Quote:
Originally Posted by noeyedeer
some good info but maybe confusing for some. with a dob, you need to know altitude (height) and azimuth (direction). if you have an eq mount then Ra and Dec can be used to find objects with all that info.
software / Appz can convert ra/Dec into alt/az. for objects the star charts at skymaps are handy www.skymaps.com/downloads.html just make sure to download the southern hemisphere.
matt |
Alt-Az coordinates are good but they are constantly changing and will never match any atlas. The coordinates for Orion for example will be in any book, equatorial coordinates rather than Alt-Az.
I agree with you though, and this applies to either an EQ or Dob mount, that knowing the altitude and azimuth of an object help greatly in locating it on any given night. Knowing the RA and Dec and also the LST will tell which objects are up and when.