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How to Use an Equatorial Telescope Mount

When you use your telescope to watch the night sky, there may be some objects you want to keep track of every night as they move across the sky. The best way to do this is to use an equatorial mount. This type of telescope mount is parallel in line with Earth's axis of rotation, so that you can move the telescope along the same line as the motion of the object in question.

Things You'll Need

Telescope
Equatorial mount
Polar alignment scope

Instructions

- 1
  Align the tripod with polar north. Before making any adjustments, your scope has to be facing the right way.
- 2
  Tilt back the first joint to the same number of degrees as your latitude. This will bring Polaris, the north star, into view.
- 3
  Lock down the scope once it is aligned exactly. There are a number of alignment methods, such as iterative and drift, to get your scope aligned perfectly. This is where the polar alignment scope comes into use.
- 4
  Use the Right Ascension to follow your object, and the Declination to set the scope at the right celestial altitude.

Astronomy