CatchingtheLightbyJerryLodriguss

PolarAligning

AstrophotographyTechniques
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BecausetheEarthrotatesonitsaxis,objectsintheskyoutsideoftheEarth's
atmosphere,suchasthemoon,planetsandstars,seemtoriseintheeastandmove
acrossthesky,andthensetinthewest.
TheSun,Moon,planets,andallobjectsinthe
solarsystem,aswellasnebulae,clusters,and
starsinourowngalaxy,andindeedevenallof
theothergalaxiesinthesky,followthispath
acrosstheskyastheEarthrotatesbeneath.

ABe ginne r'sGuide to

DSLR Astrophotography

"Equatorial"telescopemountingshavetwo
axes,apolaraxisandadeclinationaxis,to
helpcompensatefortheEarth'srotationand
aimatobjectsindifferentpartsofthesky.
Thepolaraxisofanequatorialmountshould
pointatthenorthcelestialpoleandthe
processofmakingthissoiscalled"polar
aligning".Thismeansmakingthepolaraxisof
themountparalleltotheEarth'saxisof
rotation.Thisgreatlysimplifiesthetrackingof
acelestialobjectacrosstheskywiththe
motionofonlyoneaxisofthetelescope's
mountinrightascension.
Forvisualwork,polaralignmentisnotthat
critical.Anequatorialmountcansimplybeset
upandthepolaraxisroughlyalignedonPolaris,
theNorthStar.Dobsoniantelescopesdonot
havetobepolaralignedatall.

AnAdvance dGuide to
DSLR Astrophotography

GermanEquatorialMountingPolarA xis

Thenewercomputercontrolledaltazimuthmountedtelescopescantrackanobject
throughbuiltinsophisticatedmathematicalcalculationsthataretransparenttothe
userandmovethetelescopeinboththealtitudeandazimuth.Howeveracomputer
drivenaltazimuthmountedtelescopecannottakelongexposurephotographswithout
theuseofanexpensiveandrelativelyrarefieldderotator.

AGuide toDSLR
Plane taryIm aging

Formoreaccuratealignment,theaimofthepolaraxisofthemounthastobe
adjustedintwoplanes,theazimuthandthealtitude.Theazimuthcorrespondstothe
directionsonacompass,andthealtitudeissimplytheelevationabovethehorizon,in
degrees.
Themountcaneasilybealignedinaltitudetomatchthelatitudeoftheobserving
site,andtheazimuthadjustedwithacompasstofindnorth.Theoffsetforthe
deviationbetweenmagneticnorthandtruenorthcanbecorrectedwithinformation
frompublishedsourcesorapilot'ssectionalmapfortheobservinglocation.
Forlongexposuredeepskyastrophotography,polaralignmentismuchmorecritical,
especiallyatremotelocationswithaportablesetup.Ifthemountisnotpolaraligned
correctly,fieldrotationwillresult.Starsattheedgesoftheframeoftheimagewill
appeartorotatearoundtheguidestar.

Astrophotographe r'sGuide
tothe De e pSk y

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TheDriftMethod
Useofapolaralignmentscopebuiltintothemountwillhelpspeedupalignment,but
"drift"aligningwillprobablyalsobenecessaryforcriticalwork.
Astarthatismonitoredathighpower(200x)inaguidingeyepiecewithcrosshairs
mostprobablywillnotstayinoneexactlocationinthefield.Thereareseveral
differentreasonsforthis.

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Thestarwillusuallyseemtobumparoundabitiftheseeingisnotthatgood.Itcan
moveallovertheplaceonaveryshorttimeframeiftheseeingisreallybad.
Eveniftheseeingisexcellent,thestarwillslowlydriftfromitsoriginallocation.Itcan
drifteastwestduetoinaccuraciesintherightascensiongearanddrivetrainthat
movethetelescopetocompensatefortheEarth'srotation.
Thisisnormallyassociatedwithperiodicerror,socalledbecausetheerrorindriftwill
coincidewiththeperiodofrotationofthewormgear.Ifastariscarefullymonitored,
thestarwillmoveonewayforabout1/2oftheperiodoftheworm,andthenmove
backtheotherdirectionuntilithasreturnedtoitsstartingposition.Thismovement
willusuallybegentleandslow,buttherecanbequickjerksandmovementsfrom
erraticerrordependingonthequalityoftheworm,gear,andcomponents.For
excellentmounts,thisperiodicerrorcanbeaslittleasafewarcseconds.For
mediocremounts,itcanbeaslargeasseveralminutesofarc.
Forlongexposuredeepskyastrophotography,thisperiodicerrormustbeguidedout
byeithermanuallybythephotographerwithahighpowercrosshaireyepieceor
automaticallywithaCCDautoguidersuchastheSBIGST4orSTV.
Ifthemountisnotpolaralignedtogoodaccuracy,therewillalsobeaslownorthor
southdriftindeclination.
Driftpolaraligningisaccomplishedbymonitoringthedeclinationdriftofastarathigh
powerintheeyepieceandadjustingthepolaraxisofthemountbasedonthe
directionofdrift.
Twocorrectionsarenecessarybasedontwoobservations:oneofastaronthe
meridianfortheazimuthofthepolaraxisofthemount,andoneofastarnearthe
easternorwesternhorizonfortheelevationofthepolaraxis.
Whilemonitoringthedrift,anyeastwestmovementisignoredorguidedoutby
correctionsinrightascensiononly.Itisimportantthatnocorrectionsbemadeinany
northsouthdeclinationdriftbecausethisdriftwillindicatewhichwehavetomove
themounttoachievemoreaccuratepolaralignment.

LeveltheMount
Theazimuthplaneofthemountdoesnothavetobeperfectlyleveltosuccessfully
driftalign,however,itiscertainlyeasierifthemountifmadeaslevelaspossible
whenitissetup.Ifthemountisnotlevel,anyadjustmentsinazimuthoraltitudewill
causeanerrorinthealignmentoftheothercomponent.
Toprovethis,let'stryathoughtexperiment.Imagineamountwheretheazimuth
planeisnotparalleltotheground(i.e.level).Takeanextremeexampletomakeit
easytovisualize,sayimaginetheazimuthisperpendiculartotheground.Thenany
azimuthadjustmentwillobviouslyaffectthealtitudealso.Ifthemountisnotlevel,
theazimuthmustbesomewherebetween90degreesperpendiculartothegroundand
paralleltotheground.Anyazimuthadjustmentsinthiscasewillcauseerrorsin
altitude,justtoalesserextentthaninourextremeexample.
Ifthemountisnotlevel(anditalmostneverisperfectlylevel),repeatediterationsof
astaronthemeridianandhorizonshouldbeperformeduntilthereisnodriftatallfor
5or10minutes.However,theclosertolevelthatitis,thelessiterationswillbe
necessary.
Forthedriftmethodofpolaralignment,itisnotnecessaryforthedeclinationand
polaraxistobeexactlyatrightangles.Nordoesitmatterwheretheopticalaxisof
thescopeis.Theonlythingthatmattersincorrectpolaralignmentisthatthepolar
axisofthemountendsupparalleltotheaxisoftheEarth'srotation.

DeterminingDirectionsintheEyepiece
Thedirectionseastandwestcorrespondtotherightascensionofthemount.Ifyou
standfacingnorth,thestarsascend(orrise),toyourright,intheeast,duetothe

Earth'srotationaboutitsaxis,.Rightascension,getit?Ifyoumovethescopeinright
ascension,thestarwillmoveeastorwestintheeyepiece.
Thedirectionsnorthandsouthcorrespondtothedeclinationofthemount.Ifyou
movethemountindeclination,astarintheeyepiecewillmovenorthorsouth.
Hereistheabsolutelysimplestwaytodeterminedirectionsintheeyepiece,the
orientationoftheeyepieceanddiagonal(ifoneisused)donotmatter:
EastWest:Turnofftherightascensiondrive,thestarsdrifttothewest.
NorthSouth:Nudgethetubeindeclinationtowardsthenorth,andthestarsmove
towardsthesouthintheeyepiece.
Thedirectionsupanddowndependontheorientationoftheeyepiece,yourhead,
andthediagonalifany,andcanbecomequiteconfusing.

Step1.TheMeridianCorrectionfortheAzimuthofthePolarAxis
Inthedriftalignmentmethod,astar,roughlyattheintersectionofthemeridianand
thecelestialequator,iswatchedathighpowerinacrosshaireyepiece.The
declinationdriftherewillindicatethemount'saccuracyinitsazimuthalignment.
Themeridianisanimaginarylinethatrunsfromthenorthpointonthehorizon,
throughthezenithoverhead,tothesouthpointofthehorizon.Thelineofthe
meridianisalineofrightascension.Alllinesofrightascensionrunnorthsouth,but
onlythemeridianalsorunsthroughthezenith.Linesofrightascensionarethe
equivalentoflinesoflongitudeonaglobeoftheEarth.
Thecelestialequatoristheimaginarylinethatrunsfromeasttowestata90degree
angletothecelestialpoles.Forexample,at40degreesnorthlatitude,thecelestial
poleis40degreesabovethenorthernhorizon.Thecelestialequatoris90degrees
fromthat:onthemeridianitis130degreesabovethenorthernhorizonand50
degreesabovethesouthernhorizon.
DeclinationcorrespondstolinesoflatitudeonaglobeoftheEarth.Latitudeisthe
angulardistancenorthorsouthfromtheequator.
Thestardoesnothavetobeexactlyonthecelestialequator,itcanbeanumberof
degrees,10or20orso,northofthecelestialequatorforthiscorrection.Technically,
driftduetopolaraxismisalignmentinazimuthisindependentofthedeclinationofthe
star,butastarbetweenthezenithandcelestialequatoriseasiesttouseforpolar
alignmentpurposes.
Thecrosshairsoftheeyepiecearefirstalignedeastwestandnorthsouth.Slewthe
starathighspeedwiththetelescopecontrolsandrotatetheeyepieceuntilthestar's
movementparallelsoneofthecrosshairs.Thennotethecardinaldirectionswiththe
methoddescribedabove.
Ahighpowerwillindicateanydriftinashorteramountoftimethanalowerpower
eyepiece,sothehigherthemagnification,thebetter.
Thestarisplacedonthecrosshairthatisalignedeastwestwiththerightascension
ofthetelescope.Thestar'sdriftduetopolarmisalignmentoffthiscrosshairwill
eitherbenorthorsouth,andthisdriftismonitored.
Thestarshouldbewatchedfor510minutes,butinthebeginningoftheprocess
whenthealignmentisatitsworst,it'sdriftwillbereadilyapparentinashortamount
oftime.
Thisdriftindeclination,eithernorthorsouthintheeyepiece,willindicatewhichway
theazimuthofthepolaraxisneedstobeadjusted.
Onthemeridiancorrection,ifthestardriftsSouthoffthecrosshair,theazimuthofthepolar
axisistoofareast.Movetheazimuthofthepolaraxisofthemountinacounterclockwise
direction(tothewest).
IfthestardriftsNorth,theazimuthofthepolaraxisofthemountistoofartothewest,and
needstoberotatedclockwisetotheeast.

Recenterandmonitorthedriftandrepeatuntilthereisnodriftatallfor5minutes.
Ifthemountisgrosslyoutofpolaralignmentatthebeginningofthisprocess,itmay
takequiteawhiletozeroinwithenoughaccuracyuntilthestardoesnotdriftatall
offthelinefor5minutes.So,bepatient,andwhilelearningdriftalignmentinthe
beginningbepreparedtospendaconsiderableamountoftimepracticingand
perfectingthistechnique.
EvenwiththeexperienceIhavewiththismethod,itusuallytakesmeaboutanhour
togetreallygoodpolaralignmentwiththedriftmethod,evenafterusingapolar
alignmentscopebuiltforthemountthatget'smeprettyclosetostart.
Notethatdriftinrightascensioncanbecompletelyignored.Anydriftinright
ascensionisstrictlyafunctionofthequalityofthedriveofthemountanditsperiodic
error,andnotthepolaralignment.

Step2.TheHorizonCorrectionfortheAltitudeofthePolarAxis
Nowfindastarabout1520degreesabovetheeasternhorizon,somewhere
betweenthecelestialequatorand20degreesnorthofit.Ifyouhaveaclearhorizon,
youdon'tevenhavetochangethedeclinationofthetelescopefromwhatyouused
fortheazimuthcorrectionsimplyslewitinrightascensionandfindastar
somewhereabovetheeasternhorizon.
Starstooclosetothehorizonwillbeadverselyaffectedbydifferentialatmospheric
refractionandpoorseeing.
Astaronthewesternhorizoncanbeused,butthedirectionsgivenbelowmustthen
bereversed.
Again,alignthecrosshairseastwestandnorthsouth,andplacethestaronthe
crosshairthatrunseastwest,andwatchforitsdriftoffthelinetothenorthor
south.
Onthehorizoncorrectionforthealtitudeofthepolaraxis,ifthestardriftssouth,thepolar
axisistoolowandneedstobeelevated.
Ifthestardriftsnorth,thepolaraxisistoohighandneedstobelowered.
Recenterandmonitorthedriftandrepeatuntilthereisnodriftatallfor5minutes.
Aftercompletingthemeridianandhorizonchecks,gobacktothemeridianandcheck
itagain.
(Note:iftheeasternandwesternhorizonsareblockeditispossibletodothealtitude
adjustmentbydriftingonastarwithinabout1020degreesofPolaris,dueEastor
West.)

AShortcuttoRemembering
Icombinethesecorrectionsintooneeasytoremembersaying...
"SE",and"SL".
Whichmeans,"SouthEast",and"SouthLow".
IfthemeridianstardriftsSOUTH(thepolaraxisistoofar)EAST
And,iftheeasternhorizonstardriftsSOUTH(thepolaraxisistoo)LOW.
Wecanshortenthistojust"SEL"sincethedriftissouthinbothcasestojust.
Thiscombinesboththeazimuthandaltitudecorrectionsforthemount.Inbothcases,
allyouhavetorememberiswhattodoifthestardriftsSOUTH.

Obviously,ifthestardriftsnorth,thecorrectionisjusttheopposite.

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