Finding Planets in the Daytime: Step-by-Step Telescope Alignment (JUPITER!), by Matt's Colorado Astro Adventures on YouTube. 28 min 57 s.
- Video length
- 28 min 57 s
- Time to do it
- 1 to 2 hours
- Difficulty
- Takes practice
- Steps
- 9
What you need
Steps
Fit a certified solar filter over the front of the telescope before you point it anywhere near the Sun. Check it is seated and undamaged.
Set the tripod down and level it with great care. Small leveling errors throw off the whole daytime pointing model.
Power the mount and connect your laptop to it in CPWI. Confirm the software sees the mount and the camera.
Point the scope at the Sun using the solar filter and run a solar alignment in CPWI to anchor the model.
Add a polarizing filter to the camera and adjust it to cut glare so the Sun's disk is evenly exposed.
Open SharpCap and use its grid search to sweep small areas of sky for the next alignment star, nudging the mount until it appears.
Add more alignment points one at a time to tighten the pointing model. Keep the mount shaded with a reflective cover so it does not overheat.
Let the scope settle to air temperature and refocus with the focus motor or EAF before you search for planets.
Slew to Jupiter's calculated position and grid-search again in SharpCap. Capture with color, red and infrared filters.
Tips and common mistakes
Never remove the solar filter while the scope is pointed at the Sun, and never look through the eyepiece at the Sun.
Level the tripod twice. A tiny tilt makes daytime grid searches much longer.
Shade the mount from direct sun or it can overheat and behave erratically.
Trust the software pointing model and search in small steps rather than scanning the whole sky by eye.
Questions
Can I do this without a camera?
It is very hard. The grid search relies on SharpCap showing you faint stars and the planet on screen, so a camera and laptop are effectively required.
Why use the Sun instead of a star?
The Sun is the only bright, easily found object in a daytime sky. Aligning to it gives CPWI a starting point to build the rest of the model.
Do I need a GoTo mount?
Yes. This method depends on CPWI and a Celestron GoTo mount that can be slewed and aligned by software.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
