Image of the day

Captured by
Michael Scherman

Lagoon and Triffid Celestron C6 Hyperstar4

My Account

New to Astromart?

Register an account...

Need Help?

What's the difference

Started by jseivert, 05/13/2010 08:16PM
Posted 05/13/2010 08:16PM Opening Post
Is there a difference between an "Equitorial" mount and a "German Equitorial" mount? I noticed that in my setup of Ascom & TheSky it has as mount options:
Unknown
Alt/Az
Equitorial
German Equitorial

Just wonderin'
Posted 05/13/2010 10:45PM | Edited 05/14/2010 04:00AM #1
A German type is just one of several types of Equatorial mounts. Any mount that tracks in Right Ascension is known as Equatorial. An equatorial mount that uses a counterweight on the Declination axis to balance its' scope position off-set to the polar axis is known as a German type design. SCT Fork mounts when aligned on the pole star via a base wedge are also Equatorial. The 200-inch Mt Palomar scope uses a Horseshoe-type equatorial mounting. The differances in your Program may have to do with the Central Meridian, or all-sky accessability issues as a German Equatorial may need to be reversed on its' Declination Axis when traversing through & past the Central Meridian. BTW, Notice the spelling: equAtorial (not equItorial) refers to the Earths' Equator & thus also the Equator of the Celestial Sphere along which Right Ascention is delineated.