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Top news results for backyard astrophotography

Astronomy weather is getting worse for astrophotographers
Sunday, May 31, 2026 by Richard Harris
If you have done this long enough, you develop a feel for the difference between a bad week and a bad pattern. A bad week is clouds at new moon. It happens. A bad pattern is when the moon is right, the target is right, your gear is ready, the forecast looks passable, and then something else shows up...

ASCOM Flat Panel Buddy for Astrophotography 4-16 inch from Astro-Smart
Wednesday, April 1, 2026 by Richard Harris
When the sky gives you a steady, clean night, you do not want to spend it guessing. You do not want to hold a panel up to the scope and wonder if the brightness is right, or stop your sequence just to dial things in again. That kind of interruption breaks the rhythm of the night. That is where an...

Automatic polar alignment for telescopes just got real
Monday, January 12, 2026 by Richard Harris
Polar alignment is a nuts-and-bolts procedure - an unglamorous but unavoidable step if we want precise tracking of the night sky with our telescopes. There’s nothing particularly elegant or mysterious about it. You’re simply aligning the polar axis (RA) of your mount as accurately as pos...

ClearSky ST-17 R harmonic mount
Friday, December 5, 2025 by Richard Harris
2025 was definitely a year for harmonic drive mounts. With so many choices appearing in quick succession it is easy for a new piece of gear to slip past unnoticed, especially when the big names like ZWO, Sky-Watcher, and iOptron take up most of the space in the conversation. The ClearSky ST-17 ...
