Overlays for star charts

"Shawn Grant" wrote in message
...
Here is how to make overlays and find objects with them.
[snip]
The night sky is represented as a globe simular to the Earths grid. There
[snip]
There are other things you need to know and that is field of view of your
eyepiece, finder and Telrad.
[snip]
Making and using overlays greatly helps one find object. One of the best
[snip]
Overlays will help you know where to aim your Telrad in relation to the
stars and let you know what stars are in the field of your finder scope
and
eyepiece. It takes the guesswork out and makes it harder to get lost.

If you continue with this kind of encouragement in your posts, you'll do a
lot more to promote your ideas on how to better enjoy the hobby. Keep it up.

I enjoyed the read, and the practical astronomy. My SA2000 came with the
overlay that has the grid and the Telrad circle, although I have to admit
that I don't get enough practice. If something is pretty easy to find (i.e.
relatively bright in the XT10), I'll hop it, otherwise I won't waste all
night, preferring to take a second run at it some other time with the DSC
driven 8" SCT. Often times being in the right place with the clock driven
scope allows one more time to study the area against the charts, until the
object appears. Once you've seen it the first time, it becomes easier to
see, thus easier to find on a hop.

But in no way am I saying I prefer DSCs to star-hopping (actually I don't
have a preference one way or the other). I will say that my favorite "first
look" star-hop was the the Intergalactic Wanderer. There are several others,
and the more I accumulate, the better I feel about it. Just like counting
the days as non-smoker, or as a substance abuse addict in recovery. The more
hops you put behind you, the stronger and more confident you become.

(Gee, I wonder if I'm a DSC/GoTo addict making just beginning the road to
recovery. I don't really think so, although some co-worker/fellow amateurs
thought I needed an intervention for reasons of excessive purchases, when I
started talking about buying a CGE-1400. g)

-Stephen

I enjoyed the read, and the practical astronomy. My SA2000 came with the
overlay that has the grid and the Telrad circle, although I have to admit
that I don't get enough practice.

The only problem I have with printed charts is the very fact that they
are arranged/plotted in RA/DEC. Yes, I do understand why.

I find it much easier to print charts from my favorite computer app
(which is SkyMap Pro for me) in ALT/AZ with the target(s) in the
center of the chart with the horizon straight down. That way, I have
less coordinate transformations to perform in my head while I'm
searching for the target. :-)

I can look at the ALT/AZ plot and immediately see that, ok, I need to
go slightly up and left of this or that star.

---
Michael McCulloch

I can look at the ALT/AZ plot and immediately see that, ok, I need to
go slightly up and left of this or that star.

This is true of course. But the disadvantage is such charts only work for a
specific location and time.

-Florian