Help with the RA and DEC

[Claydon]

Hello newbie here. Following the instructions of my telescope ( celestron astromaster 130EQ -MD)  I set up  the balance the level of the tripod.. all seems good.  The instructions also say I should set  up the angle of longitude ( 53 degrees ) and point the telescope north, all is good there also . However it presents a problem if I want to observe the low angle of  a waxing crescent moon which is due in the next day or so  that is more of a south west direction. Do I  have to manipulate the RA and DEC to about face the telescope from facing north or do I just move the whole unit around and find it that way? The instructions say the Motor drive will track  objects on DA if set up facing north and I want to track the moon  for photography reasons so  I need some advice as I'm stuck .

 

 

cheers 

[Cornelius Varley]

1 minute ago, Claydon said:

Hello newbie here. Following the instructions of my telescope ( celestron astromaster 130EQ -MD)  I set up  the balance the level of the tripod.. all seems good.  The instructions also say I should set  up the angle of longitude ( 53 degrees ) and point the telescope north, all is good there also . However it presents a problem if I want to observe the low angle of  a waxing crescent moon which is due in the next day or so  that is more of a south west direction. Do I  have to manipulate the RA and DEC to about face the telescope from facing north or do I just move the whole unit around and find it that way? The instructions say the Motor drive will track  objects on DA if set up facing north and I want to track the moon  for photography reasons so  I need some advice as I'm stuck .

 

 

cheers 

The tripod stays put and the RA and DEC clutches are released and the telescope slewed to the new target, retightening the clutches when done.

see here http://www.astronomyboy.com/eq/

[adyj1]

@Claydon, once you have aligned the mount (by making the first (RA) axis point as accurately as possible at the pole star (due North and 53 degrees), you do not move the tripod again. Use the RA and DEC, and once you have settled on your target, the motor will slowly move the RA for you to keep your target roughly in the eyepiece. 

The manipulation of RA and DEC to view south can end up with some strange looking angles, but as long as the weights aren't pointing upwards, you are ok. 

[rwilkey]

What you need to do is what's called the 'meridian flip', which is to turn the telesope over on its head to face the southerly direction.  This is the only pain with EQ (equatorial) mounts, you will also need to reposition the telescope in its tube rings by turning it round, this is the only pain with EQ mounts if you want to keep it polar aligned.  This is why I only use alt-azimuth (AZ) mounts as EQ's are too much of a faff, but good luck with your viewing. 

[Claydon]

22 minutes ago, adyj1 said:

@Claydon, once you have aligned the mount (by making the first (RA) axis point as accurately as possible at the pole star (due North and 53 degrees), you do not move the tripod again. Use the RA and DEC, and once you have settled on your target, the motor will slowly move the RA for you to keep your target roughly in the eyepiece. 

The manipulation of RA and DEC to view south can end up with some strange looking angles, but as long as the weights aren't pointing upwards, you are ok. 

So the RA motor will track the object even though it appears to look backwards?  Im completely new  to this so forgive my ignorance  ? . 

[Owmuchonomy]

Yes that’s right. What you are doing is aligning the axis of the mount with the axis of the Earth. The telescope tube is redundant in this process. Once your mount is aligned then it stays put and as above you Loosen the clutches to swing the tube around where you need then tighten them. If you are just observing then the alignment does not need to be so accurate but for long exposure photography it does need to be very accurate.

[Claydon]

9 minutes ago, Owmuchonomy said:

Yes that’s right. What you are doing is aligning the axis of the mount with the axis of the Earth. The telescope tube is redundant in this process. Once your mount is aligned then it stays put and as above you Loosen the clutches to swing the tube around where you need then tighten them. If you are just observing then the alignment does not need to be so accurate but for long exposure photography it does need to be very accurate.

I assume the motor  for the RA when you align the telescope south will need to be put in reverse ? 

[Astro Imp]

I would suggest you set your scope up in daylight, indoors even, and work our where north is. Point the optical tube to the north with the weights pointing down and the elevation set 53 degrees. Now imagine where the moon will be, roughly over your left shoulder, release the clutches and manually move the scope to where you want it to point and tighten the clutches. You will probably find the eyepiece is in an awkward position. Loosen the scope rings, turn the scope in the rings 'til you can get to the eyepiece and tighten the rings. You're now good to observe.
Good luck and enjoy.

[Astro Imp]

3 minutes ago, Claydon said:

I assume the motor  for the RA when you align the telescope south will need to be put in reverse ? 

No, the motor only turns one way, and propels the scope in an arc across the sky to follow the object being viewed. 

[Phillips6549]

Another newcomer with a Celestron 130EQ-MD here.  The thing I have discovered is that the motor on this scope rotates the wrong way for the selected hemispehere!  Set the selector to "S" or you'll wonder where all your targets have gone!

On mine, I also have to wind the speed down to almost the minimum to keep objects in view.