Coordinate Systems; The Horizon Coordinate System - Paramount Fitness ME II User Manual

Paramount User Guide

What are the differences between right ascension, azimuth and hour angle?

Why does the meridian matter when operating a GEM?

What exactly is synchronization?

What is homing and what does it actually do?

What is mount parking?

How does atmospheric refraction affect mount performance?

Why is polar alignment so important?
In addition to these basic questions, if you have never controlled a robotic GEM with TheSkyX Professional
Edition, please carefully read the following sections and then use TheSkyX Professional Edition's Telescope
Simulator feature before setting up, connecting to, and operating the Paramount.

Coordinate Systems

The three most common coordinate systems used when working with equatorial mountings are described
below. Making sure you understand the differences between each system now will really help
troubleshooting issues in the future.

The Horizon Coordinate System

The horizon or "horizontal" coordinate system is used to specify the position of celestial objects relative
to the local horizon.
Altitude
The altitude (alt) of an object is expressed as the number of degrees from the horizon (the ground at a
far distance) to the object, and is always between minus 90 and plus 90 degrees. Objects that have a
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Figure 1: The horizon-based altitude and azimuth coordinate system.