Let’s say you are imaging at Midnight October 31st, in Time Zone 0 in Greenwich (LSTM=0°), and that you want to image the Pleiades. My heaviest configuration includes a 300mm lens, the camera, and a guiding system built around the ZWO Asiair. The better you polar align your mount, the longer you can expose the sky while still getting pin-point sharp stars for the best image quality. The concept of Polar Aligning an equatorial mount such as the Star Adventurer. How To polar Align In The Southern Hemisphere

The mount body is the workhorse of the Star Adventurer 2i. It contains the integrated polarscope, control selection knob and various ports, yet is quite lightweight and can be used when it’s attached directly to a tripod – with latitude adjustment done via the tripod’s tilt head – or with the supplied equatorial wedge. Equatorial wedge Finally, your sky has cleared up, and you are under the stars with your new mount. What to do next? Under the stars with the Star Adventurer.Features include an integral illuminated polar scope for precise alignment, interfaces for USB, autoguider, optional SynScan hand controller and SNAP shutter control for your DSLR (programmable via Sky-Watcher’s free SynScan Pro app for iOS and Android). It also features a dual-position counterweight bar for use at low latitudes and full smartphone control via Wi-Fi.

You can see the short dovetail I’ve fastened my camera lens collar to here. A small mounting plate with a ¼” thread to fasten a camera body (like the one included with the original Star Adventurer and 2i) was not included in the production copy Sky-Watcher sent me, so just a heads up there. Astrokraken sells a neat 3D printed scale for the Fine-Tuning Mounting Assembly of the Star Adventurer. The Astrokraken Declination Settings Circle for the Star Adventurer. Image Credits: Astrokraken.

Helpful Tips and Advice

Ready to level up your astrophotography game? The Star Adventurer 2i is your stepping stone to greatness. This mount offers an enhanced payload capacity and features while maintaining portability. Capture the Milky Way, star clusters, and nebulae with ease. The SynScan app ensures precise control and alignment, simplifying the process of capturing long-exposure images without star trails. The 2i is tailor-made for those keen on advancing their skills and capturing more intricate details of the night sky.