Types of Altazimuth Telescope Mounts

An Altazimuth telescope mount has been around for decades, with ongoing improvements of course. But let's take a look at what an Altazimuth telescope mount is and what an Altazimuth mount does. We'll do this by looking at one experienced astronomer's telescope and the Altazimuth mount that is attached to it.

There are various types of Altazimuth mounts that you can use for your telescope and there really is nothing standard. Primarily it's a personal preference which Altazimuth you use, based on your experience with several.

The basic Altazimuth mounts have stepper motors that you attach both to the azimuth and elevation controls. These work with the computer control of the telescope. Another factor in which Altazimuth you use is what use you are making of your telescope.

If, for instance you are just doing amateur star gazing, you won't need a more sophisticated, and thus more costly Altazimuth mount. If, however, you want to actually doing some professional or advanced amateur tracking of satellites you'll want an Altazimuth mount whose reactions are considerably faster. Human made satellites, as we know, move much faster through the skies than stars, planets, or other natural space phenomena.

This astronomer, whose scientific stargazing spanned decades, first used an altazimuth that was a product of the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's Moonwatch program. This early altazimuth had actually been designed by Bausch & Lomb, for use by the U.S. military in its hand-held weapons.

About the only place you're going to find this particular Altazimuth telescope mount now is at the homes or office of retired Moonwatch employees.