---
title: "When plate solving fails or can't find the target"
canonical: https://stackingstarlight.com/troubleshooting/plate-solve
description: "If your software can't solve the image — \"no match,\" wrong position, or it never converges — the solver almost always lacks one of three things: the right **scale**, a usable **star field**, or the correct **index data**. Work through them in order."
---

# When plate solving fails or can't find the target

> If your software can't solve the image — "no match," wrong position, or it never converges — the solver almost always lacks one of three things: the right **scale**, a usable **star field**, or the correct **index data**. Work through them in order.

## 1. Triage the failure

- **"No solution / no match"** → scale or index-file mismatch (most common). Keep reading.
- **Solves but to the wrong place** → bad initial coordinates or a flipped/mirrored image.
- **Solves then GoTo lands off-target** → sync/centering or mount-model issue, not the solver.

## 2. Diagnose and fix

- **Set the pixel scale right.** Give the solver your real **arcsec/pixel** (from camera pixel size +
  focal length, including reducer/barlow). A wrong scale is the #1 cause of failed solves; a generous
  scale *range* helps blind solves.
- **Give it enough stars.** Too short an exposure or heavy light pollution yields too few detectable
  stars. Lengthen the solve exposure, focus first (a wildly out-of-focus frame won't solve), and
  avoid solving on the Moon or thick cloud.
- **Install the right index files** for your field of view (small FOV needs the finer index series).
  Missing/wrong-scale indexes make blind solves fail outright.
- **Handle flips/binning:** make sure image orientation/binning matches what the solver expects, and
  feed approximate RA/DEC to enable a fast nearby solve instead of a full blind search.

## 3. Verify

A good solve returns plausible RA/DEC, scale, and rotation matching your setup. After a sync, confirm
a GoTo centers the target — if it solves but doesn't center, that's a mount/sync issue, not the
solver.

## When it isn't the solver

If frames won't solve because stars are bloated or distorted, fix imaging first — see
[holding focus](/troubleshooting/focus-drift) and
[distorted star shapes](/troubleshooting/collimation).

---

How plate solving works: [plate solving explained](/equipment/plate-solve).

---

Source: [https://stackingstarlight.com/troubleshooting/plate-solve](https://stackingstarlight.com/troubleshooting/plate-solve) · Part of [Stacking Starlight](https://stackingstarlight.com) by Michael Kalika.

LLM resources: [LLM index (llms.txt)](https://stackingstarlight.com/llms.txt) · [Complete LLM text (llms-full.txt)](https://stackingstarlight.com/llms-full.txt) · [Markdown homepage (index.md)](https://stackingstarlight.com/index.md)