A few bad attempts lol

[Psychobilly]

Definitely get a Spirit level to the mount.... get a decent one... circualr bubble ones are ok for initial alignment but a decent straight level is better for accurately checking...

Sprit levels come in a range of different sensitivities....

Billy...

[Milliways]

Do i have to align the scope to track objects? If i get polaris centered as much as possible and i just point and shoot, would that work?

[Milliways]

Right I had another go tonight at got 14 images at 30sec exposure and 1600ISO.

Stacked em and this is what i got. (alignment alot better )

http://ukastronomers.com/milliways/image/11440_normal.jpeg

[Psychobilly]

Perseverance will usually pay of in the end ... Your Getting there

As your finding out for long exposure Astrophotography at long focal lenghts everything has to be spot on....

Or you cheat and autoguide... which basically closes the loop on the moutn control using another camera and OTA or an off axis guider to provide feedback thus correcting for errors...

The main thing is are you still enjoying the challenge...

Billy...

[Milliways]

Perseverance will usually pay of in the end ... Your Getting there

As your finding out for long exposure Astrophotography at long focal lenghts everything has to be spot on....

Or you cheat and autoguide... which basically closes the loop on the moutn control using another camera and OTA or an off axis guider to provide feedback thus correcting for errors...

The main thing is are you still enjoying the challenge...

Billy...

Hehe yeah I used the method explaned by RichieJarvis, i centered on polaris and spun the scope, adjusted the mount till polaris was still (ish) and away i went, didn't bother to align cuz i was just after the M42 again.. Looking through the Ep was awsome too cuz it was especially clear last night for me, I could see most of the nebula, Awsome experiance!

I am definately getting better though.. I cant wait for my remote to arive so i can start taking much longer exposures.

Can you explane how you can cheat for me anything to help :mrgreen:

Gettin hooked just waiting for my next fix hehe

[Milliways]

Had another go with GIMP and got some better results