Polar Alignment

prxcz00 · Jan 7, 2026 at 11:45 AM

hey guys, ive did a bit of research beforehand but is polar alignment needed for short lunar / planetary imaging sessions? I use a SWSA GTI

I would polar align, but a rough polar alignment/daytime alignment should be okay. You can get away with not doing it, but you’ll be recentering the Moon a lot manually since it will be drifting.

If you want to perform a night quick and dirty polar alignement, you can use a laser beam aligné with RA axis , eg by laying the laser pointer along the mount dovetail. Adjust az and alt to target polaris.

Et voilà !

prxcz00 · Feb 7, 2026, 01:26 PM

alpheratz06 · Feb 5, 2026 at 07:03 PM

If you want to perform a night quick and dirty polar alignement, you can use a laser beam aligné with RA axis , eg by laying the laser pointer along the mount dovetail. Adjust az and alt to target polaris.

Et voilà ! M

Thank you!!!! I forgot to mention, im in the southern hemisphere haha

You’ll need a more powerful laser!

But seriously, it depends a lot on how long your focal length is. I think at 2000mm, for example, you’re going to have a hard time keeping the subject in the frame without a pretty careful polar alignment.