A Beginner's Guide to the Alt-Az & Equatorial Coordinate Systems

As a follow up from my recent video about short exposure astrophotography with an Alt-Az mount, I wanted to explain the difference between the Alt-Az and Equatorial celestial coordinate systems in simple terms and why it matters when it comes to astrophotography.
If you missed the first video, here's the link: • Short Exposure Deep Sk...
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[@stevephelps6962]

Thanks, very helpful....

[@chrislarson740]

Well done Mary! I am using a Meade LX 65 8 inch for astrophotography and visual. As long as I am careful and use relatively short exposures, I can get decent results on the brighter deep sky images. Still, saving for an Equatorial!

[@Spiceyspiney]

We have done lots of imaging using our 10" Dobsonian telescope and recently I have loved playing with my little Sky Watcher GTi which is phenomenal! It's quicker to set up than the EQ5 we have on a permanent pier!

[@CelestialVoyages-yz7gh]

What sofware did you use for getting the grid lines for Alt-Az?

[@Dannyspinny]

Excellent video Mary. I've just bought a Skywatcher AZ GTi mount mounted on a Star Adventurer Mount with equatorial software 🙂 Just waiting on cear skies to get out and use it now

[@Spiceyspiney]

Sorry, you've mounted a mount on top of another mount?

[@SideWalkAstronomyNetherlands]

I never use alt -az... it doesn't relate to the stars..

[@Spiceyspiney]

I agree, but not everybody has the budget for an equatorial mount, or like me, may not be able to carry the weight of one. I'm lucky to have an observatory and a second permanent pier which both have equatorial mounts on them, but if I'm doing anything grab and go, my little Alt-Az mount is brilliant. We've also done a lot of successful imaging with our 10" Dobsonian which is also Alt-Az. It has tracking motors and GoTo and it works really well