Celestial Coordinates-- Right Ascention, Declination,Altitude, Azimuth

Backyard Voyager

Polar alignment and celestial coordinates

Mars Watch 2012

While not nearly as close as its 2003 swing by our planet, Mars will still be in great positions for viewing this year. Opposition will be on December 24th, Christmas Eve.

Mars

8/10/2012

Diameter (arcsec) 7.37

Apparent Magnitude .45

Celestial South Pole at top

10/10/2012

Diameter (arcsec) 10.36

Apparent Magnitude -.230

Celestial South Pole at top

12/24/2012

Diameter (arcsec) 15.78

Apparent Magnitude -1.630

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Setting Circles and How to Use Them Dave Tyler's Method

For me True setting circles must enable you to find planets in daylight by:

Using a sidereal clock.
Knowing where south is.
Knowing the Right Ascension and Declination of the object

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Polar Alignment (Fork Mounts with Wedges) by Steve Dodder

In order to use your scope to its fullest potential, it must be polar aligned, so that the drive motor turns the telescope in the exact opposite direction as the rotation of the Earth. This has the effect of making the stars appear stationary, they don't drift out of the eyepiece, making it possible to track any deep sky object for extended periods of time without any adjustments by the user. This simple tutorial by Steve Dodder will show you just how to do it.

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How To Polar Align by Craig Hill

Here is another perspective on how best to polar align a german styled equatorial mount. Craig Hill takes you step-by-step through the process in an illustrated alignment tutorial. "This page is simply intended to help the new person understand how to use an Equatorial Mount. If you have ANY questions, or something does not seem clear, please Email me at Craig

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Polar Alignment for GEMs by Steve Dodder

The principles here are the same as in Steve's earlier tutorial, but the procedures are slightly different with a German Equatorial Mount. On a GEM, the wedge is replaced by a solid looking unit that has a shaft for RA rotation and another shaft for DEC rotation. (See the illustrations .) The entire "head" has an altitude setting that usually has degrees marked on it.

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