You will encounter it in one of two principal flavours.<\/p>\n
The \u2018German\u2019 is the preferred form for refractors and Newtonian reflectors, where the instrument is attached to the mount in a cradle balanced by a counterweighted shaft on the other side.<\/p>\n
The \u2018equatorial fork\u2019 doesn\u2019t require a counterweight and is the norm for squat-tube mirror-lens systems like Schmidt- and Maksutov-Cassegrains.<\/p>\n
Both of these forms of mount have two axes of rotation, one of which \u2013 the polar axis \u2013 has to be made parallel to that of the Earth.<\/p>\n
Polar alignment<\/strong><\/h2>\n ![\""The\"]( "\\"\"The\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> The Plough\u2019s stars are a great first target from which you can star-hop to other stars and constellations, including Polaris, the North Star. Credit: BBC Sky at Night Magazine.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nNorthern hemisphere observers have a convenient marker to the north celestial pole in the form of Polaris, the Pole Star (also known as the \u2018north star<\/a>\u2018).<\/p>\nFor very casual viewing with a portable mount, merely sighting along the polar axis to Polaris will suffice.<\/p>\n
Some equatorials possess a hollow polar axis equipped with a small sighting telescope to assist you.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, the true celestial pole lies nearly a degree (just under the width of two full Moons) from the Pole Star.<\/p>\n
Equatorial mounting<\/strong><\/h2>\n ![\""Difference\"]( "\\"\"Difference\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Altaz mounts are popular and easy to use but won\u2019t keep celestial targets stationary in the view frame, unlike equatorial mounts which are polar-aligned to stop the field of view rotating<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nThe equatorial mount possess two axes of rotation, one of which is designed to be aligned parallel to the Earth\u2019s axis of rotation.<\/p>\n
This so-called polar alignment<\/a> is not hard to achieve.<\/p>\nIt\u2019s also well worth the effort as the scope only needs to be rotated about the \u2018polar axis\u2019 to track a celestial object.<\/p>\n
This motion can be controlled by a single motor (a \u2018right ascension\u2019 drive), freeing you to fully enjoy the view or to photograph the object in question.<\/p>\n
In contrast, to track a celestial object with an \u2018altazimuth\u2019 mount, you will need to turn the telescope about two axes simultaneously.<\/p>\n
This skill comes with practise, but rules out most forms of astrophotography.<\/p>\n
![\""Polaris\"]( "\\"\"Startrails_049\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Polaris Star Trail by Chris Daborn, Poole, Dorset, UK. Equipment: Canon 550D, 18-55mm kit lens, tripod.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nAccurate photography<\/strong><\/h2>\nIf a higher degree of accuracy is required for astrophotography<\/a>, or if your observing location has an obscured horizon to the north and you can\u2019t see Polaris, you need to follow the step-by-step guide at the bottom of this article.<\/p>\nThis is a procedure you can do in daylight. Find out more in our guide to polar aligning during the day<\/a>.<\/p>\nYou need to make two adjustments to get your equatorial mount working as designed.<\/p>\n
The first turns the polar axis until it points towards true north.<\/p>\n
This can be done with the assistance of an orienteering compass, providing you make allowances for magnetic variation.<\/p>\n
The second adjustment inclines the polar axis to the horizontal at an angle equal to your latitude.<\/p>\n
For someone in, say, Norwich, this will be 52.6 degrees.<\/p>\n
You can determine your latitude and longitude online at Multimap.com.<\/p>\n
Now that you have accurately polar aligned your equatorial mount, you can track celestial bodies with ease<\/p>\n
You may use the mount\u2019s built-in setting circles<\/a> to dial in catalogue coordinates of objects too faint to see with the naked eye.<\/p>\n ![\""Aligned\"]( "\\"\"Aligned\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div> Aligned on the north celestial pole, an equatorial mount makes it easy to track stars as they move from east to west through the night.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\nEquipment<\/strong><\/h2>\nTorch<\/strong><\/h3>\nPreferably a head torch with a red filter to preserve dark adaptation, or a small red LED keyring flashlight that you can hold in your teeth \u2013 you will need your hands free.<\/p>\n
Read our guide to the best red light torches<\/a> and red light head torches<\/a>.<\/p>\nOrienteering compass<\/strong><\/h3>\nA compass with\u00a0a straight edge and the ability to clearly distinguish between true north and magnetic north for your location (magnetic variation).<\/p>\n
Spirit level<\/strong><\/h3>\nA small level that is shorter than 15cm (six inches) is ideal, equipped with bubbles to measure horizontal and vertical planes.<\/p>\n
Protractor, fine pen, stout white card, a craft knife <\/strong><\/h3>\nThese will be required to create a template that will be used in conjunction with the spirit level to set the correct angle of the mount\u2019s polar axis.<\/p>\n
Latitude and magnetic variation<\/strong><\/h3>\nFind your latitude at www.latlong.net<\/a> and magnetic variation at www.ngdc.noaa.gov\/geomag\/declination.shtml<\/a>.<\/p>\nAligning a telescope mount, step-by-step<\/strong><\/h2> <\/body><\/html>\n
","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Follow our guide to setting up your telescope allowing you to accurately track celestial bodies. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":47103,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"4"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/07\/how-to-perfectly-align-your-telescopes-equatorial-mount.jpg",1200,872,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/07\/how-to-perfectly-align-your-telescopes-equatorial-mount-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/07\/how-to-perfectly-align-your-telescopes-equatorial-mount-300x218.jpg",300,218,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/07\/how-to-perfectly-align-your-telescopes-equatorial-mount-768x558.jpg",768,558,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/07\/how-to-perfectly-align-your-telescopes-equatorial-mount-1024x744.jpg",800,581,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/07\/how-to-perfectly-align-your-telescopes-equatorial-mount.jpg",1200,872,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/07\/how-to-perfectly-align-your-telescopes-equatorial-mount.jpg",1200,872,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Follow our guide to setting up your telescope allowing you to accurately track celestial bodies.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/47102"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\""The\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2020\/09\/Star-hop-Plough-Ursa-Minor-404d18e.jpg?quality=90&resize=1023%2C651"\" "\\"\"The\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Northern hemisphere observers have a convenient marker to the north celestial pole in the form of Polaris, the Pole Star (also known as the \u2018north star<\/a>\u2018).<\/p>\n For very casual viewing with a portable mount, merely sighting along the polar axis to Polaris will suffice.<\/p>\n Some equatorials possess a hollow polar axis equipped with a small sighting telescope to assist you.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, the true celestial pole lies nearly a degree (just under the width of two full Moons) from the Pole Star.<\/p>\n The equatorial mount possess two axes of rotation, one of which is designed to be aligned parallel to the Earth\u2019s axis of rotation.<\/p>\n This so-called polar alignment<\/a> is not hard to achieve.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also well worth the effort as the scope only needs to be rotated about the \u2018polar axis\u2019 to track a celestial object.<\/p>\n This motion can be controlled by a single motor (a \u2018right ascension\u2019 drive), freeing you to fully enjoy the view or to photograph the object in question.<\/p>\n In contrast, to track a celestial object with an \u2018altazimuth\u2019 mount, you will need to turn the telescope about two axes simultaneously.<\/p>\n This skill comes with practise, but rules out most forms of astrophotography.<\/p>\n If a higher degree of accuracy is required for astrophotography<\/a>, or if your observing location has an obscured horizon to the north and you can\u2019t see Polaris, you need to follow the step-by-step guide at the bottom of this article.<\/p>\n This is a procedure you can do in daylight. Find out more in our guide to polar aligning during the day<\/a>.<\/p>\n You need to make two adjustments to get your equatorial mount working as designed.<\/p>\n The first turns the polar axis until it points towards true north.<\/p>\n This can be done with the assistance of an orienteering compass, providing you make allowances for magnetic variation.<\/p>\n The second adjustment inclines the polar axis to the horizontal at an angle equal to your latitude.<\/p>\n For someone in, say, Norwich, this will be 52.6 degrees.<\/p>\n You can determine your latitude and longitude online at Multimap.com.<\/p>\n Now that you have accurately polar aligned your equatorial mount, you can track celestial bodies with ease<\/p>\n You may use the mount\u2019s built-in setting circles<\/a> to dial in catalogue coordinates of objects too faint to see with the naked eye.<\/p>\n Preferably a head torch with a red filter to preserve dark adaptation, or a small red LED keyring flashlight that you can hold in your teeth \u2013 you will need your hands free.<\/p>\n Read our guide to the best red light torches<\/a> and red light head torches<\/a>.<\/p>\n A compass with\u00a0a straight edge and the ability to clearly distinguish between true north and magnetic north for your location (magnetic variation).<\/p>\n A small level that is shorter than 15cm (six inches) is ideal, equipped with bubbles to measure horizontal and vertical planes.<\/p>\n These will be required to create a template that will be used in conjunction with the spirit level to set the correct angle of the mount\u2019s polar axis.<\/p>\n Find your latitude at www.latlong.net<\/a> and magnetic variation at www.ngdc.noaa.gov\/geomag\/declination.shtml<\/a>.<\/p>\n Follow our guide to setting up your telescope allowing you to accurately track celestial bodies. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":47103,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"4"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/07\/how-to-perfectly-align-your-telescopes-equatorial-mount.jpg",1200,872,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/07\/how-to-perfectly-align-your-telescopes-equatorial-mount-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/07\/how-to-perfectly-align-your-telescopes-equatorial-mount-300x218.jpg",300,218,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/07\/how-to-perfectly-align-your-telescopes-equatorial-mount-768x558.jpg",768,558,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/07\/how-to-perfectly-align-your-telescopes-equatorial-mount-1024x744.jpg",800,581,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/07\/how-to-perfectly-align-your-telescopes-equatorial-mount.jpg",1200,872,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/07\/how-to-perfectly-align-your-telescopes-equatorial-mount.jpg",1200,872,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Follow our guide to setting up your telescope allowing you to accurately track celestial bodies.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/47102"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47103"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Equatorial mounting<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\""Difference\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2023\/01\/difference-altaz-equatorial-mount-a32e204.jpg?quality=90&resize=1022%2C543"\" "\\"\"Difference\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>![\""Polaris\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2019\/02\/Startrails-8th-September-2012-Back-Garden-39e4379.jpg?quality=90&resize=1023%2C682"\" "\\"\"Startrails_049\"\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Accurate photography<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\""Aligned\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2019\/05\/Screenshot-2019-05-24-at-08.31.35-10e8f51-e1624282862959.png?quality=90&resize=1023%2C614"\" "\\"\"Aligned\\"\/")
<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>Equipment<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Torch<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Orienteering compass<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Spirit level<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Protractor, fine pen, stout white card, a craft knife <\/strong><\/h3>\n
Latitude and magnetic variation<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Aligning a telescope mount, step-by-step<\/strong><\/h2> <\/body><\/html>\n
","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"