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Saturday 13 March 2021

Still struggling with GPS!

All the higher-end Pentax DSLRs have a built in 'Astrotracer' function: when supported by a GPS unit that plugs into the flash hot shoe, the camera (set on 'Bulb', of course) can move the sensor to follow the movement of celestial objects. Theoretically, you can use exposures as long as five minutes, but I had another bash at a few bright objects (the Plough and Orion) and found that even with just a 20 second exposure, the stars still trailed. I must be doing something wrong...

I did manage some reasonable shots of Orion and the Plough with a 10 second exposure: you can see the twin stars Alcor & Mizar in the Bear's 'tail' and in close up...



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