Appreciation post: the night my $60 mount lost the plot at Red Rock Canyon and a stranger saved my shot

Adam Davis · 2026-10-09T11:15:03.728057+00:00

Back in 2019 I drove out to Red Rock Canyon near Las Vegas with my old Orion SkyView Pro, and about 20 frames into a shot of Andromeda the tracking just died on me. I sat there in the dark messing with the gears for 40 minutes before a guy parked two spots over walked over and showed me my polar alignment was off by a couple degrees. He let me borrow his little green laser to realign, and I ended up getting 90 usable frames by 2am. Has anyone else had a mount quit mid session like that, and did you figure it out on the spot or just pack up?

SMM Buzz

Loading…

Appreciation post: the night my $60 mount lost the plot at Red Rock Canyon and a stranger saved my shot | Astronomy Photos - SMM Buzz