Advanced Polar Alignment Procedure for the Southern
Hemisphere
Northern observers/photographers have a great advantage when it comes to
performing a polar alignment. They have the naked-eye star Polaris situated just
2/3 of a degree from the North Celestial Pole. This makes a quick alignment of
an equatorial device like SAM very easy to accomplish. Just find Polaris and point
SAM so that you can see Polaris in the field of view of the
Polar Finder
view port.
Unfortunately there are no bright reference stars in the immediate vicinity of
the SCP, so the procedure to obtain a polar alignment is a bit more involved.
However, there is a small group of stars near the SCP that, while invisible to
the naked eye, can be seen in your
Polar Scope.
Once you have this group in
view, a precision polar alignment is just as easy to accomplish in the southern
hemisphere as it is in the north, thanks to the
Polar Clock
function included in
the Star Adventurer mini Console.
First Install the Polar Scope
[Refer to the photos on page 32.]
Carefully remove the
Rear Mounting Plate
from the back of SAM and insert your
Polar Scope
into the exposed hole. Attach the
Polar Scope 1/luminator
to the
other end. This will help make the reticule pattern in the
Polar Scope
eyepiece
more visible in dark conditions. Adjust the intensity of the illuminator by turning
the dial. Make it bright enough to see the reticule pattern, but not so bright as to
wash out your view of the faint stars near the SCP.
Performing a Coarse Polar Alignment in the Southern Hemisphere
The goal of the coarse polar alignment is to get your
Polar Scope
aimed near
enough to the SCP that you will be able to see a small group of four stars within
its field of view. We refer to these as the Sigma Octanis group, with Sigma
Octanis being the slightly brighter of the four, and always the one that is nearest
the SCP as the group rotates about the SCP over the course of 24 hours.
34
Attach the
Equatorial Wedge
(wedge) to your tripod via the 3/8 inch
mounting bolt (or using the 1/4 inch thread adapter if required).
Attach SAM to the
Equatorial Wedge.
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Back
Polar Clock Utility
Location
[ Northern Hemisphere
►
-t@IMIM:1"114
Local longitude
123
°
00'W
Local time
01 :30PM
Octans Position
Light On
SynScanWiFLa1281e
Light Ott
4.82V
Level the tripod so that the bubble level on the wedge is centred. A level tripod is
not a strict requirement, but it does make subsequent adjustments easier.
Turn the
Latitude Adjuster
to match the latitude of your location. This will angle
SAM to the correct altitude to obtain your coarse polar alignment. You can use
the Star Adventurer mini Console to get your latitude in
Settings> Location.
Find Acrux, then following a line from itto alpha Muscae, locate the next brightest
star, gamma Muscae. If you were to draw a line through Acurx and gamma
Muscae it would point very nearly to the SCP (see chart on previous page).
Raise your hand at arms length and spread your fingers so there is about an extra
finger space between each one. Put the tip of your little finger near gamma
Muscae and tilt your hand so that the tip of your thumb would be on a line that
connects it to gamma Muscae and Acrux.
Point your polar scope into to the region where the tip of your thumb had
been. If you pointed with reasonable accuracy, you should be able to see the
Sigma Octanis group in the field of view of the
Polar Scope.
If not, keep making
adjustments until you can using the altitude and azimuth adjusters on your
wedge.
Using the Sigma Octanis Clock Utility
Once you can see the Sigma Octanis group in your
Polar Scope
field of view you are
ready to fine-tune your polar alignment to the SCP.
Bring up the Star Adventurer mini Console and tap on the
Polar Clock Utility.
Tap on
Southern Hemisphere
if it is not already selected. This will bring up a
representation of the reticule in your
Polar Scope.
Rotate your
Polar Scope
to match the view in the
Polar Clock
utility. That is, rotate it
so that the representation of the Sigma Octanis group in your
Polar Scope
has the
same orientation as shown in the
Polar Clock
utility.
Using the fine-tuning knobs on your wedge adjust it until the stars of the Sigma
Octanis group as seen in the
Polar Scope
match their representations as shown
in the app.
35
