Before a star tracker can work properly, it has be polar aligned. Polar alignment is the process of pointing the rotation axis of the star tracker to the South (or North) Celestial Pole, which is the point in the sky directly above the earth’s geographic south pole. All stars rotate around this point, so when the star tracker also points here, it can accurately track the stars as they move.

Pointing your tracker to the Celestial Pole is not entirely easy, but a polar scope can make it simple. In the Southern Hemisphere, all you need to do is rotate the polar scope and adjust the wedge to align the four stars in Octantis with the reticle.

The polar scope illuminator included with this kit screws to the side of the polar scope, illuminating the reticle from the side, which is a significant improvement over illumination from the front. Illuminating the polar scope’s reticle this way does not overwhelm the dim stars, making them easier to observe. The brightness of the red light is adjustable using the top knob.