A method for aligning a telescope, characterized by comprising: a) in a processor, establishing an arbitrary initial time value and an arbitrary initial date value without reference to an actual time and date; b) in the processor, establishing an arbitrary initial location value without reference to an actual location; c) in the processor, initializing a mount model based on the initial time, date, and location values, the mount model specifying a mathematical transform between a telescopic coordinate system and a celestial coordinate system; d) in the processor, measuring a pointing error for the mount model with respect to a plurality of alignment reference points, based on the time, date, and location values, and aggregating the measured pointing errors, the alignment reference points being a set of captured data for some number of positions of the telescope and the time values being calculated for each alignment reference point, based on the arbitrary time and location; and e) in the processor, iteratively adjusting at least one of the time, date, and location values to reduce the aggregate pointing error of the mount model; and f) performing at least one selected from the group consisting of: at an output device, outputting the mount model; storing the mount model in a storage device; and in the processor, applying the mount model to point the telescope; and wherein step e) further comprises: e.1) in a first phase, performing a coarse adjustment of the local sidereal time offset, and e.2) in a second phase, performing an iterative fine adjustment of the local sidereal time offset and/or the latitude by, for each iteration, checking the north/south misalignment and if the north/south polar misalignment is greater than a tolerance value, adjusting the mount model's latitude by the amount of the misalignment error, or if the north/south polar misalignment is less than or equal to the tolerance value, adjusting the local sidereal time offset in a direction depending upon the perceived slope of the aggregate pointing error. a) in a processor, establishing an arbitrary initial time value and an arbitrary initial date value without reference to an actual time and date; b) in the processor, establishing an arbitrary initial location value without reference to an actual location; c) in the processor, initializing a mount model based on the initial time, date, and location values, the mount model specifying a mathematical transform between a telescopic coordinate system and a celestial coordinate system; d) in the processor, measuring a pointing error for the mount model with respect to a plurality of alignment reference points, based on the time, date, and location values, and aggregating the measured pointing errors, the alignment reference points being a set of captured data for some number of positions of the telescope and the time values being calculated for each alignment reference point, based on the arbitrary time and location; and e) in the processor, iteratively adjusting at least one of the time, date, and location values to reduce the aggregate pointing error of the mount model; and f) performing at least one selected from the group consisting of: at an output device, outputting the mount model; storing the mount model in a storage device; and in the processor, applying the mount model to point the telescope; and wherein step e) further comprises: e.1) in a first phase, performing a coarse adjustment of the local sidereal time offset, and e.2) in a second phase, performing an iterative fine adjustment of the local sidereal time offset and/or the latitude by, for each iteration, checking the north/south misalignment and if the north/south polar misalignment is greater than a tolerance value, adjusting the mount model's latitude by the amount of the misalignment error, or if the north/south polar misalignment is less than or equal to the tolerance value, adjusting the local sidereal time offset in a direction depending upon the perceived slope of the aggregate pointing error. at an output device, outputting the mount model; storing the mount model in a storage device; and in the processor, applying the mount model to point the telescope; and wherein step e) further comprises: e.1) in a first phase, performing a coarse adjustment of the local sidereal time offset, and e.2) in a second phase, performing an iterative fine adjustment of the local sidereal time offset and/or the latitude by, for each iteration, checking the north/south misalignment and if the north/south polar misalignment is greater than a tolerance value, adjusting the mount model's latitude by the amount of the misalignment error, or if the north/south polar misalignment is less than or equal to the tolerance value, adjusting the local sidereal time offset in a direction depending upon the perceived slope of the aggregate pointing error. e.1) in a first phase, performing a coarse adjustment of the local sidereal time offset, and e.2) in a second phase, performing an iterative fine adjustment of the local sidereal time offset and/or the latitude by, for each iteration, checking the north/south misalignment and if the north/south polar misalignment is greater than a tolerance value, adjusting the mount model's latitude by the amount of the misalignment error, or if the north/south polar misalignment is less than or equal to the tolerance value, adjusting the local sidereal time offset in a direction depending upon the perceived slope of the aggregate pointing error.