- SKY WATCHER STAR ADVENTURER HOW TO
- SKY WATCHER STAR ADVENTURER PORTABLE
- SKY WATCHER STAR ADVENTURER PRO
- SKY WATCHER STAR ADVENTURER ISO
- SKY WATCHER STAR ADVENTURER FREE
SKY WATCHER STAR ADVENTURER ISO
Stack of 60 x 2-minute exposures at ISO 1600.Ī star tracker will usually include a polar scope, which is used to help find the north celestial pole and adjust the mount accordingly. If you’ve ever seen a detailed photo of the Milky Way like the one below, chances are the photographer used a star tracker to collect sharp, long exposure images with their camera and lens. These types of projects usually involve traveling to a remote location, where packing light is necessary. Wide-angle nightscapes and Milky Way panoramas are the star trackers’ strong point. The star tracker category includes small EQ mounts that can carry a camera and lens combo, whether it’s for wide-angle Milky Way photography or deep sky imaging with a telephoto lens. Because of their small size and compact profile, they’re usually a lot more affordable, too. Unlike a heavy equatorial telescope mount, a star tracker is portable, small, and lightweight. Luckily for amateur astrophotographers and photographers, there are a lot of great star tracker options to choose from these days.
![sky watcher star adventurer sky watcher star adventurer](https://www.tringastro.co.uk/ekmps/shops/tring_astro/images/sky-watcher-star-adventurer[ekm]695x290[ekm].jpg)
Long exposure images (180-seconds) shot at 400mm with and without tracking. The image below shows you what a 3-minute exposure using a 400mm lens would like without using a star tracker. When a tracking camera mount is used, a small motor slowly rotates your camera in right ascension, effectively matching the apparent movement of the night sky, and freezing it in its tracks. Amateur photographers using a stationary tripod can use the 500 rule as a guide for choosing the ideal shutter speed, but a star tracker removes this limitation altogether. This is because the Earth is spinning on its axis, while the night sky is fixed. Without using a star tracker, the stars in the night sky will begin to trail after about 15-30 seconds, depending on the focal length of the lens used.
SKY WATCHER STAR ADVENTURER PORTABLE
In the northern hemisphere, we have the advantage of using the north star, Polaris, to aid in this process.Ī portable star tracker with a ball head and DSLR camera attached. To polar align an equatorial mount for astrophotography (including a small camera tracker), you need to adjust the altitude and azimuth of the base so that the polar axis of the mount is aligned with the celestial pole.
![sky watcher star adventurer sky watcher star adventurer](https://www.firstlightoptics.com/user/products/large/skywatcher_star_adventurer_1.jpg)
To properly track the stars that appear to move across the night sky each night, a star tracker must be polar aligned and balanced.
SKY WATCHER STAR ADVENTURER HOW TO
How to Use a Star TrackerĪ star tracker’s job is to match the rotation of the Earth so that you can take long exposure images (at nearly any focal length) of the night sky. I’ll do my best to explain why the overall user experience is the number one factor to consider when choosing a portable tracking camera mount. Each of them have their own strengths and weaknesses, from the portability factor to maximum payload capacity. The star trackers shown above are capable of accurately tracking the night sky for long-exposure night sky photography.
SKY WATCHER STAR ADVENTURER PRO
The iOptron SkyGuider Pro, Fornax Mounts LighTrack II, and iOptron SkyTracker Pro I tend to recommend this star tracker over the others in most situations. This is an extremely popular choice for amateur astrophotographers in 2020, and for good reason.
![sky watcher star adventurer sky watcher star adventurer](https://39.cdn.ekm.net/ekmps/shops/22e13e/images/celestron-large-sct-edgehd-adapter-v2-for-off-axis-guider-[3]-6737-p.jpg)
Later that summer, I tested the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer (Pro Package). It created the perfect opportunity to compare this camera tracker against some of the competing models in this category, in terms of overall user experience and performance. In this post, I’ll discuss the topic of using a star tracker for astrophotography, and which one I like using most. From the mechanical design to the polar alignment procedure, this portable tracking camera mount is very different from any astrophotography mount I have ever used before. This summer, I had the opportunity to review a new star tracker for astrophotography, the Fornax Mounts LighTrack II. I recommend the Sky-Watcher Star Adventurer 2i (Pro Pack) for beginner astrophotographers looking for the best overall experience. Astrophotography demands long-exposure tracked images to collect as much signal (light) as possible, and that is exactly what a star tracker allows you to do.
SKY WATCHER STAR ADVENTURER FREE
Your exposure lengths are no longer limited to 30-seconds or less due to a moving sky, and you can dial back camera settings like ISO and F-stop.Įquatorial camera mounts are designed to align with the polar axis of the night sky so you can take long-exposure images that are free of star trailing. When it comes to astrophotography, a star tracker allows you to take better images.