Thread: Star Align
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Old 18-01-2021, 10:51 PM
Geoff0409 (Geoff)
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Join Date: Jan 2021
Location: Canberra Australia
Posts: 6
Martin and Raymond,

Thank you for the advice it is very much appreciated. I was definitely no paying enough attention to polar alignment - I had aligned the finder scope and the telescope

Had another try tonight with as precise polar alignment as I could achieve given the tools at hand. Used an iPhone app to align south - problematic in itself as each app showed south in slightly different directions. Used mount adjustments to dial in latitude as accurately as possible

This was close enough for me to do a 2 star alignment on Sirius and Canopus with some minor searching.

We then used the auto tracker to find a twin star - forgot the name close to the two alignment stars. The twin star appeared in the centre of the telescope

When I slewed to Mars however - not close to the alignment stars, it was visible at the edge of the finder scope view but not within the telescope view. I assume that this is to do with the accuracy of the polar alignment.

I am looking at purchasing a digital incline metre and considering purchasing a good compass

Is this what you would advise?

Thanks
Geoff
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