SANParks.org Forums

Hello all,

VERY much a n00b to astronomy. I have my first telescope and now I want to get it set up and start star gazing.

I have search the web for "how to align an equatorial mounted telescope" only problem is that all the articles are written by people in the Northern Hemisphere, so when it comes to setting the Polar alignment, they just say point it at the north star, that particular bit of advice does not really help me at all.

So I would like to know how do I set the polar alignment in the southern hemisphere?

Regards

It is tricky in the Southern Hemisphere...

You have to start by pointing it at the "Celestial South Pole"

You can find this by extending the the Long side of the Southern Cross 4 times.

Then take a 90degree line from the two pointer stars and where it intersects the Southern Cross line is the Celestial South...

This is all Eyball method and not very accurate. With my equatorial mount I start this way, then when I use the "Goto" handset with the first star, I reset the mount exactly on that star and then start all over from landing position...