That time a rando on a forum told me my star tracker was too small

I was out near Lake Tahoe last month trying to shoot the Andromeda Galaxy and my images kept coming out streaky. Some guy on an astrophotography Facebook group said I should swap my 80mm refractor for a smaller 50mm scope because my mount was undersized. I ignored him for two weeks and kept getting garbage results. Finally rented a 50mm lens from a camera shop and boom, crisp tracking for 3 minute exposures. My Sirius mount just couldn't handle the bigger glass. Anyone else get burned by bad gear matching?

2 comments

2 Comments

milam481mo ago

The mount is always the thing people cheap out on, I did the exact same dance with my HEQ5. Thought I could slap a 6 inch Newt on it and get away with 2 minute subs, nope, garbage every time. Once I dropped back to a 70mm quad, suddenly I'm getting data that actually stacks. Your Sirius is basically a beefy star tracker, not a proper mount for a big refractor, and the moment you put a 50mm on there it stops fighting against the wind and the backlash. That whole "buy the mount twice" thing is painfully real, except we do it with focal length instead.

hall.joel1mo ago

Ha, guilty as charged with my own "maybe it'll work" scope combos.