I definitely recommend zooming in and scrolling around. On the left side, just above the trees you can see the Orion Nebula. Towards the upper right corner, there is the Andromeda Galaxy, faint and fuzzy. And that really bright "star" in left center is not a star at all, but the planet Jupiter.
I have thought about getting one of these small trackers - which one did you get?
I first bought a Benro Polaris with Astro option. It’s a clever device, well made, but very awkward to set up correctly and use. (no polar alignment, but…very non-intuitive to get it set on sky properly). I would have to study the (very slim) manual every time I tried to use; it was never intuitive. I just stopped using it for that reason. Now, it’s excellent kit, but the UI is terribly complex. So for some, it might be fine. (I have mine up for sale on eBay as of today, FWIW, so I’m committing to leaving it behind).
I bought a small tracking mount from B&H (Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi Head Kit (Head Only)), and this is a very conventional mount that you polar align. I find it not ideal to polar align on some nights (my eyes aren’t as good as they once were), but if you align it carefully, it works with the so-far tested lens (20-35mm Fuji GF). It took I think three nights on sky to get to where setup was routine. (Never got got after a dozen attempts with the Benro—too complex for me.)
So with good alignment, the Sky-Watcher thing works great on my heavy-duty tripod. That’s what I was looking for - inexpensive, occassional use, decent enough results.
Yes, I saw the other targets, but I didn’t want to go into details on that post. ;)
My hope is that I can get up to 2 minutes with excellent tracking; we shall see. I plan to do some investigation of the polar alignment visuals to see if I’m missing something obvious that would make Polaris more obvious in the finder they provide. Also, I’d like it to work with the 110mm lens; hopefully, that’s not asking for too much from it.
I definitely recommend zooming in and scrolling around. On the left side, just above the trees you can see the Orion Nebula. Towards the upper right corner, there is the Andromeda Galaxy, faint and fuzzy. And that really bright "star" in left center is not a star at all, but the planet Jupiter.
I have thought about getting one of these small trackers - which one did you get?
It’s a long story. :)
I first bought a Benro Polaris with Astro option. It’s a clever device, well made, but very awkward to set up correctly and use. (no polar alignment, but…very non-intuitive to get it set on sky properly). I would have to study the (very slim) manual every time I tried to use; it was never intuitive. I just stopped using it for that reason. Now, it’s excellent kit, but the UI is terribly complex. So for some, it might be fine. (I have mine up for sale on eBay as of today, FWIW, so I’m committing to leaving it behind).
I bought a small tracking mount from B&H (Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer GTi Head Kit (Head Only)), and this is a very conventional mount that you polar align. I find it not ideal to polar align on some nights (my eyes aren’t as good as they once were), but if you align it carefully, it works with the so-far tested lens (20-35mm Fuji GF). It took I think three nights on sky to get to where setup was routine. (Never got got after a dozen attempts with the Benro—too complex for me.)
So with good alignment, the Sky-Watcher thing works great on my heavy-duty tripod. That’s what I was looking for - inexpensive, occassional use, decent enough results.
Yes, I saw the other targets, but I didn’t want to go into details on that post. ;)
My hope is that I can get up to 2 minutes with excellent tracking; we shall see. I plan to do some investigation of the polar alignment visuals to see if I’m missing something obvious that would make Polaris more obvious in the finder they provide. Also, I’d like it to work with the 110mm lens; hopefully, that’s not asking for too much from it.
That is really cool! :)