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Last updated: 19 August 2003
| Last updated: 19 August 2003 |
Sent: Tuesday, August 12, 2003 09:34:55 From: GEvans@mjgleeson.com (Gareth Evans) Thanks for a great site - I will be buying the book too! Bought an ETX90 at the weekend. One of the thing I would like to do is some solar observing and photography, and hence have made a solar filter with some spare Baader Astrofilm. However I have a question. During the day I can only see one star (the big bright one!). How can I align the telescope so it will track the sun in alt/az mode? I've searched the site and can't find anything. Or would I need to set it up in polar alignment mode? Does the sun follow the ecliptic - I would guess not? Many thanks Gareth EvansMike here: I like "faking" the alignment. I know where True North is for my patio so I set up in the Alt/Az HOME position and do a 2-star alignment. When the first star is selected and the slewing stops, I just assume the star is centered and press ENTER. I repeat for the second star. Voila, aligned. Slew to the Sun (using proper protection on the ETX and finderscope for solar viewing). I also do this at night when the selected alignment stars in hidden behind some obstruction and I'm in a hurry.
Subject: re: daytime alignment Sent: Friday, August 15, 2003 22:15:44 From: rseymour@wolfenet.com (Richard Seymour) > Does the sun follow the ecliptic - I would guess not? Umm... the Sun's path through the sky -is- the Ecliptic. That's its definition. The planets vary from the ecliptic by their respective orbits' declinations.... but the sun has no (effective) orbit, so it's stuck there. The sun does not follow the -equator, so there is a north/south motion which can be perceived if you are merely tracking sidereally. An alternate way to align daytime is to have aligned the previous -night-, and then Utilities > PARK the scope. Then leave it there. (or devise methods to place the scope -exactly- back in place) During the day, merely power up, answer the day/time/date questions, and the scope will immediately offer OBJECT instead of wanting to Align. have fun --dick
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