Polar Alignment

[Dave2]

Hello!

I am having trouble getting an accurate polar alignment on my CGEM II. The mount is on a permanent leveled pier.  May be a stupid question but here goes. When my mount is polar aligned as seen from the reticle, Polaris is not centered in the telescope's eyepiece.  It's off by quite a bit actually.   Should I be able to see Polaris pretty much centered in the eyepiece?  That seems to make sense. My scope is an 1100 Edge HD and I have it set to the appropriate index marks. And when using Sky Portal it doesn't point to objects with any accuracy.  Any ideas will be appreciated!  
Thanks!

[jambouk]

When you are starting out with polar alignment, I would ignore the telescope. Just think about polar alignment just being about the mount. 

It is common for an observer to not see Polaris through the main telescope when in the home position. This is even more likely if using a long focal length telescope like a C11, and/or using shorter focal length eyepieces. 

James

Edited April 12, 2020 by jambouk

[Ouroboros]

19 minutes ago, jambouk said:

When you are starting out with polar alignment, I would ignore the telescope. Just think about polar alignment just being about the mount. 

It is not uncommon for an observer to see Polaris through the main telescope when in the home position. This is even more likely if using a long focal length telescope like a C11, and/or using shorter focal length eyepieces. 

TJames

Isn't there a "not" missing. 

"It is not uncommon for an observer to not see Polaris through the main telescope ..."

Sorry. I'm not being pedantic. Just helpful.  🙂

[jambouk]

Yes there was, I’ve added the not, thank you.

[Dave2]

Thank you for the advice!  

[michael8554]

And why can't you see Polaris centred in the eyepiece I hear you say?

Because Polaris is close to but not at the North Celestial Pole, it's nearly 1 degree away.

So Polaris will be off-centre when viewed with a well PA'd mount

Michael