What mount for double Star?

[tico]

Hello, 

What mount is best for double Star? 

Is necessary a mount ecuatorial or with a AZ mount is enough? 

Thanks

Tico

[rl]

Tico

What do you want to do with double stars?

If you just want to look then any steady mount that is good for planets will work. Equatorial is always more convenient but a solid Alt-Az will be ok. You will be using high magnification on close doubles, looking at the Airy discs and diffraction patterns which will be on the telescope's limit.

If you are trying to do useful science by making accurate measurements of separation and position angle, a solid and permanent equatorial mount is essential; it will need to be stable from one year to the next!

[Mr Spock]

I use an EQ with tracking. It allows me to concentrate on what I'm observing instead of being distracted by faffing with controls. It's especially important when using high power.

[lunator]

You can use any mount which is sturdy and so stable but as Michael say's a driven mount makes it much more pleasant to observe close doubles. I have spent this winter using an undriven mount and whilst you can observe close doubles it is a bit of a faff... 😁

Do you have a budget in mind? What sort of scope are you hoping to use?

Cheers

Ian

[The60mmKid]

Agreed. I spent years observing doubles with a basic alt-az. That went well. But then I switched to a driven EQ mount. I still remember my reaction. "Oh... This is nice. It just stays there..."

Now, I use an alt-az with slow-motion controls. I find it a good compromise since it's much lighter than an EQ mount.

Edited February 20 by The60mmKid

[bosun21]

I found that a stable EQ driven works really well when observing doubles as once centered you can view without having to be distracted by adjusting any controls etc. Just as Michael said it's comfortable viewing.

[tico]

My telescope is for visual and the model is one refractor 80ED F/7.5.

Thanks. 

[Celerondon]

On 20/02/2024 at 13:48, tico said:

My telescope is for visual and the model is one refractor 80ED F/7.5.

Thanks. 

An f7.5 80mm refractor is not a heavy load.  A small or medium EQ mount will do fine with that telescope.  I agree with rl.  A GoTo AltAz mount would also be okay, but I would probably choose an EQ mount.  I have two questions that might help us to be more specific with our advice. 

• What budget range are you interested in?
• What is the largest telescope that you might use with this mount.  (Is that 80ED your limit?)

It might also be helpful to know if you plan to travel with your equipment.  A pier mounted rig for your garden or observatory would be somewhat different than an airline or car portable setup.    

Don

[apaulo]

Personally id go for an alt az everytime. Unless  you want to take  longer exposure pictures. 

[JeremyS]

If you want to make measurements of separation and position angle, then a driven EQ will be by far the preferred option. This is due to the high magnification and the desire to have north in the same position in the field.