This is a more sophisticated, versatile mount which can be adjusted 360-degrees to facilitate viewing a moving object across the night sky. Alt-azimuth Mount: Can be adjusted both side-to-side (parallel to the horizon) as well as up-and-down.
A type of telescope mount in which one axis of movement (called Right Ascension) is aligned with the earth's polar axis. An equatorially mounted telescope can be moved on just one axis, by hand or by motor, to keep the telescope aimed at the same path of sky as the earth rotates.
Astronomers' term for Polar Mount.
Telescope mount which can track the motion of the stars automatically, eliminating the need for the user to push the scope around.
a big advantage but the motion can be approximated with good results if using a Dobsonian or other alt-azimuth mount
a mount where one of its two axis point toward the celestial pole
a traditional type of mounting for research telescopes but it is challenging to build
a two-axis affair which swivels in Right Ascension and Declination
A mounting in which one of two mutually perpendicular axes is aligned with Earth's axis of rotation, thus permitting an object to be tracked by rotating this axis so that it counteracts Earth's rotation.
A type of telescope mount in which one axis is parallel to the earth's spin axis. Back to top of glossary
An equatorial mount has one axis parallel to Earth's rotation axis.
A telescope mount so designed so that the two axes, which support it, are aligned, one to the polar axis and the other to the Earth's equator. Once an object is centred in the telescope's field of view, only the polar axis need be adjusted to keep the object in view. If the polar axis is driven at Sidereal rate, it will counteract the rotation of the Earth, keeping the object (except the Moon) stationary in the field of view.
A telescope mount with one axis parallel to the earth’s polar axis. This provides easy tracking of celestial objects, and is preferred by many for astrophotography.
A type of telescope mount with an axis parallel to the axis of the earth. An Equatorial (or EQ) mount provides tracking of celestial objects for astrophotography when combined with a motorized drive.
A mount for a steerable antenna (or more generally, for a telescope structure) by which the structure is driven about one axis (the polar axis) that is parallel to the Earth's rotation axis and about an orthogonal axis (the declination axis). An antenna, or telescope, so mounted can track a celestial source by being driven only westward around the polar axis, at a rate matching the Earth's rotation. The aperture will not rotate with respect to the sky as the antenna tracks the source. These geometrical advantages are offset, for large telescopes, by the difficulty and cost of supporting massive structures obliquely to the vertical and horizontal directions.
A telescope mount that allows motion parallel to and perpendicular to the celestial equator. This type of mount takes advantage of the fact , due to the earth's rotation, that the entire sky seems to rotate about the celestial north pole. When the rotation axis of a telescope is aligned with the celestial north pole, you only need to rotate the telescope round its central axis in order to keep a star positioned in the field of view.
An equatorial mount is a mount used for moving a telescope or camera along two perpendicular axes of motion known as right ascension and declination. The telescope mount's axis of right ascension should be pointed directly towards whichever celestial pole is above the horizon to work correctly. Setting the axis of the mount to the polar axis completes alignment.
