Telescope Mounts Explained
Basically, these mounts carry the weight of the telescope for smoother viewing of the heavens. That’s why after you have browsed through telescopes for sale, you should also give some thought to the kind of telescope mounts that you will be using. Usually, used telescopes for sale come with telescope mounts, too. Some Meade telescopes for sale also have telescope mounts thrown in with the package.
To better know which will be suited for your sky-viewing habits, here is a list of telescope mounts and their pros and cons.
Altazimuth Mounts
For the casual stargarzer, altazimuth telescope mounts are the best choice. They are very easy to use and the best way for beginner astronomy enthusiasts. Simply put, the altazimuth telescope mounts are placed on the ground and can be moved up or down or left to right. The astronomer moves the telescope mount according to which area he or she wants to observe.
The most famous altazimuth telescope mounts are the Dobsonian mounts. Astronomers say that this kind of telescope mounts work well with large aperture telescopes, such as an 8-inch or 12-inch ones. The only problem with them is that you have to manually move these telescope mounts in both axis, altitude and azimuth, to compensate for the earth’s rotation. This gets even harder the farther your target is to the celestial equator. This characteristic of altazimuth mounts also makes it harder to follow objects at a higher magnification and make them a poor choice for astrophotography.
Equatorial Mounts
Equatorial mounts are more complicated and heavy to use telescope mounts. Since they are more complex, it takes awhile and some expertise to set them up properly. When using equatorial telescope mounts, you have to set them up so that one axis is pointed to the celestial pole which is Polaris, or the North Star. It is actually similar to the altazimuth telescope mounts except that its azimuth axis is always pointing to the celestial pole.
Once the equatorial telescope mount is pointed to the celestial pole and you’ve found your target, however, it’s easygoing from that point. All you have to do is move the opposite axis or the declination axis to follow your target across the sky. This makes the equatorial mount as superior to the altazimuth telescope mounts. The equatorial telescope mounts make it a breeze to watch heavenly objects at higher magnifications. They also work well if you want to try out astrophotography.
These two kinds of telescope mounts do their jobs well of holding up your telescopes. It is really up to you to gauge your stargazing habits to see which one will work well for you.