Alignment using the moon

[jACK101]

I would like to use the moon tonight to align my mount to due south. According to Stellarium the moon will be due south of my location at 18.22.08. However on my wife's computer the moon will be due south at 17.54.44.

 

The system times for both copies of Stellarium are within 5 secs of each other. Why should there be this discrepancy?

 

Thanks

[Cornelius Varley]

Are you using the same location coordinates ?

[jACK101]

Peter,

I thought I was, I'm sure they were the same when I set it up, but something changed. OK now, thanks

 

Jack

[newbie alert]

Can I ask what's the benefit of using the moon for calibration?

Surely stars at smaller so must be more accurate..and the moon is on a different plane than the stars and planets..i know from star alignment  that the planets need a slight adjustment to Centre in the ep..

[jACK101]

14 hours ago, newbie alert said:

Can I ask what's the benefit of using the moon for calibration?

Surely stars at smaller so must be more accurate..and the moon is on a different plane than the stars and planets..i know from star alignment  that the planets need a slight adjustment to Centre in the ep..

You are correct, I was simply looking for a quick estimate of south to check my mount's alignment. I haven't seen stars for weeks. It has either been raining, heavily overcast or high level haze. The moon at least has sometimes been visible.

[LukeSkywatcher]

Using the Moon or a planet is a quick easy way to align a scope. Its what i usually do with my 8SE. Obviously not as accurate as a 3 star alignment, but it works fine.