SingAstro

My very first post.. dedicated to this.

Bought an equatorial mount. But I can't get to align it

Actually Polaris is still above horizon but its perpetually blocked by clouds. In Singapore, the drift alignment is adopted. I have never done it myself but many here who use equatorial mounts will be able to advice on the exact steps. Essentially, you use the motion of stars (hence "drift" ) to do the alignment.

thanks. I tried doing a polar alignment the other day targetting M31 however could only take up to 8s exposure without star trails with the mount. guess I'll have to read up on it. are there any active astronomy grps out there?

http://astropixels.com/main/polaralignment.html

https://www.skyandtelescope.com/astrono ... alignment/

Polar Alignment - Northern Hemisphere
Star Direction Description
Meridian Star drifts NORTH, rotate telescope azimuth EAST
Star drifts SOUTH, rotate telescope azimuth WEST
Eastern Horizon Star drifts NORTH, adjust telescope altitude LOWER
Star drifts SOUTH, adjust telescope altitude HIGHER
Western Horizon Star drifts NORTH, adjust telescope altitude HIGHER
Star drifts SOUTH, adjust telescope altitude LOWER
Polar Alignment - Southern Hemisphere
Star Direction Description
Meridian Star drifts NORTH, rotate telescope azimuth EAST
Star drifts SOUTH, rotate telescope azimuth WEST
Eastern Horizon Star drifts NORTH, adjust telescope altitude HIGHER
Star drifts SOUTH, adjust telescope altitude LOWER
Western Horizon Star drifts NORTH, adjust telescope altitude LOWER
Star drifts SOUTH, adjust telescope altitude HIGHER

this is REALLY useful!! thanks mariner for the links, and airconvent for the tip.. i'll try it out. hopefully would have some nice photos... excited!

Sent you a PM, check your inbox when you are free

Try this - Polar Alignment with Excel Spreadsheet.

https://www.sternwarte-nms.de/ext-links/downloads

I read about it in a recent Sky and Telescope Issue.