Quote:
Originally Posted by iceman
What scope and mount do you have?
GOTO will make viewing things easier once it's aligned. To align the goto, you need to first align the mount to the south celestial pole.
If you can see the SCP, then you can use a polar scope inside the mount to get it roughly aligned (with some stars in the constellation Octans). If you can't, you can use a compass and a level to align the mount - you don't need to be able to see the SCP (I can't see it from my house either).
Try something like this to make your job easier?
A simple polar alignment jig for a GEM telescope
Once the mount is fairly accurately polar aligned, then you need to align the GOTO by entering the date, time, your lat/long, and then pointing at 2 or 3 alignment stars. The manual has instructions from there on in. |
Thanks for the help, and sorry for the delayed response. I now (sort of) understand how to align them.
As for what kind of scope and mount I have...
I only have one of those reflector Skywatcher scopes: D = 150, F = 1000 w/ EQ3 mount.
Being a beginner telescope I can see the basics but it’s nothing spectacular. So would a GOTO be worth using with this kind of telescope (keeping in mind the correlation between the cost of the GOTO and what I can actually see with my scope) or should I wait until I’m ready for something a bit more advanced?