setting circles

[fireball61]

where should the right ascension setting circle be set when pointing at the pole star........iot seems it should be 0 but i think thats not true.......the starting point is  at the summer solstice......but where is that....it seems that pointing north it should be some number added or subtracted  to that.....iam i seeing things wrong or confused about something???? thanks......ted.....

[pipnina]

According to Wikipedia, Polaris has a Right Ascention of 02^h 31^m 49.09^s . However, if you intend to line your RA with a star to look at a different object I would use a different one (e.g. regulus, betelgeuse, procyon, altair etc) since they are a distance away from the poles (in terms of Declination) and are very bright.

Although, it seems like you may be confusing Right Ascention with Declination, since right ascention goes around the celestial equator (0h to 23^h 59^m 59^s and declination goes from pole to pole, (+90 to -90) and the northern or southern pole wouldn't have a Right Ascention at all, however, since polaris is not quite at the norhtern pole, it has a right ascention and a declination.

[fireball61]

no i wasnt speaking of declination and your answe seems to suffice.....thank you.....incedently sky is terrible here right now [lipscomb al...usa]...ted

[DemosL]

When I got my first telescope in 1969 I had to compute hour angles by subtracting the RA of an object from the siderial time. Many years later, I just would find a bright star or other known object and I would enter the RA directly on the RA setting circle. Then, if I was looking for another object, I can then move the scope the the approximate RA and declination to find that object. Once I centered the object, I would readjust the RA circle, since it would have been off due to the Earth's rotation.