Telescope mount

In astronomy, the telescope mount is an important part of the overall design of an operational telescope. Many sorts of mounts have been developed over the years, with the majority of effort being put into systems that can track the motion of the stars as the Earth rotates with a single motion.

Alt-az mounts

Main article: Altazimuth mount

The earliest types of mounts are today known as altitude-azimuth, or alt-az systems. The name refers to the way the system allows the telescope to be moved in altitude, up and down, or azimuth, side to side, as separate motions. They typically consisted of a two-prong fork with the mount is a simplified and very rugged alt-az mount that is relatively easy to build, and especially popular with large home-made telescopes that are difficult to support on more complex mounts.

• For many modern "Go-To" telescopes, manufactures have found it more efficient to replace complex equatorial mounts with simple alt-azimuth mounts, resulting in telescopes that tend to be more durable and easier to set up. The mounts are then augmented by inexpensive motors, electronics and software, to move the telescope on both axes as appropriate and keep it aligned.

Equatorial mounts

Main article: Equatorial mount

The introduction of the equatorial mount displaced most alt-az systems for many serious users. By tilting the horizontal base of an alt-az system up until it is parallel to Earth's equatorial plane, the azimuth rotation then swings the telescope in an arc that follows the stars as they move across the sky due to Earth's rotation. By attaching a simple clockwork mechanism to this axis, the equatorial system makes long observation easy. The German equatorial is the most popular form, consisting of two rods mounted in a T, with the telescope on the end of one of the T arms and the body tilted to match Earth's axis.