How to choose a star tracker for Milky Way season
The Milky Way core is above the horizon from the northern hemisphere between roughly May and September. From my latitude in Nicosia (35°N), the galactic center tops out at about 26° above the southern horizon. Low enough that Troodos at 1,700 m is worth the midnight drive, but high enough to image from anywhere with a clear southern view. If you own a camera and a lens wider than 50 mm, a star tracker is the cheapest single upgrade that turns a noisy 15-second snapshot into a clean, deep wide-field frame. I’ve spent the past few months researching them before committing to one. Here’s what the specs mean and which three models are worth comparing. ...