Planetary Observing - auto track or manual nudge

[scarp15]

I know that this topic has emerged in one form or another quite a few times, yet in a few weeks, I would expect that many of us will probably be pointing our telescopes up at Jupiter.

I used to use an 8" SCT for planetary observing and I appreciated the rudimentary Right Ascension tracking (1990's model), when combined with with the slow mo controls, seemed to frame the subject nicely for a reasonable length of time. My attitude changed a little to this when I began to use a 12" Dobsonian, with wide field eyepieces, I enjoyed the planetary target slowly drifting across the field of view and got into the rhythm of nudging. I continued to enjoy this aspect since using a 14" Dobsonian and now use ultra wide as well as wide field e.p's. 

I can appreciate that with a Mak or SCT in particular, tracking might be preferable unless, as with any scope for that matter, the scope is set up on a simple alt/az mount for a shorter duration 'grab and go' session or highly portable, such as for a family camping trip session. I can also appreciate that tracking in any scope would be preferred if the subject was to be sketched or possibly the purpose was to be set up for an out reach event, sharing the view with many others. Therefore at least for a dobsonian, an equatorial tracking platform might be an option - if the additional height gain isn't too much of a problem.  

Just wondered what your own approach is for planetary observing.

[Moonshane]

I pretty much agree with your stance Iain. I don't mind the nudge and drift approach for observing anything really but when sketching it can become slightly tiresome as you are balancing a lot of elements (pad, torch, star map, pencils etc). One exception is my 6" f11 dob which is so spindly that every nudge takes a little while to settle. so much so that I made an equatorial platform for it to reduce the number of nudges. I really appreciate the tracking on this scope and it often allows very high mags for e.g. double stars (sometimes 400x or more).

[Dude_with_the_tube]

for planetary, tracking mount is a clear winner for me as i use orthoscopic eye pieces with narrow FOV and as such i want the object be centered all the time so i can squeeze out maximum detail.

[Scooot]

I don't mind nudging for a short while but if it's a dedicated planetary session I prefer to use my platform. I've only recently started sketching and I agree with Shane, it's a pain without tracking so now I always use my platform when sketching.

[John]

I did try an equatorial platform for a while with my 12" dob and it did work pretty well for high power viewing. I've reverted back to nudging now though and don't find it much of a chore to be honest. I use a range of eyepieces with 100 to 40 degree AFoV's for high power viewing and the wider ones do mean less nudging and more drift time of course.

I've spent 2-3 hours at high power under good conditions on the planets, Moon and binary stars and enjoyed every minute of it. Shane did a great job on my dob mount though - it's very smooth and stable even at 300x plus

[timwetherell]

Having used various mounts, personally I'm a fan of tracking.

(1) It allows you a wider choice of eyepieces some of which are excellent for planetary viewing but have very narrow FoV like monocentrics

(2) You can keep the planet centred and wait for the few moments of exceptional seeing that occur every now and again which probably will occur right as you nudge!

(3) I like to sketch at the eyepiece and that's a whole lot easier without nudging.

(4) Wobble doesn't tend to be a Dob problem but with refractors there's often a couple of seconds of shake till the mount steadies after each nudge, so again track is my preference.

But I don't think there are rights and wrongs, whatever gives you most viewing enjoyment is the way to go

[Telescope40]

Track, Track not Nudge, Nudge for me.  say no more !  LOL     My Skytee has Slo Mo controls too but each to your own, of course.

John