augmented reality polar align

[starstalker]

for a while i have been using "polar align" on the i phone to help me polar align, it basically gives u a reticle and shows where Polaris is on that reticule at that time of night and from your position, u then set your alignment scope reticule to the position shown and then use alt/az to polar align, it seems to work fine.

now there is a second version out that allows you to use the camera on the i phone and then overlays the reticule over the image form the polar scope to give even more accuracy. there is a draw back tho, u have to build a home made bracket to fit the iphone to the polar scope. heres a link to the guy who wrote the app's website George's Astronomical Observations i think im gonna give him a shout and get details on how to make the bracket.polar alignment should be an absolute doddle then!

[West End Wendy]

Thanks that's brilliant.

I had been using Sky Safari on the iPhone - zooming very close to Polaris, turning it upside down, and then just noting where Polaris was relative to the NCP at the current time and date.

This looks much better.

Cheers,

Tim

[starstalker]

i emailed him and he says hes gonna put instructions up on his site on how to make the bracket

[WayBig]

....so the iphone will take the place of a finderscope?

didnt the finderscope work well enough?

[West End Wendy]

....so the iphone will take the place of a finderscope?

didnt the finderscope work well enough?

Fair point, but in order to use the date/time circle on the mount you either have to take the telescope off the mount or you often end up with the telescope in a pretty awkward, head-banging position.

I just find the iPhone removes that hassle from the procedure.

Tim.

[Zakalwe]

I might be missing something here, but how do you ensure that the axis of the scope is exactly parallel with the RA axis?

[starstalker]

....so the iphone will take the place of a finderscope?

didnt the finderscope work well enough?

No, this allows u to over lay the position of Polaris on top of the view from the finder scope so u can polar align