Quote:
Originally Posted by OneCosmos
How can plate solving to do polar alignment work when the camera doing thd job is way off to the side of the mount? In my case, as I’m using a DSLR anc lens there isn’t even a finder bracket. The guidescope would be massively offset. Polemaster works because the camera is where it should be.
Chris
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In terms of polar alignment, since we are talking about aiming/aligning with The South Celestial Pole, a point which is at infinity
in optical terms, the camera does not need to be right on or at the mount's right ascension rotational axis. As long as the Right Ascension axis & the Camera's optical axis are parallel, both axes will point to the same point in space. You will see this concept used with some mounts. Take the Skywatcher EQ8 for example: It does not have a centrally mounted polar scope but can be used with a side mounted polar scope.
Best
JA