polaris transit for uk

[skyscanner]

Hi all,

This my first time here, i`m trying to set up my new HEQ5 mount and wondered if anyone can tell me what the correct transit time for polaris is for the uk, i live in north wales.

I found this posting on YT

is this the correct method? he

goes through it too quickly lol

Polar scope reticule centering frightens me a bit also, afraid i may mess it up. Do i need to be out looking at polaris itself in order to do this or can it be done as Dion from Astronomyshed shows in his posting on YT

I knew that when i bought this set up from FLO (HEQ5 mount and Evostar 80D scope) it wasen`t going to be easy as just thowing the scope on the mount, press GOTO and start recording but diden`t realize how precise the mount itself needs to be set for accurate tracking and imaging.

Any assisstance very much appreciated,

Thanks!!

[northwalesparry]

_{Hi I live in north wales to.}

[MadAlbert]

I think he mentions PolarFinder somewhere along the line: http://myastroimages.com/Polar_FinderScope_by_Jason_Dale/

[Lonestar70]

Hi SkyScanner,

Polaris transits once every 24hrs approx but the exact time may differ for different locations.

You can find the exact times for any day using the following FREE software.

http://www.myastroimages.com/Polar_FinderScope_by_Jason_Dale/

it will also show you where the little polaris circle should be positioned (in your polarscope) at any given time on any given day.

remember... your polarscope will show an inverted image so 0hrs/2400hrs will be with the small circle at the bottom when viewed through the polarscope for any of the daily polaris transit times.

Hope this helps.

Best regards.

Sandy.

[skyscanner]

Hi SkyScanner,

Polaris transits once every 24hrs approx but the exact time may differ for different locations.

You can find the exact times for any day using the following FREE software.

http://www.myastroim..._by_Jason_Dale/

it will also show you where the little polaris circle should be positioned (in your polarscope) at any given time on any given day.

remember... your polarscope will show an inverted image so 0hrs/2400hrs will be with the small circle at the bottom when viewed through the polarscope for any of the daily polaris transit times.

Hope this helps.

Best regards.

Sandy.

Thank you for this info, very much appreciated!!

I`ve downloaded polar finder very simple and straight forward... so do i need to use the dials at all on the scope for tracking / imaging?

[Astro_Baby]

Nds, if you have a pc or smart phone with you you can just use polarfinder. I dont so I use the circles to set polaris cos its fast once you have the knack. Alternately the synscan hand set display the polar positin as a cloxk....ie after setting lattitude etc the handset will display Polaris Hour Angle and Clock Posn. hour angle is yet another way to woek out polar position. The cloxk position gives you the position of polaris as though on a xloxk face....ie if the polaris clock posn is given as 15:00 then polaris is at the 3 o clock position when looking through the polarscope.

Hopes tyats of some help.

[Galilean]

I centred my reticle using a bit of my neighbours shed.

[Lonestar70]

Hi Skyscanner,

As Astro_Baby has mentioned above, using the dials is quite easy once you get the hang of them so it is worth getting them set up correctly.

Polar finder will show you where polaris should be at any given time... the trick is rotating your RA axis to get it exactly in the right place... easy when it's at 12oclock, 3 oclock, 6 oclock and 9oclock... but not so easy when in between.

I don't actually use the dials (or the handset) since I have my HEQ5 mount connected to a laptop and control it using Ascom and EQMOD.

This has the advantage of having a built in polar alignment facility which locates the correct position for polaris (it auto rotates the RA for you) and it also gets the time from the laptop and remembers your Latitude and Longitude settings, which the SW handset doesn't.

Polar alignment using polaris only will be good enough for observation work and for picture capture of up to around 60 seconds MAX. depending upon how carefull you are with the setting.

For longer exposures you will need to refine your polar alignment using DRIFT Alignment.

Again, Ascom has a suitable solution in the form of EQalign... but there are several other programmes available for this function.

Hope this helps a bit more.

Best regards.

Sandy.

[E621Keith]

Polaris transit time differs every day, but Vixen GP type polarscope (inc. the one in HEQ5) has a mechanical calculator to calculate polaris's position.

Polaris transits in London is 1st November 0:05 UT (Southampton is around 5 minutes behind that and Bristol is around 20 minutes behind), and about 41 arcminutes from NCP in Dec.

1. Make sure the line leading from NCP to polaris is vertical

2. Dial in 1st Nov 0:05 in your polarscope RA reticle.

3. Lock the hour ring using the set screw

4. Rotate the RA until the date ring matches today's date.

5. Unlock the hour ring

6. Rotate the RA until it matches your current time in GMT/UT. It won't work if you use BST

The Polaris reticle in the polarscope is now positioned correctly. You just need to move polaris into the reticle using the alt-az knob and you've completed the polar alignment.