What is the altazimuth type of telescope mount?
Any instrument with a magnification beyond 7 must have some form of mounting for precision. For small telescopes and more powerful types of binoculars, the altazimuth mount is commonly used, permitting vertical and horizontal movements simultaneously. The altazimuth mount is fine for low-power wide-field work, but it becomes increasingly difficult to keep objects inside the narrow field of view of a large telescope, and both axes of the mount require constant adjustment.
What is the equatorial type of telescope mount?
To overcome the problems of the altazimuth mount, astronomers generally prefer the equatorial types of telescope mount, which permits an object to be followed by the adjustment of one axis only. It has two axes-polar and declination placed at right angles to each other. The polar axis is permanently pole. Once the mount is set up, both axes are used to bring an object into the field of view. The declination axis is followed by slowly turning the telescope tube around the polar axis.