this has been up a couple years, Thanks again bother! 👍
You’re welcome. Thanks for watching. Great idea. I may make a revised that’s three part with index markers. Stay safe. Clear skies.
@@GarnettLeary I use a CGEM with no index markers on it, I also can only use the western sky, too many trees east. Last night I used Arcturus to the west and Cebalrai in the south. I thought I had it about perfect, then I did a random 3 min exposure on Arcturus, the main star was great but the stars off to the sides were oblong. I'll do it again when the sky clears. I do use a coma corrector also. I had stars in the center for quite a while in both directions. Thanks for your help!
So what's new Garrett? You been missing for 4-5 months.
Travel. Lots of it. Are you ready for the lunar eclipse?
@@GarnettLeary well weather not looking good for Sunday night, however I do plan on setting up if it's clear. Weather was not good for 2 meteor showers last year. I am hoping that by March to have a AVX mount again stuff came up had to sell my old one. Seen a few on Cloudy nights Don't have the $700 yet for one of them otherwise it's gonna be $900 for a new one.
Well it’s much easier and better to autoguide so I don’t blame ya. My next system will likely involve an SCT
You doing alright, Garnett? Miss your videos, man. Take care!
Yes and thanks for asking. Been super busy but I’ll be back. Hope all is well with you. Clear skies.
If I watch this video through a pin-hole its actually sharp
That’s funny.
At 8 min 40 sec you start to say, "if the star drifts upwards....", but you don't define "upwards", as many of use use scopes that do or don't change the orientation of "up" and "down" depending on individual scopes and configurations. So when you say "up" do you mean "up" just in your set up and what you visually see regardless of whether that up is the real "up", or do you mean "up" as in higher in "real altitude" regardless of what is seen through the scope? - Having "S" for South at the top and "N" for North at the bottom in your video also doesn't help things if you don't mind me saying. The video was a good watch.
Good video, Garnett. This "old school" method of polar alignment is well worth the effort, especially if you have a permanent mount for your telescope. I have a semi-permanent pier in my backyard (an 8 foot pressure treated 6x6 sunk in the ground so 3 feet of it extends above ground) with a home built wedge for my old Celestron SCT. After drift aligning the pier-wedge system once I can now set up on clear nights in a few minutes. Picture at imgur.com/X3w0qko
I thought it would be helpful for a lot of people in varied situations. Sounds like you got a beast setup. I doubt it will go anywhere anytime soon ha. I’m still planning my backyard. Koi ponds and observing decks in mind. Thanks for watching and sharing. Clear skies.
Hey my friend did you see the lunar eclipse tonight? JUST CURIOUS!👍
Indeed. Posted on Instagram. Shot it from a ship out to sea. Was difficult. Yourself?
@@GarnettLeary I watched it from my aunts backyard which was perfect no street lights very little light pollution. It's been raining for the last few days. Just happy the sky's cleared in time to catch it. I've been busy watching the NHL of late ...first time I've been out watching the stars in a while.
Same here. Weather was questionable but cleared. I’m looking into an SCT. Probably get back into full swing soon. Been traveling a lot.
👍👍👍
@@gamers7800 I forgot about the eclipse until right when it began, couldn't find my camera remote shutter so I hooked my Canon up to Backyard EOS with a 75-300 telephoto cheapo but the quickest shutter I could get was one second. Nice color there but the focus was crummy Still great fun to capture the whole sequence.
According to the original works of Julius Scheiner who invented and first described this method in 1897 archive.org/details/diephotographied00sche/page/98/mode/2up on pages 99 and 100 you need a star anywhere on the meridian (ideally close to the zenith because declination does not matter, drift is the same everywhere on the meridian). And for the Altitude adjustment you use a star with an hour angle of 6 or 18 (declination does not matter here either, ideally choose a star close to the pole). The often wrongly given recommendation to choose a star on the western or eastern horizon or anything that has to do with the celestial equator at all is wrong and leads to suboptimal results!
In his book he gives the formula for the observed drift and it only depends on
x sin 𝜏 + y cos 𝜏
where:
x = error in Altitude
y = error in Azimuth
without any occurrence of δ anywhere. So just choose any two stars, one with 𝜏 = 0 and one with 𝜏 = ±6h and both ideally as high in the sky as possible to reduce atmosphere refraction problems.
1.6k subs?!? Nice! You can now be a TH-cam partner if you want.
I haven’t put anything up in a while. Still brainstorming and taking time off. Definitely need to up production skills. You’re last was really good. I have a hard enough time getting decent sound. I’m not much of a screen presence lol.