To my ill-informed way of thinking, I believe that the question is, Leon, is the centre of all those concentric circles of stars located exactly in the centre of your image? Point the camera 10 deg away from the SCP and you'll still have an image of concentric circles, but the centre will not be in the centre of the image. Having said that, I suspect that the error in determining if the centre of those circles is in the centre of your image is greater that the errors you can tolerate in your imaging work.
Or am I just talking rubbish??
Eric
Quote:
Originally Posted by leon
Hi Doug, I had a think about what you said, and it is true, one can take a image of the SCP, with a tripod, or for that matter with any scope pointed in the right direction, if one can find it and align to it.
I assumed my accuracy with the equipment that i was using, being a G11 mount and Takahashi FSQ 106, which is mounted with double Clam Shell Tube Holders, so i can assure you it is rigid, and well aligned to the polar shaft.
After a successful drift align, and some imaging i found it to be pretty well right and have produced some good results without guiding.
This led me to believe that i must have been fairly close to the SCP.
The G11, as you probably know, will, according to it's accuracy of the drift align park it's self in the true south position after each imaging or viewing session.
It was this position of the mount that had me wondering, how close to the pole is this thing pointing, hence the image above.
After slewing and moving across the sky during the evenings, it always lands exactly to that SCP position, and to the image i posted.
So i suppose it was that which led me to believe that the mount was pretty much pointed in the right direction, but i may be wrong and missed something here, and am eager to hear from other members and the opinions.
Anyway that is my story, and I'm sticking to it  
Cheers Leon  |