I've lost polaris.

[MARS1960]

Stupid question from someone who should know better by now but i think this is why i have had issues with tracking in the past.

When i look at stellarium (it's  set to my location) and set the time to 10pm it shows polaris should be at around the 5 o'clock position.

When i look at the four reticules on polarfinder download and click world icon and put in my latitude (1.22.36) it shows polaris at around the 10 o'clock position, i'm  totally confused as to which is correct.

Please help, we have a lovely clear night again.

 

[Stub Mandrel]

Your polarscope shows the image rotated by 180 degrees (usually described as flipped vertically and horizontally, but I find rotated easier to understand).

Stellarium will show you the view as it is, unless you have told it to flip the view.

[MARS1960]

Thanks Neil, so for the complete idiot which is correct? do i adjust my RA so the little circle is at 10 o'clock or 5 o'clock.

[Davey-T]

The opposite to position in Stellarium if your scope jut reverses things.

Dave

[MARS1960]

Thanks Dave, NGC6888 here we come .

[geordie85]

Can you not see the plough or cassiopia? They will tell you exactly where the little circle should be.

No need for apps

[glowjet]

You should never lose Polaris visually, the pointer stars of Ursa Maj ( The Plough ) should draw your eye to its exact position in the sky as it is fairly bright. A little practice and you will be able to locate it in an instant, every time you look at the night sky

[geordie85]

2 minutes ago, glowjet said:

You should never lose Polaris visually, the pointer stars of Ursa Maj ( The Plough ) should draw your eye to its exact position in the sky as it is fairly bright. A little practice and you will be able to locate it in an instant, every time you look at the night sky

Unfortunately it would seem, in this technological day and age, people don't want to know things. They just want / use the "app for that".

[Charic]

4 hours ago, geordie85 said:

.....see the plough or cassiopia? They will tell you exactly...........

Almost the limit/boundary of my field of view from my back garden( due to structures, trees, street lighting  ect, but I have the shortest atmospheric conditions to deal with ! )  here at 57N, but  for me, as Polaris is not the brightest Star up there,  in my Zenith, its  the most lonely Star!
 

Glowjet.......like many folk, you seem to find Polaris  fairly bright! ( not arguing) we struggle sometimes here, due to the local conditions,  but  by using the guiding Stars of Ursa Major, I/we do find it, but as stated above, for me, Its  more  due to its remoteness from the surrounding stars, that makes it  stand out better. Could just be my eyes, yet several folk  here  mention  "not very bright"? expecting it to be as bright as a Christmas card?

[Stub Mandrel]

2 hours ago, geordie85 said:

Unfortunately it would seem, in this technological day and age, people don't want to know things. They just want / use the "app for that".

The OP can find polaris, but is unsure whether Polarfinder or Stellarium is giving the right position for the circle in his polarscope. the answer is Polarfinder is right.

[Alien 13]

An observation I have made is that the view through a polarscope when its realy dark makes polaris a pig to find sometimes there are just too many stars, the easy fix it to do it at dusk or turn up the illuminator brightness to drown out everything else.

I think there is an option to invert the view in stellarium but the polar finder app is far better and can simulate your particular reticule.

Alan

[ronin]

14 hours ago, geordie85 said:

Can you not see the plough or cassiopia? They will tell you exactly where the little circle should be.

No need for apps

The "older" reticules in the Polar Scopes used to included one or both of these so that you lined up on both effectively. Then they removed both and the user is left with a circle where Polaris has to sit on but otherwise the reticule is blank. So now you need an app to polar align, or a handset that displays where Polaris should be on the polar scope. In effect an app on the scope.

Might be an option to get an older style reticule.

To really confuse matters the new ones may have a southern hemisphere constellation on them (forget which one it is) and people initially tried to aim at polaris and search for the constellation. Caused chaos. Suppose it means they now have one reticule for Northern and Southern hemispheres - cost saving?

[Stub Mandrel]

The new reticle is excellent, it enables you to place Polaris really accurately. As far as I can see it isn't provided with PolarFinder, so I created one you can download and use with it here:

http://stubmandrel.co.uk/astronomy/123-new-style-reticle-for-polarfinder

[MARS1960]

Thanks all and especially Neil, very helpful, thank you.

PS: Geordie, i crave knowledge, that's why i bought astronomy books, star charts, planisphere, binoculars, a real compass and joined this forum, thanks.

[spillage]

8 hours ago, Alien 13 said:

An observation I have made is that the view through a polarscope when its realy dark makes polaris a pig to find sometimes there are just too many stars, the easy fix it to do it at dusk or turn up the illuminator brightness to drown out everything else.

I think there is an option to invert the view in stellarium but the polar finder app is far better and can simulate your particular reticule.

Alan

I find that a cheap £3 laser pointer helps me polar align. I just point the laser at polaris and then view through polar scope at the same time, or get the kids to point the laser as it keeps them occupied for a while.

[geordie85]

3 hours ago, MARS1960 said:

Thanks all and especially Neil, very helpful, thank you.

PS: Geordie, i crave knowledge, that's why i bought astronomy books, star charts, planisphere, binoculars, a real compass and joined this forum, thanks.

Hi Mars

I apologise if my comment came across as a dig at you, it really wasn't. It's more of a generalisation of the way society is going these days.