Quote:
Originally Posted by LostInSp_ce
If not how do you know what angle you're at?
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Use something like the "Clinometer" app on an iPhone, it gives elevation to 0.1 degree.
Relying on what you see through a low power telescope is not easy firstly, and potentially not accurate as it assumes the optical axis and RA axis are accurately parallel. It's not unusual to find they are not parallel by as much as 2-3 degrees due to inaccuracies in the mount, and flexure.
There is another way as well - choose a bright star on the meridian, centre that in your scope and read the declination circle. The difference between the reading and the true declination of the star equals the altitude error of the RA axis.