Browse all our telescope mount reviews<\/a> and read our guide to the best telescope mounts<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n A telescope set on an altaz mount can move in two directions: up and down on the \u2018alt\u2019 or altitude axis and left and right on the azimuth axis.<\/p>\n Because of its simplicity, the altazimuth mount is very popular for small instruments and even large reflectors like Dobsonians.<\/p>\n However, to follow an object in the heavens you need to guide the telescope about two axes simultaneously.<\/p>\n The altazimuth mount can\u2019t do this, and it can be awkward to study objects over a long period of time.<\/p>\n Astrophotography is hopeless for all but the shortest exposures using one of these mounts, but it is possible.<\/p>\n For more info on how to do this, read our guide to astrophotography with an altaz mount<\/a>.<\/p>\n Tracking and astrophotography<\/a> is where an equatorial mount<\/a> comes into its own, because one of its axes is aligned to be parallel to the Earth\u2019s axis.<\/p>\n Tracking an object is easier as you only need to follow it around this \u2018polar\u2019 axis.<\/p>\n There are several different designs of equatorial mount, like German, fork, and English.<\/p>\n By using a drive to keep pace with the stars on just this one axis, extended study and astrophotography are considerably easier.<\/p>\n If there is a downside to equatorial mounts, it\u2019s that they\u2019re usually large and heavy.<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n How does each type of mount work, how do they differ, and which should you use? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":47742,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"2"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/07\/whats-the-difference-between-an-equatorial-mount-and-an-altazimuth-mount.jpg",1200,800,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/07\/whats-the-difference-between-an-equatorial-mount-and-an-altazimuth-mount-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/07\/whats-the-difference-between-an-equatorial-mount-and-an-altazimuth-mount-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/07\/whats-the-difference-between-an-equatorial-mount-and-an-altazimuth-mount-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/07\/whats-the-difference-between-an-equatorial-mount-and-an-altazimuth-mount-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/07\/whats-the-difference-between-an-equatorial-mount-and-an-altazimuth-mount.jpg",1200,800,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/07\/whats-the-difference-between-an-equatorial-mount-and-an-altazimuth-mount.jpg",1200,800,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":"How does each type of mount work, how do they differ, and which should you use?","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/47741"}],"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\/47742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\""The\"](\""https:\/\/images.immediate.co.uk\/production\/volatile\/sites\/25\/2019\/03\/astronomy-altaz-mount-telescope-426a366.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C350"\" "\\"\"The\\"\/")
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