Equatorial Mounting
Related Category: Astronomy: General
see telescope.
More on Equatorial Mounting
Telescope - traditionally, a system of lenses, mirrors, or both, used to gather light from a distant object and form an image of it.
Equatorial mounting- a telescope mounting which has one axis parallel to the Earth's rotational axis, so the motion of the heavens can be followed with a single movement ...
Equatorial Mounting
A telescope mounting that allows motion parallel to and perpendicular to the celestial equator.
Ergosphere ...
Equatorial mounting. A type of mounting for a telescope (or other instrument) which is set up so that one axis of motion is parallel to the Earth's axis.
Good Equatorial mountings tend to be bulky and heavy, making them less portable than some altazimuth designs (often have to be broken down into many smaller components for transport).
The first equatorial mounting, in which one axis, called the polar axis, is parallel to the axis of the earth, is ascribed to the British astronomer William Lassell (1799-1880).
Figure 5 - the equatorial mounting - fork design
Finder telescope
Essentially a "rifle-scope", this auxiliary telescope's wide field of view allows you to locate objects at the limit of vision and thence into the main 'scope.
It has an English equatorial mounting so that, by the aid of a small motor, it can be kept pointing at a fixed point in space, such as a star, as the Earth rotates on its axis. For this reason it is also known as the Great Equatorial Telescope.
No part of the equatorial mounting is shown in the figure, as it resembles in every respect the usual Fraunhofer mounting. An adapter h is fixed on a telescope-tube, made of wood, in Fraunhofer's usual fashion.
To track an object across the sky with such an arrangement demands that the telescope move simultaneously around two axes - a complication that, in the past, led to an overwhelming preference for equatorial mountings.
But the floodgates of asteroid discovery opened wide once photographic cameras teamed up with telescopes with stable equatorial mountings, driven by clockwork.
The mirror weighs 4,361kg, and is supported by a polar disc/fork type equatorial mounting. The total weight of the telescope is around 90 tonnes. The f/3.
Kuo Shou-Ching builds the first torquetum, the first astronomical device to use an equatorial mounting.
1276
Chinese astronomer Zhou Kung sets up a 12 metre gnomon for measuring the sun’s shadow.
Parallax Instruments
Manufacturer of precision Newtonian and Classical Cassegrain astronomical telescopes, German equatorial mountings, tripods, and custom portable or permanent observatory welded steel piers.
The replacement instrument is not an exact replica of the original, but is styled very much along the lines of typical nineteenth century refractors. The intention is to fully restore the massive Grubb equatorial mounting and use it to carry the ...
Equator so equatorial objects attract a lot of attention in astronomy. Indeed, some telescopes are built in such a way as to allow equatorial objects to be followed easily and those kinds of telescopes are said to have an "equatorial ...
 See also: Equator, Telescope, Sky, Astronomy, Time
  
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