Stop motion photography is used to observe diurnal motion. Circumpolar stars close to the celestial pole move only slowly. Conversely, following the diurnal motion with the camera, to eliminate it on the photograph, can best be done with an equatorial mount, which requires adjusting the right ascension only; a telescope may have a motor to do that automatically (sidereal drive).

A specific example of stop motion photography in astronomy is photographing the solar analemma, which requires a camera to remain stationary for an entire year, with exposures taken at the same time every few days.