I have legit always aligned the polaris with the center of the mount. This explains why I couldn't get longer exposures. I'm so happy I found this and so mad there were no instructions for it in the packace for my product. Thanks!
Azcharlie. E.stanis actually says keep one eye in the pole finder and the other eye on the night sky. I have used this method for years and it is very good!
@@tunascuba1 ,Agreed Fully,Wished I Had Seen This 2 Years Ago..But Will Have To Give High Point Scientific An A+ As Well,When I Got My Eqm35Pro,They Made Me An Hour Long Video Just About The Mount,and My 6se On It,Went Thru PA,But Not This Simplified,But Had Also Made Me An Hour Long Appointment To Go Over The Whole Mount Till I Was Comfortable,Unfortunately Still Had To Buy An Ipolar,Due To Maple Trees In Mine,and About Every Neighbors Yards😂So I Cant Even See Polaris From My Patio,Chain Saw Wouldve Been Cheaper,lol
Thank You Sir...You are the first presentation I have watched...and as a Newbie to Polar Alignment..I am happy to state that your Presentation is all the Assistance I will need...I really like the way you used the graph to get your point and instructions across...WOW...Thank you again..
I think what most people miss here (At least I did.) is that you can't actually see the Big Dipper, or Cassiopeia in the polar scope. If you could, it would really be on the other side of where the reticle shows it due to the reversing of the image in the optics. Instead, you have to use your naked eye to roughly align either of the constellations, then move the mount to the proper RA. After that is done, you can use the altitude and azimuth knobs to place Polaris in the small circle. With that both of those actions done, you are very close to the proper polar alignment. Rick Tucson
He says that he is looking through the polarscope with his left eye and the Plough (Big Dipper) with his right eye. He has even written on the diagram 'Night Sky' beside the Big Dipper. 1:25
Fantastic and creative way to demonstrate your method. I'm going to share this to my club. I haven't seen a better simplified method that can get beginners up and running.
To joderjjy and others confused (as I was) by the apparent reversal of Polaris and the true polar axis. The key, as I found today in the Celestron article #2450, "How do I use the polar axis finderscope for the CGEM mount?" is in this paragraph about installing and aligning a polar scope: "Reassemble the mount and wait until dark. The final step is done with Polaris and uses the reticle in the finderscope. The reticle has an etched pattern to make quick polar alignment easier. It puts together two patterns - the naked-eye constellations and the magnified, upside down (inverted) finderscope view of Polaris’ offset from the north celestial pole. The magnified view is inset at the center of the reticle." Remember that everything in the scope is inverted - except the etched constellation pattern! Thoughtfully, they have already reverse-inverted the constellation pattern inside the polar scope, so that it will match what you see in the sky. However, the same polar scope inversion also places Polaris on the opposite side of the north celestial pole, and that is what is confusing when consulting Stellarium or other planetarium software. The reticle is correct in placing the tiny reference circle where it is - on the other side of the crosshairs which indicate where the north celestial pole will actually be.
+Jerome Allison Thank you very much.. :)I found my treasure in your post.. that was a painful headache for me.. like you mentioned ,, when you compare the P. scope with Stellarium it doesn't match.. and you thought you are WRONG..NOW ITS ALL CLEAR..
Yes, I have great success doing exactly that. Another point is I find when I tighten down that last locking nut I like to look again to see if when I tightened it down that it didn't move a bit and sometimes it does and simply get Polaris back in the circle again. Great video!
lost all audio for this video, had it a few weeks ago , just bought one from RVO come back to the tutorial, found it but no sound. it was a brilliant video,
I purchased an HEQ5 Pro and could not find any instruction on how to use or set it up. I even emailed skywatcher and UK agents for help. They were next to useless and said look at TH-cam. I found your video which was very useful and straight forward - I will try your set up and see how it goes. Thanks for taking the time to release your video. Why on earth don't skywatcher set up training videos or training centres for their equipment????
Wow that was most impressive and simple explanation I ever found One question The only concern I have is zero on polar scope is NOT on 12 clock position when mount is in home position DO THAT REALLY MATTER?
Thank you so much for posting this. You just simplified this whole process. I know it's not 100%, but it has't to be darn close. I guess you could use the drift method now and be very close before starting that process. Thanks again. Well done.
A simple alternative is to lock both axis of your telescope in the polar home position. Moving only with your mounts altitude and east west movement. Draw an imaginary line to the star Kochab, the brightest star of the two stars that form the bottom of the bowl of the little dipper to Polaris. Then just place Polaris on the line in the polar scope that has the little circle for Polaris. Their is no need to put Polaris in the little circle this way because you are skipping aligning your polar scope to the sky as shown in the video. By placing Polaris on the circle on the imaginary line to Kochab you are very near precise polar alignment. Lock at a detailed map of the polar region and you will see that imaginary line runs from Polaris right through the true pole to Kochap. This has worked very well with my Orion EQ mount. Good luck.
You can't see through the polar scope on a Celestron AVX mount if the declination axis is turned to the home position. But then I can't imagine why the Dec axis should affect the method you describe, since Polar scope view is only affected by RA changes.
I have an Astrotrac and I found the whole polar alignment thing a bit baffling (I've never owned a good telescope, and I'm using the Astrotrac for sky photography). I understand the principle, but I had completely missed the key trick of looking at different things through different eyes and matching the angles of the constellations. I have a feeling that's really going to help me a lot! Thanks :)
I had thought it had to be at a certain point on that circle, according to my latitude or time of night as I vaguely recall and it should be looked up. I often see it listed as hours and minutes as though it were the face of a clock and I were to put polaris right where the hour hand would be ? No ?
Thank you. I thought I had to get the big dipper to overlap the image in the polar scope. It's just polaris that has to match with the image in the polar scope! Doh!
I know this video is awhile, I figured I give it a shot. Looking for an equivalent polar scope to use to align this. Astro trac stopped producing anything. Two years later and no luck. Any ideas? Thanks
Hi, when i screw my polar scope all the way in on my atlas mount, the graph does not show Polaris at it's right location , so is it possible to rotate the graph inside the polar scope while keeping it screwed all the way in ?
Another simple and very accurate way to do this is to place Polaris dead center in the reticle, and then move it straight down onto the circle (the 0 position). Next, rotate the RA axis until the small Polaris circle is directly around Polaris in the scope, and lock the RA knob. Now, set your RA axis setting circle to 0 and lock the setting circle. You can now unlock the RA axis. Using an app like PolarisView, determine the Hour Angle of Polaris. For example, if it is 2 hours, thirty minutes, then rotate your RA axis so that your mount points to 2 hours, thirty minutes, and lock the RA axis. Look once again through your Polar Scope. Polaris will still be at the bottom of the large circle, but yje small circle will have moved. Place Polaris inside the small circle using your Alt and azimuth screws on your mount. You are now accurately Polar Aligned. It's a very accurate way to Polar Align, and does not involve eyeballing the stars. But this method is a good enough alignment, too.
Should I reset my RA so that it sits vertical again prior to starting my 3-star alignment, or should it be sitting in the position it was in order to do the polar alignment?
+Tom Wasser Yes and no. The GoTo will compensate for any drift and allow for good viewing. As I understand it, getting a good polar alignment will mean the Dec motor is moving less and thus you'd have less periodic error. This would be an issue if you're doing long exposures or using very long focal lengths.
Can a polar scope be used on any GEM by replacing the traditional finder scope, or do you have to have a mount that has a hole bored through the polar shaft to receive the polar scope?
What happens when several months later the constellations have shifted? How do you rotate the lens? Do you unscrew the lens cap slightly or unscrew the polar scope to rotate it to match? There is nothing in mine that will allow me to rotate only the lens without loosening or knocking it out of alignment and having to re-calibrate it with those 3 worm screws, which is a very lengthy and frustrating process.
I was stuck there too! Rotate the mount, not the polar scope! Rotate the R.A. Axis and match up the constellations to their position in the view through the scope and lock it in place. Then “drive” Polaris into its proper place in the scope. Boom! Use the alt az bolts and latitude bolt to place Polaris!
@@Pouncerman Yes, of course. What else can you do, whilst the objects in the sky rotate around the celestial poles? Using a polar scope always involves rotating your mount around the RA-axis, so as to have the image of the reticle aligned with the current view onto the sky's objects. Polar-aligning your mount in the northern hemisphere is about pointing its RA-axis to the northern celestial pole with the help of Polaris, as it happens to be close to it. A much better alignment is with a different reticle. I like to use the Sky-Watcher HM6 polar scope. Its reticle has a clock-like pattern (not just a simple circle), which supports placing Polaris precisely onto a clock-position that you have to determine by making use of the knowledge of Polaris' transit time. It goes like this: read Polaris' transit time of the day. I read it from the Stellarium app info. For instance, Polaris' transit time is 13:36 h. Now, you know that Polaris went through the 12 o'clock position in the sky at 13:36 h (it will change during the year with almost 4 minutes from day to day). If you do your polar alignment at 21:36 h, Polaris has moved 8 hours since its transit. If you do the polar alignment at 22:00 h, it has moved 8 hours and 24 minutes since then. Whatever the difference is time may be, you now can predict where Polaris is supposed to be in the sky in relation to the northern celestial pole. In order to prepare your mount properly, first you have to align the polar scope itself. Point the mount to the north so that Polaris is probably already in view of the polar scope. Turn the azimuth and the elevation screws so as to get Polaris onto the 12 h-position of the clock-circle on the reticle. Now, turn the elevation screw so as to make Polaris move downwards on the reticle. That may not be along the clock pattern's vertical axis yet. Adjust the mount's RA-orientation so that any screw-movement of the elevation results in a vertical Polaris movement on the reticle. This is an important step. Fixate the RA-axis. Knowing what time it is and Polaris' transit time for today, you know the time difference. Keep in mind that the polar scope shows you an upside-down image, so that the 6 o'clock position on the reticle actually is the 12 o'clock position. In this example, we have 8 hours since Polaris' transit. So, starting at the 6 o'clock position on the reticle, Polaris is now supposed to be at 2 o'clock. Why 2 o'clock? Because a difference of 8 hours is mapped onto the reticle's "clock" that represents 24 hours in a day, distributed over 12 hours of the reticle's pattern. So, 8 hours, being 1/3 of a day, are like 4 hours on the reticle's clock-pattern. This clock spans 12 hours, not 24, so we have to divide every time by 2 to get from actual time to the reticle's geometrical representation of time. Manipulate the azimuth and elevation screws until Polaris is at the 2 o'clock position of the reticle's circle. Keep in mind that all celestial bodies, including Polaris, seem to rotate along the sky in a counterclockwise direction. Starting at the 6 o'clock position (actually 12 o'clock, but everything looks upside-down), Polaris has moved along 5 o'clock to 4 o'clock, 3 o'clock, up to 2 o'clock, and it keeps moving to 1 o'clock, 12 o'clock, and so on, until it will have gone full circle after almost 24 hours (almost, as it will transit 4 minutes earlier the next day). This is a very precise polar alignment method, once you get the hang of it. It is not difficult, but you have to manipulate the screws painstakingly delicately in order to get Polaris onto the designated position on the reticle.
@@Pouncerman What I forgot to tell you is that the polar scope should be calibrated, once it has been fitted into the equatorial mount for the first time. This means that the reticle's center is to be aligned with the mount's RA-axis. If you turn the mount around the RA-axis and you peek through the polar scope, any object that is indicated by the reticle's center-point should remain on that exact position. This is done best at daylight, targeting a remote object, e.g. the edge of a roof or a chimney. Anything that shows distinctive features is suitable for this purpose. Now, turn the mount around the RA-axis and observe how the target is not coinciding with the reticle's center (if you are very lucky, there is no such error and you're done!). Adjust the small screws that hold the reticle glass in place, so as to mitigate that error. It can be tedious to get this done, but it quickly becomes intuitive as how you have to adjust these small screws. Just be cautious and do not unscrew them too far, as the glass may get too loose, causing it to fall out of its fixture. Take your time and conduct this procedure slowly, making baby steps, observing what each adjustment did to the alignment. Sometimes, you notice that your previous adjustment went the wrong way, as the error increased. Do not get frustrated, but remain calm and repeat the adjustments, until you notice that a rotation around the RA-axis keeps the target fixed on the reticle pattern. Once the reticle's center and the RA-axis have been aligned to one another, the nightly polar alignment can become as good as it theoretically can. The remaining error is the way in which you position Polaris on its designated location on the reticle's clock pattern. I like to choose a "nice" time to do the polar alignment, so that I can position Polaris onto a rounded clock-position, and not on any location in between, where I cannot read the clock-position as accurately as I would like. That means that you sometimes will have to wait until the time since Polaris' transit has become an exact integer number, e.g. 8 hours. In that example, you can position Polaris exactly at the 2 o'clock position. That will render your polar alignment more accurate.
You are doing it correct, but can you see that diagram in the polar scope at night? I can't. I have to shine a red light ever so carefully to actually see the darn thing!
The two large stars in the dipper are suppose to point to the north star but in the polar alignment scope they don't. Polaris is on the opposite side of the celestial pole then the big dipper but not in the scope. So when using it for aligning Polaris in the circle it seems Polaris will be rotating wrong. Am I missing something here.
Then you leave the r.a. Axis right there, do not align with the index marks on the mount. Then I do a two star alignment with one calibration star. Then I do the polar alignment through the handset.
+Mark Zealor I think he is refering to both mount lock downs so the first is the assention knob and then the second would be the declination knob. Depending on your mount, equitorial or go to etc you might not have both. I'm guessing.
When I look at an astronomy app at polaris it shows that Polaris is on the Cassiopeia side of the inner circle and when I advance the time on it Polaris turns counterclockwise along with everything else and therefore will never be on the same side of the circle as the big dipper; which it clearly is when looking thru at the polar scope etching. I don't get it.
Personally i dont use the setting circle because no matter how accurate you are, your margin of error will still be off. The setting circle is not to accurate scale. However, if you _really_ want to learn how to use Cloudy Nights . com will have all the information you would need to use it. Cheers, and clear skies! 😁
@@Handles-R-Lame, An equatorial mount. Specifically it is the Orion "AstroView," or something like that, a GEM. I've got a 6" Newtonian reflector on it.
Celestron made a big mistake and when I informed them they weren't interested. They suggested not using it, but instead using a software routine in the telescope to do polar alignment. The idea that they had made a mistake or they owed me a refund was not even mentioned.
This is not the proper way to align the polar scope. You must first calibrate the settings circles to indicate when Polaris is in transit at your location. This is when Polaris points straight down in the reticule, Google when that is. Once that is done, you can find the proper orientation of Polaris on any time and date of the year with the RA and setting circles. Fine tuning is then down with the adjustment knobs at the base of your mount.
Not that I can see. Page 16-17 www.ursa.fi/fileadmin/ursa2010/kuvat/kirjakauppa/GENERAL_EQ3and5.pdf My main gripe with this method is you have to approximate a parallel line between stars you can not even see through the field of view in the polar scope. Properly calibrated date setting circles are a much more accurate starting point, especially for astrophotography.
its not on page 16-17. its on a page called simplified polar alignment procedure and its called pattern-based method im looking at it right now. there in black and white in a SW manual for the neq3 and eq5 mount
I found that manual. But as a simplified alignment it is not the best procedure. Fortunately it doesn't have you making gross adjustments to the mount to bring the scope closer to Ursa Major and back again as described in this video. If you have a GoTo mount, it will take care of minor misalignment for you well enough if not taking long exposures. But if it is manual or motorized mount it will require more frequent RA adjustments. Frequently powering the RA motors will also drain a field battery more quickly. Bottom line is the better the alignment at setup the better session you will have.
Either every planetarium program I have used, like Stellarium, is wrong or the NCP is on the handle side of the Big Dipper and Polaris is on the dipper side.
Thank you ! I was among the people who didn't know how to use the polar scope graph
Thanks again ! 🤙
I have legit always aligned the polaris with the center of the mount. This explains why I couldn't get longer exposures. I'm so happy I found this and so mad there were no instructions for it in the packace for my product. Thanks!
Azcharlie. E.stanis actually says keep one eye in the pole finder and the other eye on the night sky. I have used this method for years and it is very good!
One of the easiest and more clear explanations I've found so far! thanks so much for this video! :)
Finally! A concise ‘how-to’ explanation . Thanks!
I totally agree David...FINALLY! Actually Brilliant How-to-Explanation...Before I had no Idea
@@tunascuba1 ,Agreed Fully,Wished I Had Seen This 2 Years Ago..But Will Have To Give High Point Scientific An A+ As Well,When I Got My Eqm35Pro,They Made Me An Hour Long Video Just About The Mount,and My 6se On It,Went Thru PA,But Not This Simplified,But Had Also Made Me An Hour Long Appointment To Go Over The Whole Mount Till I Was Comfortable,Unfortunately Still Had To Buy An Ipolar,Due To Maple Trees In Mine,and About Every Neighbors Yards😂So I Cant Even See Polaris From My Patio,Chain Saw Wouldve Been Cheaper,lol
Thank You Sir...You are the first presentation I have watched...and as a Newbie to Polar Alignment..I am happy to state that your Presentation is all the Assistance I will need...I really like the way you used the graph to get your point and instructions across...WOW...Thank you again..
For a Video Made In 2013 This Is Step By Baby Step Amazing,and Simplified,Wished I Had Seen This 2 Years Ago..Thank You,Stay Safe,and God Bless❤️🙏🏻🔭🌏✨
I think what most people miss here (At least I did.) is that you can't actually see the Big Dipper, or Cassiopeia in the polar scope. If you could, it would really be on the other side of where the reticle shows it due to the reversing of the image in the optics. Instead, you have to use your naked eye to roughly align either of the constellations, then move the mount to the proper RA. After that is done, you can use the altitude and azimuth knobs to place Polaris in the small circle. With that both of those actions done, you are very close to the proper polar alignment.
Rick
Tucson
He says that he is looking through the polarscope with his left eye and the Plough (Big Dipper) with his right eye. He has even written on the diagram 'Night Sky' beside the Big Dipper. 1:25
I agree that this is confusing. Spelling it out VERY clearly would have been worthwhile...
Fantastic and creative way to demonstrate your method. I'm going to share this to my club. I haven't seen a better simplified method that can get beginners up and running.
To joderjjy and others confused (as I was) by the apparent reversal of Polaris and the true polar axis.
The key, as I found today in the Celestron article #2450, "How do I use the polar axis finderscope for the CGEM mount?" is in this paragraph about installing and aligning a polar scope: "Reassemble the mount and wait until dark. The final step is done with Polaris and uses the reticle in the finderscope. The reticle has an etched pattern to make quick polar alignment easier. It puts together two patterns - the naked-eye constellations and the magnified, upside down (inverted) finderscope view of Polaris’ offset from the north celestial pole. The magnified view is inset at the center of the reticle."
Remember that everything in the scope is inverted - except the etched constellation pattern! Thoughtfully, they have already reverse-inverted the constellation pattern inside the polar scope, so that it will match what you see in the sky. However, the same polar scope inversion also places Polaris on the opposite side of the north celestial pole, and that is what is confusing when consulting Stellarium or other planetarium software. The reticle is correct in placing the tiny reference circle where it is - on the other side of the crosshairs which indicate where the north celestial pole will actually be.
+Jerome Allison Thank you very much.. :)I found my treasure in your post.. that was a painful headache for me.. like you mentioned ,, when you compare the P. scope with Stellarium it doesn't match.. and you thought you are WRONG..NOW ITS ALL CLEAR..
Thanks for the explanation, i was getting confused when i looked at polar finder app and then polar finder scope. This explained it perfectly.
To the point and extremely helpful. Great content
One of the easiest and more clear explanations I've found so far! me too.. many thanks... Molto Bravo
Yes, I have great success doing exactly that. Another point is I find when I tighten down that last locking nut I like to look again to see if when I tightened it down that it didn't move a bit and sometimes it does and simply get Polaris back in the circle again. Great video!
lost all audio for this video, had it a few weeks ago , just bought one from RVO come back to the tutorial, found it but no sound. it was a brilliant video,
I purchased an HEQ5 Pro and could not find any instruction on how to use or set it up. I even emailed skywatcher and UK agents for help. They were next to useless and said look at TH-cam. I found your video which was very useful and straight forward - I will try your set up and see how it goes. Thanks for taking the time to release your video.
Why on earth don't skywatcher set up training videos or training centres for their equipment????
A big thank you from Seattle. I cannot thank you enough for this video :-)!!!
Wow that was most impressive and simple explanation I ever found
One question
The only concern I have is zero on polar scope is NOT on 12 clock position when mount is in home position
DO THAT REALLY MATTER?
I've been doing it wrong all this time. Thank you.
thanks, mate that was so easy to follow
Thank you so much for posting this. You just simplified this whole process. I know it's not 100%, but it has't to be darn close. I guess you could use the drift method now and be very close before starting that process. Thanks again. Well done.
Thank you for sharing this excellent video... Very helpful!
Excellent Thank you so much for this video
Best info ever on polar scope instructions!
ありがとう！
やっと使い方がわかった！
A simple alternative is to lock both axis of your telescope in the polar home position. Moving only with your mounts altitude and east west movement. Draw an imaginary line to the star Kochab, the brightest star of the two stars that form the bottom of the bowl of the little dipper to Polaris. Then just place Polaris on the line in the polar scope that has the little circle for Polaris. Their is no need to put Polaris in the little circle this way because you are skipping aligning your polar scope to the sky as shown in the video. By placing Polaris on the circle on the imaginary line to Kochab you are very near precise polar alignment. Lock at a detailed map of the polar region and you will see that imaginary line runs from Polaris right through the true pole to Kochap. This has worked very well with my Orion EQ mount. Good luck.
You can't see through the polar scope on a Celestron AVX mount if the declination axis is turned to the home position. But then I can't imagine why the Dec axis should affect the method you describe, since Polar scope view is only affected by RA changes.
Another question
After we polar align do we put in home position before 3 star alignment?
Excellent video! Thank you!
Fine simple and clear
Thank you for the clear directions.
Thats clear, But what does that help you with?
thanks for the video, it taking me so long to understand this. as image in the polar scope is inverted upside down.
Thanks easy to understand.
Best explanation ever. Thank you.
I have an Astrotrac and I found the whole polar alignment thing a bit baffling (I've never owned a good telescope, and I'm using the Astrotrac for sky photography). I understand the principle, but I had completely missed the key trick of looking at different things through different eyes and matching the angles of the constellations. I have a feeling that's really going to help me a lot! Thanks :)
I had thought it had to be at a certain point on that circle, according to my latitude or time of night as I vaguely recall and it should be looked up. I often see it listed as hours and minutes as though it were the face of a clock and I were to put polaris right where the hour hand would be ? No ?
Thank you. I thought I had to get the big dipper to overlap the image in the polar scope. It's just polaris that has to match with the image in the polar scope! Doh!
Thanks. I didn't have a clue how to do that the right way.
I know this video is awhile, I figured I give it a shot. Looking for an equivalent polar scope to use to align this. Astro trac stopped producing anything. Two years later and no luck. Any ideas? Thanks
you just saved my night
THX, Its so simple when someone explains it. Thx Pb
Excellent Thank you
Hi, when i screw my polar scope all the way in on my atlas mount, the graph does not show Polaris at it's right location , so is it possible to rotate the graph inside the polar scope while keeping it screwed all the way in ?
Another simple and very accurate way to do this is to place Polaris dead center in the reticle, and then move it straight down onto the circle (the 0 position). Next, rotate the RA axis until the small Polaris circle is directly around Polaris in the scope, and lock the RA knob. Now, set your RA axis setting circle to 0 and lock the setting circle. You can now unlock the RA axis. Using an app like PolarisView, determine the Hour Angle of Polaris. For example, if it is 2 hours, thirty minutes, then rotate your RA axis so that your mount points to 2 hours, thirty minutes, and lock the RA axis. Look once again through your Polar Scope. Polaris will still be at the bottom of the large circle, but yje small circle will have moved. Place Polaris inside the small circle using your Alt and azimuth screws on your mount. You are now accurately Polar Aligned. It's a very accurate way to Polar Align, and does not involve eyeballing the stars. But this method is a good enough alignment, too.
Go job in explaining the process, simple.
Thanks a galaxy.
Definitely a good ballpark solution.
Great video thanks so much !
Merci beaucoup ! video très utile !
Should I reset my RA so that it sits vertical again prior to starting my 3-star alignment, or should it be sitting in the position it was in order to do the polar alignment?
Hi did you ever find out if you have to reset the RA?
Kinn Unfortunately no, but I think the answer is that you need to reset.
@@quantum64 Thank you for answering me I'm really struggling with polar alignment.
Thanks for the explanation. Buuuut, we don’t have these in the Southern Hemisphere.
You have to get the other kind -- the kind with the "railroad tracks", and use software.
@@bowrudder899 couldn’t be bothered with the hassle of it and just got a SynScan which uses 3-star Alignment, so I only have to point roughly south.
Good video... Do I need to use the alignment if I am going to use a 2 or 3 star alignment on a go to mount?
+Tom Wasser Yes and no. The GoTo will compensate for any drift and allow for good viewing. As I understand it, getting a good polar alignment will mean the Dec motor is moving less and thus you'd have less periodic error. This would be an issue if you're doing long exposures or using very long focal lengths.
Thanks, this is very useful info.
Can a polar scope be used on any GEM by replacing the traditional finder scope, or do you have to have a mount that has a hole bored through the polar shaft to receive the polar scope?
Really helpful
Einfach gut :-)
thank you will give this a go sounds easy enough
I am amazed how a simple magnifying glass element with a reticle is called a polarscope. There has to be a DIY or a hack.
What happens when several months later the constellations have shifted? How do you rotate the lens? Do you unscrew the lens cap slightly or unscrew the polar scope to rotate it to match? There is nothing in mine that will allow me to rotate only the lens without loosening or knocking it out of alignment and having to re-calibrate it with those 3 worm screws, which is a very lengthy and frustrating process.
I was stuck there too! Rotate the mount, not the polar scope! Rotate the R.A. Axis and match up the constellations to their position in the view through the scope and lock it in place. Then “drive” Polaris into its proper place in the scope. Boom! Use the alt az bolts and latitude bolt to place Polaris!
@@Pouncerman Yes, of course. What else can you do, whilst the objects in the sky rotate around the celestial poles? Using a polar scope always involves rotating your mount around the RA-axis, so as to have the image of the reticle aligned with the current view onto the sky's objects.
Polar-aligning your mount in the northern hemisphere is about pointing its RA-axis to the northern celestial pole with the help of Polaris, as it happens to be close to it.
A much better alignment is with a different reticle. I like to use the Sky-Watcher HM6 polar scope. Its reticle has a clock-like pattern (not just a simple circle), which supports placing Polaris precisely onto a clock-position that you have to determine by making use of the knowledge of Polaris' transit time.
It goes like this: read Polaris' transit time of the day. I read it from the Stellarium app info. For instance, Polaris' transit time is 13:36 h. Now, you know that Polaris went through the 12 o'clock position in the sky at 13:36 h (it will change during the year with almost 4 minutes from day to day).
If you do your polar alignment at 21:36 h, Polaris has moved 8 hours since its transit. If you do the polar alignment at 22:00 h, it has moved 8 hours and 24 minutes since then. Whatever the difference is time may be, you now can predict where Polaris is supposed to be in the sky in relation to the northern celestial pole.
In order to prepare your mount properly, first you have to align the polar scope itself. Point the mount to the north so that Polaris is probably already in view of the polar scope. Turn the azimuth and the elevation screws so as to get Polaris onto the 12 h-position of the clock-circle on the reticle. Now, turn the elevation screw so as to make Polaris move downwards on the reticle. That may not be along the clock pattern's vertical axis yet. Adjust the mount's RA-orientation so that any screw-movement of the elevation results in a vertical Polaris movement on the reticle. This is an important step.
Fixate the RA-axis. Knowing what time it is and Polaris' transit time for today, you know the time difference. Keep in mind that the polar scope shows you an upside-down image, so that the 6 o'clock position on the reticle actually is the 12 o'clock position. In this example, we have 8 hours since Polaris' transit. So, starting at the 6 o'clock position on the reticle, Polaris is now supposed to be at 2 o'clock. Why 2 o'clock? Because a difference of 8 hours is mapped onto the reticle's "clock" that represents 24 hours in a day, distributed over 12 hours of the reticle's pattern. So, 8 hours, being 1/3 of a day, are like 4 hours on the reticle's clock-pattern. This clock spans 12 hours, not 24, so we have to divide every time by 2 to get from actual time to the reticle's geometrical representation of time.
Manipulate the azimuth and elevation screws until Polaris is at the 2 o'clock position of the reticle's circle. Keep in mind that all celestial bodies, including Polaris, seem to rotate along the sky in a counterclockwise direction. Starting at the 6 o'clock position (actually 12 o'clock, but everything looks upside-down), Polaris has moved along 5 o'clock to 4 o'clock, 3 o'clock, up to 2 o'clock, and it keeps moving to 1 o'clock, 12 o'clock, and so on, until it will have gone full circle after almost 24 hours (almost, as it will transit 4 minutes earlier the next day).
This is a very precise polar alignment method, once you get the hang of it. It is not difficult, but you have to manipulate the screws painstakingly delicately in order to get Polaris onto the designated position on the reticle.
@@Guido_XL Thanks for your help, dark skies!
@@Pouncerman What I forgot to tell you is that the polar scope should be calibrated, once it has been fitted into the equatorial mount for the first time. This means that the reticle's center is to be aligned with the mount's RA-axis. If you turn the mount around the RA-axis and you peek through the polar scope, any object that is indicated by the reticle's center-point should remain on that exact position.
This is done best at daylight, targeting a remote object, e.g. the edge of a roof or a chimney. Anything that shows distinctive features is suitable for this purpose. Now, turn the mount around the RA-axis and observe how the target is not coinciding with the reticle's center (if you are very lucky, there is no such error and you're done!). Adjust the small screws that hold the reticle glass in place, so as to mitigate that error.
It can be tedious to get this done, but it quickly becomes intuitive as how you have to adjust these small screws. Just be cautious and do not unscrew them too far, as the glass may get too loose, causing it to fall out of its fixture. Take your time and conduct this procedure slowly, making baby steps, observing what each adjustment did to the alignment.
Sometimes, you notice that your previous adjustment went the wrong way, as the error increased. Do not get frustrated, but remain calm and repeat the adjustments, until you notice that a rotation around the RA-axis keeps the target fixed on the reticle pattern.
Once the reticle's center and the RA-axis have been aligned to one another, the nightly polar alignment can become as good as it theoretically can. The remaining error is the way in which you position Polaris on its designated location on the reticle's clock pattern. I like to choose a "nice" time to do the polar alignment, so that I can position Polaris onto a rounded clock-position, and not on any location in between, where I cannot read the clock-position as accurately as I would like. That means that you sometimes will have to wait until the time since Polaris' transit has become an exact integer number, e.g. 8 hours. In that example, you can position Polaris exactly at the 2 o'clock position. That will render your polar alignment more accurate.
@@Guido_XL Thanks
Thank You! :-)
You are doing it correct, but can you see that diagram in the polar scope at night? I can't. I have to shine a red light ever so carefully to actually see the darn thing!
The two large stars in the dipper are suppose to point to the north star but in the polar alignment scope they don't. Polaris is on the opposite side of the celestial pole then the big dipper but not in the scope. So when using it for aligning Polaris in the circle it seems Polaris will be rotating wrong. Am I missing something here.
Then you leave the r.a. Axis right there, do not align with the index marks on the mount. Then I do a two star alignment with one calibration star. Then I do the polar alignment through the handset.
Okay my good man. Thanks!
What is "The Other Locking Nut"? you mention in the video?
+Mark Zealor I think he is refering to both mount lock downs so the first is the assention knob and then the second would be the declination knob. Depending on your mount, equitorial or go to etc you might not have both. I'm guessing.
Thank you so much!!!!
THANK YOU!!!!
When I look at an astronomy app at polaris it shows that Polaris is on the Cassiopeia side of the inner circle and when I advance the time on it Polaris turns counterclockwise along with everything else and therefore will never be on the same side of the circle as the big dipper; which it clearly is when looking thru at the polar scope etching. I don't get it.
I doubt this is correct..what about the date setting circles etc ??
But I'm new to these..so maybe not ?
sure does💯💯💢🙌
Thanks!
That's how to align it. I am still looking for how to use the setting circle that is by my polar scope, and the adjustment knob that is by that.
Personally i dont use the setting circle because no matter how accurate you are, your margin of error will still be off. The setting circle is not to accurate scale.
However, if you _really_ want to learn how to use Cloudy Nights . com will have all the information you would need to use it.
Cheers, and clear skies! 😁
Also if i might ask what kind of mount do you have?
@@Handles-R-Lame, An equatorial mount. Specifically it is the Orion "AstroView," or something like that, a GEM. I've got a 6" Newtonian reflector on it.
Celestron made a big mistake and when I informed them they weren't interested. They suggested not using it, but instead using a software routine in the telescope to do polar alignment. The idea that they had made a mistake or they owed me a refund was not even mentioned.
So polaris doesn't align with the center of cross hairs?
no
Jesus it took you a long time to reply. Luckily I learned that in the past 2 years. LOL
LMAO it's not my video I just happen to watch it the other day
=)
Confirming: no. Incase you needed an update a year after Brian gave you an initial response. ;)
This is not the proper way to align the polar scope. You must first calibrate the settings circles to indicate when Polaris is in transit at your location. This is when Polaris points straight down in the reticule, Google when that is. Once that is done, you can find the proper orientation of Polaris on any time and date of the year with the RA and setting circles. Fine tuning is then down with the adjustment knobs at the base of your mount.
Core5 it does say in back of the instructions book for a eq5 to do it this way.
Not that I can see. Page 16-17 www.ursa.fi/fileadmin/ursa2010/kuvat/kirjakauppa/GENERAL_EQ3and5.pdf
My main gripe with this method is you have to approximate a parallel line between stars you can not even see through the field of view in the polar scope.
Properly calibrated date setting circles are a much more accurate starting point, especially for astrophotography.
its not on page 16-17. its on a page called simplified polar alignment procedure and its called pattern-based method im looking at it right now. there in black and white in a SW manual for the neq3 and eq5 mount
I found that manual. But as a simplified alignment it is not the best procedure. Fortunately it doesn't have you making gross adjustments to the mount to bring the scope closer to Ursa Major and back again as described in this video.
If you have a GoTo mount, it will take care of minor misalignment for you well enough if not taking long exposures. But if it is manual or motorized mount it will require more frequent RA adjustments. Frequently powering the RA motors will also drain a field battery more quickly. Bottom line is the better the alignment at setup the better session you will have.
god bless you lol
Either every planetarium program I have used, like Stellarium, is wrong or the NCP is on the handle side of the Big Dipper and Polaris is on the dipper side.
Polaris is at the end of the handle of the LITTLE dipper.
the worse part is the 3 tiny adjusting screws.
i guess if i cant see the big dipper i line up with cassiopeia. last night was a disaster, so tonight im hoping to get it lined up.
mate, you are saying obvious things. I hope you will explain how to set it if there is no big dipper printed in the polar scope
Polar scopes are useless if you live in the southern hemisphere.