Steve Ward

When you are initially setting up the mount ( you haven't specified a mount so I'm assuming a Skywatcher Go-To of one sort or other) you have to input Date , Time etc and there will also be a Timezone and Daylight saving question too. As we're now in BST (again assumimg you are in the UK) then you need to press Yes to the Daylight Saving prompt. Failure to do so will send the scope pointing 15° off your intended target ( 15° / hour rotation)

Sounds like the time input was astray , daylight saving missed maybe ... ?

I had to shrink the Stellarium screen to get it all in as the cardinal points will tell. Polaris sits about 52.5 degrees above the horizon from your location , a little over half way between the horizon and the zenith.

As it is now .....

Well that'll be your problem , Polaris can't be overhead unless you're at the North Pole ... 😏

You say in the OP " it seems as though polaris is at a higher elevation" ... how far off does it appear ?

No use getting too technical if the mount's not pointing in the right general direction.

Have you shone a torch down the hole while looking through the polarscope to check that there's not some obstruction , might need another pair of hands.

Welcome to the forum Liz. Don't take this the wrong way , but did you remove the blanking cap on the other side of the mount to the polarscope ? Another possibilty is the counterweight bar not fully extended which will block the view. Things can easily get forgotten in the dark.

The seeing has dropped off today , didn't stop me bunging another Barlow on for a close-up though , wobbles didn't warrant swapping 'scopes and cameras ...

If I recall the flashing light denotes low power , probably with the 'scope up top it's a little too much hence the solid light under no load. Flashing light indicates "approaching low vlotage threshold" .

Easiest way is to stick it on YT then post a link .

Agree regarding a possible power issue. Be VERY aware though of the polarity of the plug end if you start taking the end off or swapping the ends about to get a better fit. If you plug it in with +ve and -ve reversed you will fry the board in the mount.

Another short spell of lovely seeing today ...

And here's one of the frames I stacked , could have saved the processing time and just used this , a single JPEG straight from the camera , untouched ... ! https://astrob.in/full/4psdc0/0/?real=

One of those rare days when I collected so many great frames I was a little unsure what to do with them all ... 😆 Tal 100RS + Canon EOS 550D + 1.8x Barlow , Baader ND3.8 Imaging Film + Oiii filter. Stack of 60 frames from 137 selected from 500 shot , PIPP , AS!3 , Reg5 , Gimp.

Snap ......

Best method I've ever used that did not rely on anything too technical is Robert Vice's D.A.R.V. method of drift aligning .... https://www.cloudynights.com/articles/cat/articles/darv-drift-alignment-by-robert-vice-r2760

A very welcome but totally unexpected band of blue passed over just after midday , so out I rushed and grabbed a few ... 😛 Reasonable seeing and once I'd had a sort through I ended up with this one ...

@MartinB Ha ha ha , very funny ... 1st of June not 1st of April 😉

That's a thing of beauty Peter , I bet that brought a bit of a lump to the throat getting it back ...

@Mr Spock @Cornelius Varley Evening gents , Might I be so bold as to ask the powers that be to please pin this thread to top of the Lunar Imaging section. It takes me forever to find it on the regular occasions that I hunt for it in order to send a beginner a link. Thank you , Steve.

Quick and dirty Moon test , just curious as to what can be dragged from a few handheld frames. Canon EOS 2000D + Sigma 150-600C , handheld. 1/125sec - f6.3 - ISO 200. Stack of ten frames from a quick burst of fifty shot. Full size .... https://www.astrobin.com/full/hucd41/0/