Get Lx850 German Equatorial Mount Telescope System

An equatorial mount is any type of mount that has an axis parrallel to the earth's axis so that simple rotation will track the stars. A German Equatorial Mount is a specific type of equatorial mount. A fork mount on a wedge like many SCT's have is another type of equatorial mount.

Setting up your equatorial mount The scope and mount head sit on a TRIPOD. ... Place the MOUNT HEAD onto the top of the tripod. ... Screw the COUNTERWEIGHT bar into the mount head. ... The RA axis needs to point up to the north celestial pole. ... Fit a SLOW MOTION CABLE onto the small D-shaped shafts on the RA and the Dec.

German Equatorial Mounts, or GEMs, are the ideal choice for deep sky astrophotography as well as planetary astrophotography with a telescope. Although GEMs come in many shapes and sizes, they all have a few things in common: these mounts employ a counterweight system to offset the weight of the telescope.

An equatorial mount works by having one axis – known as the polar or RA axis – aligned with Earth's rotational axis, and therefore the rotation of the celestial sphere. You can achieve this by using a small instrument called a polarscope, which sits inside the mount along the polar axis.

A tracking telescope mount used for astrophotography. An equatorial telescope mount (often called a German equatorial mount, or “GEM”) that has been accurately polar aligned with the polar axis of the Earth can follow a particular object in the night sky for an extended period of time.

Computerized equatorial mounts and alt-azimuth mounts both track the motion of the stars and celestial objects, but they do so in different ways. Alt-azimuth mounts track in iterative up/down - left/right movements. Equatorial mounts are essentially alt-azimuth mounts but tilted at an angle based on your GPS longitude.