Review

Astrophotography: First NINA Plate Solve Success

  • Updated December 13, 2025
  • Nanami Narita
  • 49 comments

After countless hours spent manually aligning my telescope and locating targets, I finally mastered NINA well enough to automate the process. The software slewed to the target, performed plate solving, made fine adjustments, and ultimately centered the object perfectly—a truly magical moment following many failed attempts and considerable frustration. Until now, most of my imaging sessions were consumed by alignment and tracking challenges, often requiring awkward positioning to peer through the spotting scope. I’m incredibly grateful for NINA and plan to support the project financially now that I’ve experienced its capabilities firsthand.

With alignment no longer a barrier, I can focus on improving my imaging skills. However, I’ve encountered a new issue: a noticeable amount of dust or lint has appeared somewhere in the image train. For those with experience, what do you recommend for cleaning optical glass, such as on a Celestron 8SE? Is there a specific type of lint-free cloth or towel that you keep on hand for this purpose?

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49 Comments

  1. I remember that exact feeling when my first plate solve finally worked—it’s like the telescope suddenly gained a mind of its own! I also went from spending most of my night on alignment to actually collecting data. For your dust issue, I’ve had good results with a rocket blower first, then using pre-moistened Zeiss lens wipes for stubborn spots on my corrector; what’s your image train setup like?

    1. Thanks for sharing that—it’s amazing how plate solving transforms the whole experience from a chore to something that feels like magic! My image train is a DSLR with a field flattener, and I’ve been using a basic blower, but I’ll definitely try those Zeiss wipes for the tougher spots on the corrector. Let me know how it goes if you give that a shot, and I’d love to hear any other tips you’ve picked up along the way.

  2. That moment when plate solving finally clicks is such a relief—I remember spending a whole night just trying to find the Dumbbell Nebula manually before my software cracked it. Your point about now being able to focus on imaging instead of alignment is exactly where I hope to be soon. What’s your go-to first target now that the process is automated?

    1. I remember those long nights of manual searching too—finally landing on the Dumbbell Nebula must have felt incredible! Now that alignment is automated, I’m starting with brighter, larger targets like the Andromeda Galaxy to really dial in my exposure settings without the added pressure. If you’re looking for a great first automated target, I’d suggest the Orion Nebula; it’s wonderfully bright and offers lots of detail to practice on. Let me know what you decide to image first!

  3. That moment when plate solving finally clicks is such a relief—I remember spending a whole night just trying to find the Dumbbell Nebula manually before my software cracked it. Your point about now being able to focus on imaging instead of alignment really hits home. For the dust, I’ve had good luck with a rocket blower first, then those pre-moistened Zeiss lens wipes for camera lenses; what’s your current cleaning method?

    1. I remember those long nights of manual searching too—finally nailing that plate solve feels like unlocking a whole new hobby. For the dust, I’ve been using a rocket blower as my first line of defense, which handles most loose particles without contact; for anything stubborn, I’m planning to try those Zeiss wipes you mentioned. Let me know how your next imaging run goes after a clean-up!

  4. I remember that exact feeling when my first plate solve finally worked—it’s like the telescope suddenly gained a mind of its own after all those nights of manual struggle. Your point about finally being able to focus on imaging instead of alignment really hits home; I went through the same shift and suddenly noticed every speck of dust on my sensor. For cleaning my optics, I’ve had good results with a rocket blower first, then using pre-moistened Zeiss lens wipes in a pinch—what’s your usual method for tackling dust on the 8SE’s corrector plate?

    1. That moment when the plate solve clicks and the scope just “gets it” is absolutely transformative, isn’t it? For the 8SE’s corrector plate, I’m religious about using a rocket blower only—I never touch the glass directly unless absolutely necessary, as it’s surprisingly easy to accidentally push dust into the edges. If the blower isn’t enough, I’d love to hear if your Zeiss wipes method works on that large, exposed surface without leaving streaks.

  5. I remember that exact feeling when my first plate solve finally worked—it’s like the telescope suddenly gained a mind of its own! Your point about finally being able to focus on imaging instead of alignment really hits home. I’ve also battled dust spots; for my SCT, I’ve had good results with a rocket blower first, then using pre-moistened Zeiss lens wipes for any stubborn marks. What’s the first deep-sky target you’re planning to image with your new automated setup?

    1. That feeling of the telescope gaining a mind of its own is the perfect way to describe it—such a relief! My first target is actually the Orion Nebula; it feels fitting to start with something iconic now that the tech is working. Thanks for the cleaning tip; I’ll definitely try the rocket blower first before anything else. Let me know how your next imaging run goes!

  6. After struggling for several nights to get the SynScan app working properly with my Sky-Watcher mount, I quickly realized how frustrating this could be for newcomers. I’m glad I switched to NINA instead. I’d rather invest time in learning a more complex platform like NINA that actually functions well, rather than dealing with the often unreliable apps provided by mount manufacturers.

    For your next upgrade, consider getting a mini PC and running it via remote desktop or with a portable monitor. This approach is more practical than relying on a laptop that only lasts two hours on battery.

    1. If you’re using a mini PC or operating your telescope with a Windows machine, install Windows Update Blocker and enable it before imaging. Windows updates have disrupted my imaging sessions multiple times.

    2. The key to SynScan is using the automatic alignment feature to resync the mount position. Be sure to enter your location and elevation as accurately as possible, as this significantly improves performance.

      1. It also keeps crashing during star alignment. I quickly learned that reliability is crucial in astrophotography—I can’t use an unreliable setup and waste time troubleshooting during clear skies.

        NINA has been a huge help. Its polar alignment doesn’t produce star trails, whereas my manual attempts have been inconsistent.

    3. In addition to his excellent NINA tutorials, Chad (PatriotAstro on YouTube) has a great tutorial on setting up a mini PC for imaging that allows it to recover smoothly when Windows inevitably crashes.

  7. Congratulations on plate solving! It’s truly a game changer.

    For cleaning your 8SE, you probably have dust, lint, or pollen on the corrector plate. As someone else mentioned, a bulb blower is a good start. You could also use a camera lens brush to gently flick off larger dust spots before blowing. Corrector plates have special coatings, so smudges and fingerprints can be tricky to remove.

    For stubborn spots on optics, I recommend First Contact Polymer. However, minor dirt like dust or pollen usually isn’t a concern. Flat frames during calibration will handle those, and cleaning always involves weighing the risk against the potential improvement.

  9. It’s such a great feeling! When the full moon approaches, don’t waste your time—keep imaging and learning your system. Troubleshooting is much easier and less frustrating under a bright moon than when you have a perfect sky and a faint target.

  11. ASTAP is supposed to be a nearly foolproof plate solver, but it has never worked properly for me. Despite trying it on two laptops with three Windows installations, and using both Astrophotography Tool and NINA, it only worked about half the time.

    I switched to All Sky Plate Solver, and it started working immediately. It’s amazing to watch the rig effortlessly slew to the exact spot in the sky.

      1. I’ve struggled with ASTAP on both of my setups. When using APT with a Nikon 610, I tried adjusting the focal length and view settings, but it only worked occasionally.

        Even after switching to a dedicated astro camera, the ASI2600MC, and using NINA to automatically feed the camera and scope settings to ASTAP, it still didn’t perform well.

        I’ve exhausted all options—reinstalling the software, checking database settings, changing laptops, reinstalling Windows, and switching from APT to NINA. I’ve now moved to All Sky Plate Solver, which works reliably for me.

        1. While this may not apply to you specifically, it’s worth noting for anyone reading this thread that most issues with ASTAP stem from incorrect settings within the program itself. Even when using ASTAP through NINA, it’s important to verify these settings directly in ASTAP by testing different configurations.

          Given that you’re using a Redcat 61, which typically doesn’t require such adjustments, this is somewhat surprising. I’ve usually seen these problems arise with very long focal length telescopes or poorly collimated Newtonians, where star detection parameters tend to be the root cause.

    2. I use four scopes and three computers, and ASPS has worked across all of them.

      To get ASTAP working as a blind solver, I set binning to 2×2 and changed the download setting from zero to one. However, ASPS rarely needs assistance.

    3. It’s amazing when it works. I used to spend 95% of my time—often two hours or more—just aligning and finding targets, especially since I live in a Bortle 9 area.

      1. My recent breakthrough was discovering the advanced sequencer in NINA. Last time I was out, I just polar aligned the scope and pressed play on the sequence. NINA handled everything automatically, which really takes the heroic, against-all-odds effort out of the process.

        1. I was hesitant about being so hands-off, but I’ve come to really appreciate it. There’s already plenty to manage with equipment maintenance, organization, setup, teardown, gathering the right gear, and working around weather and schedule constraints. It doesn’t need to be any more challenging.

          That said, I still believe it’s important to learn the traditional methods so you can manage when automation fails.

    4. If ASTAP fails to plate solve, it’s often due to an incorrect focal length setting. This can occur if you switch telescopes and the previous focal length is still applied, or if a reducer or flattener is used with incorrect back focus, altering the effective focal length.

      1. Even after switching to an ASI2600MC and NINA, which feeds data directly to ASTAP, the results were inconsistent. I’ve tried multiple rounds of troubleshooting, including reinstalling everything on a new laptop.

        I’m not sure why ASTAP doesn’t work properly, but as long as All Sky Plate Solver is reliable, I’ll continue using that instead.

      2. ASTAP worked well for me on the first try. I followed Cuiv the Lazy Geek’s setup video for NINA and entered the correct focal length. You may also need to download the appropriate star database installer—options include D50 or D80. The one I selected has performed excellently with my setup. Others might be encountering issues if they haven’t chosen the correct database.

  14. I’m curious about the goto capabilities of your Skywatcher EQ5 Pro mount. Does it not center objects, and why do you need plate solving? How far off is the goto?

    I ask because I have an iOptron HAE29EC mount and don’t use plate solving. I only use the hand paddle to go to objects. I input the latitude and longitude, polar align using a skyeye cam—which takes about five minutes and results in alignment within a couple of arc-minutes. Then I tell the mount to go to a known easy object. It’s usually close, within the field of view. I select sync to target, center the object with the hand paddle, and hit enter. The sync computes the offset and applies it to future positions. After that, I can select any target and the system goes there, with the target centered every time in my experience (using a 600mm lens with an APS-C sensor, giving a 2.13 x 1.42 degree field of view). I can go from setup to imaging in about 10 minutes or less, with no external computers or laptop, and run for several nights on a single 100 W-hr USB battery plus the camera battery.

    1. I used SynScan Pro with a three-star alignment, which worked well and tracked perfectly once set up. However, aligning was time-consuming and often physically difficult or impossible due to visibility issues in the finder scope. Plate solving is much faster, easier, and extremely accurate—truly painless.

      My first mount was a Nexstar 8SE, and using the hand controller was an awful experience. Since I was new to astronomy, I didn’t realize the mount was defective and blamed myself, nearly giving up after months of frustration. Even after repairs, it remained unreliable. Switching to the EQ5 made all the difference—it worked perfectly on the first try, and I felt both amazed and relieved. I won’t use the Nexstar mount again after that difficult experience.

      1. I’m confused because you mentioned it worked on the first try here, but your original post described a much more difficult process. My question was specifically about the EQ5’s go-to accuracy using the hand paddle.

        1. I wasn’t clear earlier. My point was that I finally figured out how to properly set up my new equipment and have NINA handle plate solving and go-to functions.

          My only experience with hand paddles was with the Nexstar SE, which I associate with immense frustration. My initial struggles involved the Nexstar SE mount with its hand paddle and a DSLR that couldn’t stream images to my laptop, making it impossible to use NINA for imaging or plate solving. Everything had to be done manually, which was extremely tedious.

          I recently upgraded to a better mount and a dedicated astronomy camera (SV405CC) while keeping the same Celestron 8SE OTA. This provided a double quality-of-life improvement through both the superior mount and camera.

          I’ve never used a hand paddle with the Skywatcher mount.

  15. I remember that feeling the first time plate solving worked and you realize your go-to will always be accurate.

    If you think that’s impressive, wait until you try Three Point Polar Alignment. It uses the same plate solving technology to make polar alignment much simpler.

    For cleaning lenses, I recommend Baader Optical Wonder. However, if your flats show dust spots, it’s more likely to be on the sensor surface. In that case, try gently blowing on it first.

      1. You can plate solve from your own images by loading one from a previous session, which lets you return to exactly where you left off. This is especially useful for collecting more data on a target, even years later. If you’ve already set up a specific composition or rotation, you can resume right where you were.

          1. In the framing assistant, set the data source to “from file” to access a file selector. Load last night’s image to plate solve it and position the framing rectangle with the correct rotation at that location. Slew the telescope to go to the same position. Then, use “get camera rotation” to perform another plate solve and display the camera rotation. Adjust the camera to match the rotation from the previous night.

            For additional functionality, if you have a rotator set to manual, it will calculate the angle difference between the current camera position and the required position, showing how many degrees you need to rotate.

  18. Congratulations on your first successful plate solve and automatic go-to! A handheld blower used by photographers can be a great tool for keeping your equipment clean.

  19. To address dust or lint in your imaging train, you should take calibration frames, particularly flats. Dust on the objective isn’t a major issue, but dust on the sensor can be problematic if not corrected with flats.

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