A
mounting with a tripod is necessary to point a telescope at its target,
and to hold it there securely.
There are two basic types of mountings, and each is suitable for different applications.
The Alt-Azimuth Mount
The Alt-azimuth mounting is a simple system which moves in two directions, sideways,
& up and down, and is sometimes provided with slow motion cable controls to accurately
point the telescope. This type of mounting is ideal for terrestrial observations and can
also be used for basic astronomical observations.
The Equatorial Mount
There are several different models of equatorial mount offered in this webpage, and the
principle of all of them is the same. That principle is to correct for the rotation of the
Earth with one motion during
astronomical observations. The Earth's rotation causes objects to rise in the East, follow
a circular path across the sky and set in the West. When using an astronomical telescope
at high power, it will only
take approximately 30 seconds for the object to move out of the field of view. The
equatorial mounting allows the telescope to track the objects and to keep the image in the
centre of the eyepiece. When the equatorial mount is correctly aligned, tracking can be
achieved either by turning a gear manually or with a motor drive which tracks objects
automatically.
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