Locating The Celestial Pole - Meade LX70 Series Instruction Manual

Locating the Celestial Pole

In the northern Hemisphere, find the North Star
Polaris by facing North. To get basic bearings
at an observing location, take note of where the
Sun rises (East) and sets (West) each day. After
the site is dark, face North by pointing your left
shoulder toward where the Sun set. To precise-
ly point at the pole, find the North Star (Polaris)
by using the Big Dipper as a guide (See figure
below).
In the southern Hemisphere, you align the
mount to the southern celestial pole. To do this
it is necessary to reference star patterns since
the southern celestial pole has no nearby bright
stars. The closest bright star to the south celes-
tial pole is Sigma Octanis, which is about one
degree away. Using Sigma Octanis and other
bright stars will help you locate the pole.
Toward Toward
True North True North
Side Side
View View
Figure 30: RA Polar Axis
toward True North (Polaris)
Little Dipper
Big Dipper
Figure 32 : Finding Polaris (North Star) For Northern
Hemisphere observers
Toward Toward
True North True North
Top View Top View
Figure 31: RA Polar Axis
toward True North (Polaris)
Polaris
(North Star) (North Star)
Cassiopeia
Pointer Pointer
Figure 29: Latitude Scale with pointer
14 14