Keeping the Sun in the eyepiece

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denababy
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Keeping the Sun in the eyepiece

Post by denababy »

Hi there I have just spent a few hours setting up my eq3-2 tripod and Lunt 50ha, pointing to the North, I have marks on the floor put there one night after getting polar alignment I balanced everything as close as I could then using the hand controller I moved the scope to line it up with the Sun and set the hc to Solar tracking. I charged my battery over night. The reason I did it so very carefully was to try to have the tracking spot on so that when the clouds give us a decent break I can get some good data but sadly, although not a long way off it was off a bit. Anyone advise on how to get perfect tracking.


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Montana
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Re: Keeping the Sun in the eyepiece

Post by Montana »

You will never get perfect tracking but then it is not necessary either. If you are watching by eye then you can make tiny adjustments, if using a camera then sometimes a little drift can help eliminate Newton's Rings :) The amount it moves will not ruin your images as exposure time is so fast anyway. If however you want to take a timelapse and want to go away for 2hrs and leave it running then you would have to use a Hinode Solar guider. But I tend to sit and watch for 2 hrs instead and make micro adjustments (I like staring at the Sun).

This is how I align my tripod https://www.flickr.com/photos/alexandra ... 535593245/
Be sure to read all the comments!
Alexandra


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