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Polar Aligning

Kidbriar

By Kidbriar
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Kidbriar

Kidbriar

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Hello everyone.  I've joined your forum because I think it is the best out there for information and help!   :laugh:

I'm new to astronomy and have bought a Celestron Astromaster 130EQ which I've had now for 2 weeks; I've only used it a couple of times because there haven't been many clear nights!  I've read about polar aligning my scope and I think I get the basics on why, but I have a question that please bear with me if it seems stupid or simple! 

:confused:   Okay, so my scope is polar aligned, the mount shows the altitude at 51 and I'm looking at Polaris and using the RA slow motion cable I understand I can track stars as the earth rotates, but what do I do if I want to look at a constellation that is east, west or south?  This sounds like a dumb question even to me, but if my scope is aligned and looking towards Polaris which has a dec of 90 degrees and I want to view, say, Orion which according to my planisphere is  about 5 degrees, what do I do???  Surely I don't keep my scope and tripod pointing at Polaris do I?  See, I told you it was a dumb question! :embarassed:  Do I have to adjust my altitude on the mount or just the dec wheel and RA wheel and turn my scope round to to the east?

I'm so sorry for this stupid question, but I think I've over googled this topic and am confused, but as I say, I'm really knew to astronomy and all I can find is the necessity for polar aligning my scope!   :confused:  

Any help would be greatly appreciated!     :embarrassed:  

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Purplehayze104

Purplehayze104

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Hi there

assuming you have an eq mount, you polar align mount & scope with polaris as best you can, once you think your about PA'ed,  you can release the clutches an move the scope to wherever you want to look then re-tighten an then use the slow motion control knobs to move the scope manually to follow the object of interest. 

couple of links attached that may help

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7HVDKAZ6eM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plx6XXDgf2E

clear skies

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Sandancer10

Sandancer10

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Welcome to SGL there's lots of help here so don't worry about any questions you have, we have all been there.

Once you have aligned your scope to Polaris if it is a GOTO mount you just punch in whatever you want to look at. i.e. Orion Nebula and the scope will literally go to it. Don't adjust your declination from say 51 degrees as thats where the scope starts from and how it knows where it is, also keep it pointed at Polaris. Next you need to align the scope and using your hand controller set it for 2, or better 3 stars to do this. If your Polor alignment is good it the first star shouldn't be far off.  

Now this is the tricky bit. Keep both eyes open - one looking through the viewfinder and the other on the star.  If your view finder has cross hairs move the scope using the controller toward the star until it is in the cross hair. After that you should be relatively close to the next chosen star and its a lot easier.

:smiley:

Happy stargazing 

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Kidbriar

Kidbriar

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Thank you all for replying so quickly! Sandancer10, I haven't got  GOTO mount, I thought I'd see how I go before diving in and purchasing one!

Purplehayze104, thank you for the links to You Tube; funnily enough I've seen those 2 videos before, but I think my brain was scrambled!  I've watched them again just now and it seems obvious that you move the scope that way to view what you want derrr me!!!

Cornelius Varley, again thanks for the link which I've viewed!

Hopefully tonight we have clear skies in Yorkshire and I'll be out there viewing!

One other thing, the star pointer finderscope on the Celestron 130eq seems to be rubbish.  I've tried aligning in daylight as suggested, but I can't get the 2 rings together at al!  A lot of people have commented about this and I just wonder if you have any ideas on the best one to get - one that fits the 130eq as I believe someone on Amazon bought one that said it fitted the 130, but didn't!  

Again, guys, thanks for the replies.  :smiley:

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mallorcasaint

mallorcasaint

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Just to be clear. It is the mount that is Polar Aligned not the scope. What mount do you have? If it is an EQ2 then you can PA it as best you can but it will not be very accurate without a polarscope. Once the mount is PA'd you can release the clutches and slew the scope to your target.

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Dragon Man

Dragon Man

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G'day Kid, welcome to here.

EQ mounts certainly seem confusing at first.

Is there an Astronomy Society or Club near you. Pop along with your mount and scope, and ask for a bit of help.

It will take only 2 - 3 minutes for someone to show you how to use your gear in person, and then you'll say "oh, is that all there is to it?"  :grin:

Yes, it's really easy once you are shown.

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Kidbriar

Kidbriar

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Thank you maallorcassaint.  Yes, after reading and looking at the links I've been sent, I understand it is the mount not the scope that has to be aligned.  Reading the bumf on Amazon, it is a CG-3 Equatorial mount.  I've just been out with my scope getting used to the clutches and cables and also the finder scope.  I tried aligning the scope and finder scope on an aerial about 300 years away, but what I saw in my eyepiece and finderscope didn't quite match up.  I realise this isn't a problem in daylight, but I'll have no chance trying to align a star with it!  

I wonder whether to invest in a better finderscope because I don't want to give up before I start!  If anyone has any suggestions about a finderscope, I would be very greatful  :smiley:

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Kidbriar

Kidbriar

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Dragon Man that is a great idea!  There is a local branch not far from me which meet (when there are clear skies of course!) every Friday so I'll pop along next week (away tomorrow for the weekend) and beg for help!

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Dragon Man

Dragon Man

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Dragon Man that is a great idea!  There is a local branch not far from me which meet (when there are clear skies of course!) every Friday so I'll pop along next week (away tomorrow for the weekend) and beg for help!

Excellent!

I looked up how many Astronomy Clubs are in Yorkshire and discovered you have 11.

That's a lot of help if you ever get stuck  :grin:

Good luck and enjoy  :laugh:

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Purplehayze104

Purplehayze104

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I tried aligning the scope and finder scope on an aerial about 300 years away, but what I saw in my eyepiece and finderscope didn't quite match up.  I realise this isn't a problem in daylight, but I'll have no chance trying to align a star with it!  

I wonder whether to invest in a better finderscope because I don't want to give up before I start!  If anyone has any suggestions about a finderscope, I would be very greatful  :smiley:

a lot of people tend to use a telrad, don't have one myself as ive a 50x8 finderscope on my 150p and find its quite good to align scope to but this mite help with you issue

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Kidbriar

Kidbriar

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Me again  :embarrassed: 

So I was out tonight looking at the stars as best I could anyway as I don't think I PA'd my mount very well.  However, that said, I did manage to get a good view of the moon.  I have a Celestron Astromaster 130 eq and after turning both the RA and DEC cable for about 3 hours, gazing at the stars, when I brought the tripod and mount back in to the light, the screw holding the dec slow motion cable came out of its socket!  I thought it would be just a case of screwing it back in, but I can't seem to get the screw to 'bite' and I'm loathed to try and force it.  I've tried googling the answer and searched You Tube, but all I can find is the set up, no where does it tell me what to do when the screw holding the DEC slow motion cable comes out!

If anyone has the same mount (its a cg-3 eq) and an idea on what to do, I would be really grateful!

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glowjet

glowjet

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It could well be that the screw has stripped the thread in the mount, which I believe is an alloy casting.  If the screw enters the hole almost all the way without tightening, that could be indeed the case. If it is confirmed the screw thread in the mount has failed, I should take this matter up with your supplier, as a new scope just purchased, it should be covered by the warranty :)

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Sir-Henry

Sir-Henry

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Hi Vacuum. I'm as new to this lark as your good self. However I may be able to shed a little light on the fault with the EQ mount. On mine (precise variant unknown) the slow motion screw is held in place with a tiny allen pinch bolt. Depending on model this could also act as an adjuster to align the drive screw with the cog. If that has dropped out then I'm afraid the odds of finding it again are ... astronomical. If it has merely come a little loose then you should find that inserting the correct size allen key will allow you to completely slacken it off to reinsert the screw and then retighten it just enough to keep the screw in place, correctly aligned and not too tight to use it.

On the dec front I think that 51 degrees may be bit shallow for most of Yorkshire. I live about as far South as you can and still be in Yorkshire and my lattitude is about 53.5 0

The specs of your scope are almost identical to those of my Tasco Iluminova so paralaxing the finder scope with the main scope should be much the same. The destructions for mine (downloaded from t'interweb as it came without them) indicates that you should be aiming both at a unique object - to avoid confusion - not less than a kilometre away. with a 900/1000mm focal length the greater the distance the better you eliminate the paralax. I know that the Moon may seem like a decent distance, but the awkward swine keeps moving!

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