My first try at a star tracker gave me weird results

I rented a Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer for a night to shoot the Milky Way from a dark spot in Joshua Tree. I set it up following a guide, aiming for a 5 minute exposure. The stars came out as little lines, not points, even though I thought I had the polar alignment right. I double checked everything and still got the same smeared look. I learned that even a tiny bit off on the alignment can ruin a long exposure shot. Has anyone else had this happen and found a good trick to get it perfect?

3 comments

3 Comments

jordan_young1mo ago

Tell me about it, my first polar alignment looked like I was drawing circles with a spirograph. What guide did you end up using?

abby_black1mo ago

You said "tiny bit off"... but with a tracker, even that's way too much.

kevin_dixon16d ago

Weren't you always the one saying "close enough" on these things? Yeah okay, I get it now, that was dumb.