5.6: Telescope Mounts
Telescope Mount is the telescope’s support structure. The two main types of telescope mounts are alt-azimuth and equatorial mounts. The Alt-azimuth mounts move in two directions: left to right, or up and down. The word “alt-azimuth” is a combination of altitude and azimuth. Equatorial mounts track the apparent motion of the stars by aligning one of its axes parallel to Earth’s axis.
Go-To Telescope Mounts
Go-To’s telescope mounts enable the telescope to find objects in the sky using a microprocessor, encoders and motors. A Global Positioning System (GPS) as a part of the Go-To system tells the mount and microprocessor where the telescope is located, what objects are visible, and where they are in the sky.