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Spent a whole night trying to get a clear shot of the Orion Nebula
I was out in my backyard last Friday, super excited to finally try some deep sky stuff with my new camera adapter. The problem was my polar alignment. I thought I had it right, but every single shot after 30 seconds was just a blurry streak. I kept adjusting the mount, checking the app, and starting over. It took me from 8 PM until almost 3 in the morning to finally nail it and get a sharp, five-minute exposure. Has anyone else had this much trouble with their first real polar alignment, or did I just miss something obvious?
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fiona_carr266d agoTop Commenter
Polar alignment is a real pain at first. I read a whole forum thread where people said it took them months to get it right without star trails. @emma_baker61 has a point about trying again, because it does get faster once your brain learns the steps. That first clean long exposure is totally worth all the frustration.
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fionafoster6d ago
My first polar alignment took four hours in a field outside Boise. You didn't miss anything, it's just a brutal learning curve. Getting that five-minute shot after all that work must have felt amazing.
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