5.
If the finderscope has been properly aligned with the telescope tube, the alignment star should now be visible inside the field of
view of the eyepiece. The hand control will ask that you center the bright alignment star in the center of the eyepiece and press
the ALIGN button. This will accept the star as the first alignment position. (There is no need to adjust the slewing rate of the
motors after each alignment step. The NexStar automatically selects the best slewing rate for aligning objects in both the
finderscope and the eyepiece).
6.
For the second alignment object, choose a bright star or planet as far as possible from the first alignment object. Once again use
the arrow button to center the object in the finderscope and press ENTER. Then once centered in the eyepiece press the ALIGN
button.
7.
Repeat the process for the third alignment star. When the telescope has been aligned to the final stars, the display will read
"Match Confirmed".
accept these three objects for alignment. You are now ready to find your first object.
Remember the following alignment guidelines to make using Sky Align as simple and accurate as possible.
•
Be sure to level the tripod before you begin alignment. The time/site information along with a level tripod will help the telescope
better predict the available bright stars and planets that are above the horizon.
•
Remember to select alignment stars that are as far apart in the sky as possible. For best results make sure that the third alignment
star does not lie in a straight line between the first two stars. This may result in a failed alignment.
•
Don't worry about confusing planets for stars when selecting alignment objects. SkyAlign works with the four brightest planets
(Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars) as well as the Moon. In addition to the planets, the hand control has over 80 bright alignment
stars to choose from (down to 2.5 magnitude).
•
Rarely SkyAlign will not be able to determine what three alignment objects were centered. This sometime happens when a
bright planet or the
object if possible.
•
Be sure to center the objects with the same final movements as the direction of the GoTo Approach. For example, if the scope
normally finishes a GoTo with the front of the scope moving right and up, you should center all three alignment objects in the
eyepiece using the right and up arrow buttons (the up/down arrows reverse at slew rates of 6 or lower). Approaching the star
from this direction when look
accurate alignment poss
Auto Two-Star Align
As with Sky Align, Auto Two-Star Align requires you to enter all the necessary time/site information as before.
entered, NexStar will prompt you to select and point the telescope at one known star in the sky. The NexStar now has all the information
it needs to automatically choose a second star that will assure the best possible alignment. Once selected the telescope will automatically
s
lew to that second alignment star to complete the alig
lev led, follow the steps below to align the telescope:
e
1.
Once the NexStar is powered on , Press ENTER to begin alignment.
2.
Use the Up and Down scroll keys (10) to select Auto Two-Star Align and press ENTER.
3.
The hand control will display the last time and location information that was entered into the hand control. Use the Up and Down
b
uttons to scroll through the information. Press ENTER to accept the current information
information (see Sky Align section for detailed instruction on entering time/site information).
4.
T
he display will now prompt you to select a bright star from the disp
9 on the keypad) to scroll to the desired star and then press ENTER.
5
.
Use the arrow buttons to slew the telescope to th
center the star in the eyepiece and press ALIGN.
6.
Based on this information, the NexStar will automatically display the most suitable second alignment star that is above the horizon.
Press ENTER to automatically slew the telesco
it is behind
a tree or building), you can either:
Press UNDO to display the names of the three bright objects you aligned to, or press ENTER to
Tips for Using Sky Align
Moon passes near one of the brighter stars. In situations like these it is best to try to avoid aligning to either
ing through the eyepiece will eliminate much of the backlash between the gears and assure the most
ible.
nment. With the NexStar set up outside with all accessories attached and the tripod
e star you selected. Center the star in the finderscope and press ENTER. Finally,
pe to the displayed star. If for some reason you do not wish to select this star (perhaps
layed list on the hand control. Use Up and Down buttons (6 and
13
Once this information is
or press UNDO to manually edit the