Moonsighting with a Telescope

[jayem123]

Hi,

I want to start using my telescope to help me when I go moonlighting - I tend to go when the new moon is born, so its at the stage where it is a tiny slither, and difficult to see.  Also the window of opportunity is very small - it tends to set 10 or so minutes after sunset.

I have the position and altitude information for moon to hand (from https://www.timeanddate.com/moon/uk/london), what and how can I use my SkyWatcher 130P EQ telescope to make moonlighting more smoother.  Currently I take my smaller Celestron 70 travelscope with me (as its more portable) and just scan the sky in the rough area where I expect the moon to be.   But as the it sets so quickly and moves quite quickly, i’d love to have a better way of doing this.

As always, any advice is much appreciated.

 

Thanks!

[jayem123]

i guess my main question is:

- I'm assuming I should still align my tripod so it points North (using due north now rather than polaris) as the guide.

- what should I set the altitude settings of the tripod to.  It currently (50-58degrees) - would I change this altitide to be the altitude of the moon? or is that wrong? (i'm thinking its wrong).

- what can i use to set the scope to the altitude of the moon.

Annoyingly it has been cloudy since i started to think of this, so haven't had a chance to try it all out.

[skywatcher58gb]

I assume the mount you have is an EQ2 with no polar scope. If this is the case you need to set your tripod level using a spirit level, then point the mount/scope due north and finally set the latitude at your location ie in the UK London is 51.5 degrees, Newcastle is 55 degrees, so check and set at your latitude. As the scope is manual you will need to judge where the moon will be and find using your finder scope, once found you can track using the slow motion flexi screw knobs on the RA drive. I hope this makes sense.

Dave