Help I am puzzled , My equatorial mount .

[Shane80]

I have a Equatorial mounted scope which I have read lots of information about the starting position followed with aligning the scope with the celestial pole.

I understand the movement circles in which the scope can track the star's rotating around the celestial pole , and by doing all this in the correct alignment and adjustment I can now move the scope to the direction of the Night Sky Object that I want to view, and by using the slow control's I can now track the object moving in the Sky.

But I can not for the life of me work out how to follow the Planet's using the Equatorial mount in the same way I track the star's.

Can anyone Help my thick head of mine to understand how to use my mount correctly?? Sorry for the silly question:iamwithstupid:

Shane

[lukebl]

For all intents and purposes, the planets move at the same rate as the stars, so you just track them as you would the stars. They DO move in relation to the stars, but not sufficiently fast for you to really notice in a general evening's observation.

[NGC 1502]

Hi Shane, not a silly question at all.

As Luke has said, if you have set up your scope to track a star, then you should be ok tracking a planet too.

Please come back for more if you need to.

Regards, Ed.

[Shane80]

Thank you both for your answers.

I thought the Planets and Satellites move across the sky the same way as our Sun rises and sets. I have really confused myself lol.

Thanks

Shane

[brantuk]

Polar alignment is the key thing here - just point it magnetic north and set the elevation to your latitude and you'll be good to track in RA with odd tweaks in Dec. But don't move the whole setup around or you'll have to redo the alignment.

When you get the hang of that then you can refine your polar alignment technique and get it more accurate

Oh in Stellarium you can show the ecliptic - that's the path the planets follow - the sun is on a slightly different path to that of the planets

[Shane80]

Thank you brantuk,

So I don't need to use the scope in the azimuth direction to track the Planets?

I will try not to bother anyone again with this question. I Just can't work out how I can track an object in the Sky that moves in a ecliptic . I have been moving my telescope for hours in every possible way . I need someone to show me how it works.

I am sorry to be a pain

Shane

[brantuk]

Nope - not azimuth - once you set the azimuth and altitude they have to remain constant throughout the session and the tripod firmly planted where it is. Also ensure the tripod is level before you place the mount on it - a spirit level will be good enough.

Once that is set up you should be pleasantly surprised to have only one axis to track with (RA) and the slo mo cable will work effectively. The object may slowly go up/down in the eyepiece every few mins so a tiny tweak on the Dec cable will be needed,

[Nova]

Have you tried running a search in youtube? I suspect once you have seen it done coupled with the information shown on here it will all click into place. From memory there are some good vids on youtube for setting up and using an EQ mount

[malc-c]

Shane, If you think logically, the nearest body, the Moon is tracking at a different rate to the stars which is why we get the phases and a full moon is seen (clouds permitting) every 28 days. Yet for the course of an observing session it will seem static against the backdrop of stars. The same can be said for the planets, in that each night their position against the backdrop of stars their position will of changed, but at the time of observing everything is effectively apparently moving westwards at the same time.

In order to follow the planets and stars in the telescope with an EQ mount the mount needs to be polar aligned. This means that you try to align the RA axis of the telescope as close as you can with the Earths polar axis, then with that axis fixed, release the clutches on the axis of both RA and DEC and locate the target. Once found, lock both clutches. Now you should only need to adjust the RA axis to counteract the Earths rotation and keep the target centred in the eyepiece. If your scope has a motor drive, it's gearing will be such that when engaged it will do this for some time before needing any further adjustment, which depending on how accurate the alignment was, and how good the telescope drive is, could be a good hour or more under a medium powered eyepiece.

Hope that helps

[Shane80]

A Big Thank you to all your reply's!!

You all have helped out my confused head of mine to a very confident equatorial user ;-)

Shane