Tracking Celestial Objects

When you observe a celestial object through the telescope, you’ll see it drift slowly across the field of view. To keep it in the field, if your equatorial mount is polar aligned, just turn the R.A. slow-motion control cable clockwise. The Dec. slow- motion control cable is not needed for tracking. Objects will appear to move faster at higher magnifications, because the field of view is narrower.

Optional Motor Drives for Automatic Tracking

An optional DC motor drive can be mounted on the R.A. axis of the equatorial mount to provide hands-free tracking. Objects will then remain stationary in the field of view with‑ out any manual adjustment of the R.A. slow-motion control cable.

Understanding the Setting Circles

The setting circles on an equatorial mount enable you to locate celestial objects by their “celestial coordinates". Every object resides in a specific location on the “celestial sphere". That location is denoted by two numbers: its right ascension (R.A.) and declination (Dec.). In the same way, every location on Earth can be described by its longitude and latitude. R.A. is similar to longitude on Earth, and Dec. is similar to latitude. The R.A. and Dec. values for celestial objects can be found in any star atlas or star catalog.

The mount’s R.A. setting circle is scaled in hours, from 1 through 24, with small hash marks in between representing 10-minute increments. The numbers closest to the R.A. axis gear apply to viewing in the Southern Hemisphere, while the numbers above them apply to viewing in the Northern Hemisphere. The Dec. setting circle is scaled in degrees, with each small hash mark representing 2.5°.

The Dec. setting circle is scaled in degrees, with each mark representing 2.5° increments. Values of Dec. coordinates range from +90° to -90°. The 0° mark indicates the celestial equator. When the telescope is pointed north of the celes‑ tial equator, values of the Dec. setting circle are positive, while when the telescope is pointed south of the celestial equator, values of the Dec. setting circle are negative.

So, the coordinates for the Orion Nebula listed in a star atlas will look like this:

R.A. 5h 35.4m Dec. -5° 27'

That’s 5 hours and 35.4 minutes in right ascension, and -5 degrees and 27 arc-minutes in declination (there are 60 arc-minutes in 1 degree of declination).

Before you can use the setting circles to locate objects, the mount must be well polar aligned, and the R.A. setting circle must be calibrated. The Dec. setting circle has been permanently calibrated at the factory, and should read 90° whenever the telescope optical tube is parallel with the R.A. axis.

Calibrating the Right Ascension Setting Circle

1.Identify a bright star in the sky near the celestial equator (Dec. = 0°) and look up its coordinates in a star atlas.

2.Loosen the R.A. and Dec. lock knobs on the equatorial mount, so the telescope optical tube can move freely.

3.Point the telescope at the bright star whose coordi‑ nates you know. Lock the R.A. and Dec. lock knobs. Center the star in the telescope’s field of view with the slow-motion control cables.

4.Rotate the setting circle until the metal arrow indi‑ cates the R.A. coordinate listed in the star atlas for the object.

Finding Objects With the Setting Circles

Now that both setting circles are calibrated, look up in a star atlas the coordinates of an object you wish to view.

1.Loosen the Dec. lock knob and rotate the telescope until the Dec. value from the star atlas matches the reading on the Dec. setting circle. Remember that values of the Dec. setting circle are positive when the telescope is pointing north of the celestial equator (Dec.= 0°), and negative when the telescope is pointing south of the celestial equa‑ tor. Retighten the lock knob.

2.Loosen the R.A. lock knob and rotate the telescope until the R.A. value from the star atlas matches the reading on the R.A. setting circle. Remember to use the upper set of numbers on the R.A. setting circle. Retighten the lock knob.

Most setting circles are not accurate enough to put an object dead-center in the telescope’s eyepiece, but they should place the object somewhere within the field of view of the finder scope, assuming the equatorial mount is accu‑ rately polar aligned. Use the slow-motion controls to center the object in the finder scope, and it should appear in the telescope’s field of view.

The R.A. setting circle must be re-calibrated every time you wish to locate a new object. Do so by calibrating the setting circle for the centered object before moving on to the next one.

Confused About Pointing the Telescope?

Beginners occasionally experience some confusion about how to point the telescope overhead or in other directions. In Figure 1 the telescope is pointed north, as it would be during polar alignment. The counterweight shaft is oriented downward. But it will not look like that when the telescope is pointed in other directions. Let’s say you want to view an object that is directly overhead, at the zenith. How do you do it?

One thing you DO NOT do is make any adjustment to the latitude adjustment t-bolt. That will nullify the mount’s polar alignment. Remember, once the mount is polar aligned, the telescope should be moved only on the R.A. and Dec. axes. To point the scope overhead, first loosen the R.A. lock knob and rotate the telescope on the R.A. axis until the coun‑ terweight shaft is horizontal (parallel to the ground). Then loosen the Dec. lock knob and rotate the telescope until it is pointing straight overhead. The counterweight shaft is still horizontal. Then retighten both lock knobs.