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To answer your question regarding your scope's suitability for AP; there are
three distinct reasons.
Firstly, GOTO tracking is intended solely to keep your
target in view for extended periods of time, and is nowhere near accurate enough to keep stars stationary for exposures of more than a very short time, seconds rather than minutes.
Secondly, as stated by Martin, a phenomenon known as field rotation rears
its ugly head after 15-30 seconds, and distorts your stars. This is a feature
of alt/az mounts.
Thirdly, alt/az mounts have to track the target by moving in discrete tiny
up/down [alt] and sideways [az] steps using two motors, whereas an
EQ mount mimics the Earth's rotation, and a motor running continuously in the opposite direction to the Earth's rotation keeps the target stationary, with only occasional little corrections by the second motor needed to correct for any inaccuracy in the mount's polar alignment, and imperfections in the motor drive system.
raymo
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