For astronomers and astrophotographers using equatorial style mounts with polar scopes.
Polar alignment is essential for the proper functioning of telescopes and cameras mounted on equatorial style mounts. If the mount is not aligned to the polar axis, the images created from long exposures will have trails. The quickest and simplest way to achieve polar alignment is with the aid of a polar scope. In the northern hemisphere you need to position Polaris in the polar scope as indicated by the app. In the southern hemisphere you need to position Polaris Australis (Sigma Octans) as indicated by the app.
Polaris in the northern hemisphere is fairly bright and easy to identify. Polaris Australis, however, is not bright (magnitude 5.44 which is 25 times fainter than Polaris) and not visible to the naked eye (unless you have exceptional eyesight). When viewed through a polar scope it is just one of many stars of similar brightness making it difficult to use the polar scope to align your mount. LLA Polar Scope helps by displaying the positions of nearby nearby stars forming a recognisable asterism.
Features;
- Reticle for iOptron polar scopes
- Northern Hemisphere displays location of Polaris
- Southern Hemisphere displays location of Chi Octans, Sigma Octans, CG Octans, Tau Octans, Upsilon Octans.
- Provides field of view for 6 degree and 8 degree polar scopes.