Find Stars and Planets in The Daytime - Using your EQ mount Setting Circles.

[anthony.tony]

Has anyone got any Info on Finding Stars and Planets in the daytime By Using the Setting Circles on the Equatorial Mount. I have a HEQ5 mount- Reguard's Tony.

[noeyedeer]

plenty of reading out there Tony. from what I gather, a good polar alignment is necessary. from that you need to find an object, I'm guessing the sun .. but never look directly into the ep you can see it side on when it's aligned, and dial in it's ra/Dec coordinates. from there you should be able to use ra/Dec from atlases/apps etc.

some sites mention about sidereal time but I think if you're using software that would be all calculated?

if it were me, I would align just before dawn so you can verify your alignment and accuracy of the setting circles with a few stars or planets, and then as the daylight comes try to find those objects using ra/dec.

good luck!

I've never tried it but googling 'using eq setting circles in daylight' gets results
www.backyardvoyager.com/settingcircles.html
m.skyatnightmagazine.com/feature/how-guide/how-tomaster-setting-circles
calgary.rasc.ca/scircles.htm
matt