57
Pointing at Polaris
This method uses Polaris as a guidepost to the celestial pole. Since Polaris is less than a degree from the celestial pole,
you can simply point the polar axis of your telescope at Polaris. Although this is by no means perfect alignment, it does
get you within one degree. Unlike the previous method, this must be done in the dark when Polaris is visible.
1. Set the telescope up so that the polar axis is pointing north.
2. Move the telescope to its downstop position. Turn the telescope ON.
3. Go to the POSITION menu. Press ENTER and DOWN. The display should read,
TELESCOP. Press ENTER. The display reads azimuth on top and altitude on the
bottom. The bottom number is the one you are interested in.
4. Move the telescope so that the tube is parallel to the polar axis (see figure 7-6)..
When this is done, the bottom number should be very close to +90°. Get it as close
to 90º as possible.
5. Now adjust the wedge in altitude and/or azimuth until Polaris is in the field of view
of the finder.
6. Center Polaris in the field of the telescope using the altitude and azimuth adjustment
knobs of the wedge.
Remember, while polar aligning, do NOT move the telescope. You do not
want to move the telescope itself, but the polar axis. The telescope is used
simply to see where the polar axis is pointing. You adjust the telescope by
moving the wedge and/or tripod
.
Like the previous method, this gets you close to the pole but not directly on it. The following methods help improve your
accuracy for more serious observations and photography.
Figure 6-7
One might think that pointing at the pole produces a parallax effect, thus skewing the telescope’s axis of rotation
with that of the Earth’s. Polaris, however, is over 50 light years away, thus making any parallax effect negligible.
(One light year is 6.4 trillion miles. To find the distance to Polaris in miles, multiply 6.4 trillion by 50!)
Figure 6-6
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