North alignment

[Bry]

Hi everyone,

maybe this question has been answered before, but, do you align to true north, or magnetic north? Perhaps it doesn’t matter, but thought I’d ask. Thanks in advance. 
 

Bryan. 

Edited April 14, 2020 by Bry

[Cornelius Varley]

2 minutes ago, Bry said:

Hi everyone,

maybe this question has been answered before, but, do you align to true north, or magnetic north? Perhaps it doesn’t matter, but thought I’d ask. Thanks in advance. 
 

Bryan. 

True north. 

[Dr Strange]

As noted true north. Best to use Polaris if you can see it as your alignment star in your polar scope. You can find Polaris via Kochab's Clock: http://arksky.org/Kochab.htm Many people think Polaris is a very bright star. It isn't. But Kochab's Clock will point you right to it.

Edited April 14, 2020 by Dr Strange

[michael8554]

For visual use alignment to magnetic north should be more than good enough.

For imaging the mount should be aligned to the axis of rotation of Earth, so align with the North Celestial Pole (NCP) aka true north.

Magnetic North at Grimsby is about 30 arcmins out, good enough Polar Alignment for guided imaging would be 5 arcmins.

Michael

[Bry]

Many thanks for the replies peeps, now I know. 

[Kev M]

I think there is a society based in Grimsby/Cleethorpes might be worth dropping in some time for advice.