RA DEC to ALT AZ

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Michael131313 Mexico
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RA DEC to ALT AZ

#1

Post by Michael131313 »


Does anyone know an easy way to find ALT AZ from RA DEC. Is there an easy way? Thanks.
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ngcjim United States of America
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Re: RA DEC to ALT AZ

#2

Post by ngcjim »


The easy way is to run your favorite planetarium program. I use The Sky X. Select an object and it show all this information. Obviously you can select / set any date-time you need.
If you want to compute it in code, I can send you that also.
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Re: RA DEC to ALT AZ

#3

Post by ARock »


What do you need it for? Or, how accurate do you need to be?

Stellarium displays both Alt,Az and Ra,Dec and you can search for a spot on the search menu using Position.
So, set the location and time when you want to observe. Search for a RA/Dec location. It will put a reticle at that location.
Now, Stellarium does not show the coordinates unless you select an object, so zoom in and find a star close to the reticle, click on it, and you can see the Alt,Az. Alternatively, enable the alt az grid lines, zoom in and you can read the labels on the grid lines.
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Re: RA DEC to ALT AZ

#4

Post by Graeme1858 »


Did you want to do the conversion on your computer or on your mobile phone? I used to use a very good phone app called Where is it when I had a Dobsonium.

A search reveals a number of sites that provide the service. This one looks ok:

http://www.convertalot.com/celestial_ho ... lator.html

Regards

Graeme
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Michael131313 Mexico
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Re: RA DEC to ALT AZ

#5

Post by Michael131313 »


Thanks everyone. I use Stellium as mentioned. But sometimes it won't have newer objects such as the brightening nova in Cassiopeia.
Thanks very much Graeme. Just what I was looking for.
ES AR 102 102mm, f/6.5, ES 254mm f/5 DOB, Obie 10x50, GSO SV 30mm, ES 68° 20mm, ES 82° 14mm, 11mm, 8.8 mm, 6.8mm, 4.7mm. Twilight 1 mount.
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Re: RA DEC to ALT AZ

#6

Post by ARock »


Michael131313 wrote: Wed May 12, 2021 3:57 pm Thanks everyone. I use Stellium as mentioned. But sometimes it won't have newer objects such as the brightening nova in Cassiopeia.
Thanks very much Graeme. Just what I was looking for.
Stellarium is slow to update the Novae list by default. You can go to the Bright Novae plugin on Stellarium and force an update of the list. You will then be able to search for the new Nova 1405 Cas.
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Scopes: Zhumell Z8, Meade Adventure 80mm, Bushnell 1300x100 Goto Mak.
Mount: ES EXOS Nano EQ Mount, DIY Arduino+Stepper drives.
AP: 50mm guidescope, AR0130 based guidecam, Canon T3i, UHC filter.
EPs: ES82 18,11,6.7mm, Zhumell 30,9mm FJ Ortho 9mm, assorted plossls, Meade 2x S-F Barlow, DGM NPB filter.
Binos: Celestron Skymaster 15x70 (Albott tripod/monopod), Nikon Naturalist 7x35.
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Michael131313 Mexico
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Re: RA DEC to ALT AZ

#7

Post by Michael131313 »


Thanks very much ARock.
ES AR 102 102mm, f/6.5, ES 254mm f/5 DOB, Obie 10x50, GSO SV 30mm, ES 68° 20mm, ES 82° 14mm, 11mm, 8.8 mm, 6.8mm, 4.7mm. Twilight 1 mount.
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Re: RA DEC to ALT AZ

#8

Post by turboscrew »


In Stellarium, you can also search a point with RA and DEC whether there is something or not.
I use that and ocular view in polar alignment. It shows in which direction Polaris is from the pole.
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