Originally posted on telescopemount.org.

Alt-Az astrophotography from Arizona.

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In the autumn of 2020, I noticed quite a few great astrophotos on Instagram from @azastroguy. All the images were taken with a Panther telescope mount in Alt-Az mode. The guy behind these great images is Mark Johnston of Scottsdale, Arizona. I asked Mark if he could tell me a little about his images. Can an Alt-Az Mount produce good astrophotos? Yes! I have been an active amateur astronomer for decades but only began my first astrophotography in June 2020, so keep in mind these photos were taken by a relative beginner. 100% of my photos are taken with the TTS-160 Alt-Az mount. First of all, I’d like to say the mount is awesome as a visual mount. Portable, rugged, […]

Planet observations using an Alt-Az mount – advantages and considerations

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When observing and imaging the moon, the sun and the planets you need a mount that can track the object fairly precisely. Generally speaking, you can use either an Alt-Az mount or a polar aligned mount (GEM or fork). Here I will look at how an Alt-Az mount can be used and how it compares to a polar-aligned mount for this kind of observation. It is important to remember that an Alt-Az mount is not necessarily (even though it often is so) of a lower production quality than a polar aligned mount.   Setting up for planet observations Setting up an Alt-Az mount is faster and easier than setting up a polar aligned mount. The basic steps are: Setup the tripod/pier and mount head […]

Comet NEOWISE is here – how to set up your mount and telescope for twilight observations

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Comet NEOWISE is making a great show right now. It passed closest to the sun on July 3rd and is now slowly moving away from the sun. This means we have to observe the comet very low in the sky. This is absolutely normal for comets but it put some demands on us observers. 1. Find an observation spot with a free horizon in the comet’s direction Find the comet position for the planned observation time and find the Azimuth direction.  TheSkylive.com is fine for this kind of planning. Using the Azimuth direction look at Google Maps and find an observation spot where you have a free view in that direction. Google Streetview can help estimate the local horizon. 2. Bring your mount and […]

Galaxy hunting with Eye and Camera

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The winter sky with the many gas nebulas has disappeared in the western twilight. In an earlier post – Fast Deep Sky Imaging – I described how these large objects could be imaged with fast optical systems with limited focal length and large field of view. In springtime our view points away from the Milky Way arms and we get a free look at myriads of distant galaxies. Observing and imaging galaxies is a quite different matter as you can read in this post. Galaxies and dark sky For most unskilled visual observers Galaxies are faint hazy spots. If you try to observe galaxies from a light-polluted place and don’t give you the time it takes to learn to really see these faint objects – all you […]

Guiding the Panther Alt-Az mount with PHD2

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PHD2 is a fantastic tool for guiding our telescope mounts. Most of the basic features and settings were created with a German Equatorial Mount in mind. Using it with an Alt-AZ mount is just as precise, as long as you have the right settings. In this post, I will explain how to set up PHD2 when using an alt-az mount with a special focus on the Panther mount, but the general aspects will be the same for all Alt-Az mounts. Two simple terms you need to know PHD2 was created with Equatorial mounts in mind. Therefore PHD2 uses the terms Right Ascension axis and Declination axis. When guiding an Alt-Az […]

Fast Deep Sky Imaging – fast optics, fast mount

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Too many clouds – too little clear sky – what can you do   In Denmark we have few clear nights and from May to August we have light summer nights. So the nights where I can image the sky – as I love to do – are few. What to do about it?   Some people invest in remote observatory facilities – but that is not really me. I enjoy too much being out with the telescope under the clear sky. Instead, I decided to try how I could get the most from the limited clear sky hours I had. The focus has been on: A fast optical system and A pixel scale to give the best sensitivity One Shot Color camera […]

THE CELESTIAL POLAR REGION TEST – learn how to test your telescope and mount using the polar region.

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In this post, I will introduce a technique to test your telescope/camera system independent of the telescope mount and at the same time get information about your mount  – if you have any questions or comments send me an email.   What you can learn from this post The sky area around the celestial pole rotates very slowly How untracked pictures of this region show the true optical performance of your telescope. Find the guide tolerances needed to get pinpoint stars with your setup How to analyse your star images/profiles using PixInsight Relevant for all kinds of AP mounts (Alt/Az, […]

Simple day time alignment of your Alt-Az mount using a terrestrial object

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At times it could be great to set up the telescope mount in the daytime. Generally, this is not possible when you can’t see any stars. In this post, I will describe a method to align the mount precisely in the daytime. Sometimes on a nice sunny day, you would like to observe the sun or the brighter planets – Mercury and Venus. Unless you have a fixed installation in an observatory this can be difficult, as you can’t easily spot the planets with the naked eye. Using the principle described below, you will be able to align your mount during the day and make goto’s directly to the brighter planets and even the brighter stars can be seen in broad daylight. The basic idea of using a terrestrial object I got […]

VIDEO: Talk about THE MODERN ALT-AZ MOUNT held by Niels Haagh at The Practical Astronomy Show 2019

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This is a video recording of a talk about the Modern Alt-Az mount held at The Practical Astronomy Show in March 2019. Actually, the recording was made a few weeks later when I repeated the talk at The Astronomical Society of Copenhagen. Unfortunately, the video quality is not perfect but I hope it can be useful anyway. The video is rather long so here is the timing if you want to jump to certain sections: Introduction My Journey into amateur astronomy (01:24) Comparison of Polar aligned and Alt-Az Mounts (05:05) Summing up the Comparison (19:12) Alt-Az short exposure Astrophotography (20:39) Alt-Az long exposure Astrophotography (30:41) Summing up (38:30). […]

Alt-Az mounts for long exposure astrophotography – Camera rotators

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In this post we will look at the most advanced type of Alt-Az astrophotography using camera rotators – if you have any questions or comments, write them at the bottom of the page or send me an email. In the earlier post “Astrophotography with Alt-Az telescope mounts”, the possibilities for taking astrophotos with Alt-Az mounts were introduced. There are two basic approaches. 1. Take multiple short exposures to eliminate the effects of field rotation (read more) 2. Use a rotator device to rotate the camera and achieve precise equatorial tracking If you wonder why we want to image with an Alt-Az mount see this post “The modern Alt-Az telescope mount – Easy, fast and precise” The first […]