Filter
Top Products
Find Polaris
Polaris is less than one degree from the celestial pole. Finding Polaris helps you locate
the celestial pole. Although this is not a perfect alignment, it does get you quite close to
the pole.
1. Set the telescope up so that the polar axis is pointing north.
2. Loosen the DEC Lock Lever and move the telescope so that the tube is parallel to the
polar axis. When this is done the declination setting circle should read +90°. If the
declination-setting circle is not aligned then move the telescope so that the tube is
parallel to the polar axis.
3. Adjust the mount in altitude and azimuth until Polaris is in the field of view of the
Finder Scope.
4. Center Polaris in the field of the Eyepiece using the fine adjustment controls on the
mount.
Please remember: during polar alignment, do not move the telescope in R.A. or
DEC. You should not move the telescope itself, but only the polar axis. The telescope
is used to see where the polar axis is pointing.
This gets you close to the pole but not directly on it. The following two methods help
improve your accuracy for more serious observations and photography.
Find the N.C.P.
N.C.P. stands for North Celestial Pole. In each hemisphere, there is a point in the sky
around which all the other stars appear to rotate; those points are called the celestial
poles. When the telescope’s
polar axis is aligned with
celestial pole, it is parallel to
the earth’s rotational axis.
Polar alignment usually
requires that you know the
stars in the polar area. In the
northern hemisphere, Polaris
is only one degree away from
the celestial pole. Polaris is
visible by the naked eye
during clear nights.
DEC Drift Method
Declination (DEC) drift method is a standard method for polar alignment. You can find a
lot of references on the Internet by googling the term. This method might seem simple