Celestron CG5 with goto question...

[dweller25]

Does the CG5-GT need to be accurately aligned to the pole star before using the goto or is polar alignment not necessary as with the CPC range ?

[FLO]

It does need to be polar aligned but it doesn't need to be perfect, particularly if you are not imaging.

[Whippy]

Basically what Steve said. What I do when I'm setting mine up is I just put Polaris in the middle of the hole where the polarscope should be.

Tony..

[dweller25]

Thanks guys.

[Astroman]

If you want it to find stuff with any accuracy, the better the alignment, the better the GOTO.

[Whippy]

If you want it to find stuff with any accuracy, the better the alignment, the better the GOTO.

True, but if you choose your alignment stars across the sky and not just in one hemisphere (plus one or two of calibration stars for good luck) I find it gets it pretty much spot on everytime. TBH I think that's where a few people go wrong. They choose say Deneb, Vega and Albeiro and then send the mount to M81. I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't in the FOV......

Tony..

[Stormwatch]

I attempted to align my CG5-GT a couple of nights ago and had never heard of any of the alignment stars.

Any tips on making this process easy?

[Whippy]

A good astro book showing the constellations would tell you what named stars are in what constellation. I think Stellarium shows star names too.

Tony..

[Stormwatch]

A good astro book showing the constellations would tell you what named stars are in what constellation. I think Stellarium shows star names too.

Tony..

Yeah I just had a look on Stellarium and made a list of a few stars that might be useful. They're all on the alignment star list, so I just hope they show up on the handset!

[Whippy]

Ah, just had a thought. Have a look at the back of your manual, it should show some constellations with some of the named stars on the alignment list.

Tony..