How To Use A Wedge For Astrophotography

This is the video I wish I had seen when I first tried to set up a wedge. I go over the key concepts you need to know in order to understand and use a wedge properly for astrophotography, including the Meridian, Celestial Equator, Polar Alignment, Wedge Angle, and Leveling Your Mount. I talk a bit about the Celestron wedge as well.

Update: I've been thinking a lot about the mount rotation in the z-axis. In fact I had several edits of this video where I pointed out that you actually could compensate for horizontal tilt in most cases. Here's an example of an extreme case: you are at latitude 10 North, and your mount is tilted to the side by 10 degrees. In order to properly line up to the Earth's axis, you would have to turn your mount 90 degrees and set your wedge to 0. Same situation in the North Pole? There is no combination of adjustments to declination or azimuth which would make your wedge plane perpendicular to True North. However, if you are somewhere between the Equator and either pole, and your tilt is slight, then you could compensate by rotating your mount (azimuth) and adjusting your declination angle. The biggest problem with this is that if your mount is tilted, then you are no longer adjusting in one dimension / direction when you make declination adjustments. Every adjustment up or down also slightly shifts your orientation left and right, making alignment a real headache. Please level your mount side to side before you start! #astrophotography #wedge

Thanks for watching, and clear skies!