In For Better or Worse, Elizabeth is holding a star party for the residents of the Canadian village she is a schoolteacher in.

Today (November 2), she sights Polaris in the telescope, but the telescope seems to be at too low an angle for viewing Polaris considering how far north she is.

Her problem seems to be that her equatorial mount is not adjusted for her latitude. Her viewing angle on her equatorial alignment seems to suggest Polaris. They got that right, but probably by accident. But her equatorial mount seems like it's adjusted for Mexico, not Canada.

Look at that line of people waiting to glimpse Polaris through a 2" refractor. Imagine their disappointment when they realize it doesn't look much different in the telescope than with the naked eye.

Polaris is useful for orientation and rough aligning your telescope. But it is a boring telescopic object. She should be pointing at Mars or M13, or the Andromeda Galaxy.

And a different telescope wouldn't hurt either. That looks like it's the 180x telescope from WalMart. But it does seem to have an equatorial mount and a pretty nice tripod. She'd get a lot more "oooohhhh's" and "ahhhhhh's" if she spent the same amount of money on a Dob, and learned the sky well enough that she didn't need the star wheel she's holding to find Polaris.

Also, that guy who's screaming for everyone to turn off their flashlights is the most flashlight-offensive person at the star party.

umm.. folks..
it's only a cartoon..

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Liz also needed a chart to find the Big Dipper.

Anyway, I'd go to any star party with hot chocolate & marshmellows.

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I've not looked at Polaris in a 2", but it's a very nice double in a 4".

If this is the biggest BA they have I think we should be very pleased.

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Hear hear.

You have to realize that nitpicking can only go so far. When you need an experienced expert to nitpick something that was meant for the general public, then it tends to get a little silly to nitpick it.

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