Stars rotate about 15° per hour around the celestial pole. Plan how many frames to shoot and how long your trails will be.
For stacking the frames afterwards, use the in-browser star trail stacker.
Tips
- Point north toward Polaris for circular trails; east or west for straight diagonal trails.
- Keep gaps short (≤1 s) so trails stay continuous when stacked.
- Use a 20–30 s exposure at a moderate ISO (400–1600) to keep the sky from getting too bright.
Related tools
NPF Rule & 500 Rule CalculatorMilky Way PlannerStar Trail Length CalculatorAstrophotography Stacking CalculatorAstrophotography Image Scale CalculatorSQM to Bortle ConverterMeteor Shower Rate CalculatorAurora Kp Latitude CalculatorMoon Size in Photo Calculator
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