Celestron nexstar 5 Instruction Manual
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Celestron nexstar 5 Instruction Manual

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  • Page 2: Table Of Contents

    INTRODUCTION ..........................4 ............................. 4 ARNING QUICK SETUP............................5 ASSEMBLING THE NEXSTAR ......................8 Powering the NexStar........................8 The Hand Control ..........................9 The Star Diagonal ........
  • Page 3 ........................28 BSERVING THE ........................28 BSERVING THE LANETS ........................... 29 BSERVING THE ......................29 BSERVING BJECTS ..........................29 EEING ONDITIONS Transparency ..........................29 Sky Illumination ........

  • Page 4: Introduction

    Congratulations on your purchase of the Celestron NexStar! The NexStar ushers in a whole new generation of computer automated technology. Simple and friendly to use, the NexStar is up and running after locating just two alignment stars. It’s the perfect combination of power and portability. If you are new to astronomy, you may wish to start off by using the NexStar's built-in Sky Tour feature, which commands the NexStar to find the most interesting objects in the sky and automaticall slews to each one.

  • Page 5: Quick Setup

    Use the direction *Note: Use only the AC adapter supplied b arrow keys to level the tube and rotate it towards Celestron. Using any other adapter may North. (See Astronomy Basics for help on finding damage the electronics and will void your North).
  • Page 6 APPENDIX C LONGITUDE LATITUDE degrees min degrees min Torrance 19.8 Travis AFB 55.8 16.2 Tahoe 19.2 The first time the NexStar is used, the longitude and latitude must be entered into the hand control. When the display reads, Select Location, use Appendix C to look up the longitude an Catalog Keys latitude of your nearest city and enter it into the hand control.
  • Page 7 Figure 1-A - The NexStar Optical Tube Focuser Knob Star Pointer Finderscope Battery Compartment Eyepiece ON/OFF Switch Star Diagonal Hand Control Liquid Crystal Display...

  • Page 8: Assembling The Nexstar

    The NexStar comes completely pre-assembled and can be operational in a matter of minutes. The NexStar is convenientl packaged in one reusable shipping carton that contains all of the following accessories ¼ • 25mm Plossl Eyepiece – 1 " • 1¼"...

  • Page 9: The Hand Control

    The hand control is located on the side of the fork arm and can be removed and used remotely or used while attached to the fork. The hand control attaches to the fork arm by resting on two posts, located on the bottom of the hand control cradle, and a clip inside the fork arm.

  • Page 10: The Star Pointer Finderscope

    The Star Pointer is the quickest and easiest way to point your telescope exactly at a desired object in the sky. It's like having a laser pointer that you can shine directly onto the night sky. The Star Pointer is a zero magnification pointing tool that uses a coated glass window to superimpose the image of a small red dot onto the night sky.
  • Page 11 Locate a bright star or planet and center it in a low power eyepiece in the main telescope. With both eyes open, look through the glass window at the alignment star. If the Star Pointer is perfectly aligned, you will see the red LED dot overlap the alignment star. If the Star Pointer is not aligned, take notice of where the red dot is relative to the bright star.

  • Page 12: Hand Control

    The NexStar has a removable hand controller built into the side of the fork arm designed to give you instant access to all the functions the NexStar has to offer. With automatic slewing to over 18,000 objects, and common sense menu descriptions, even a beginner can master its variety of features in just a few observing sessions.

  • Page 13: Hand Control Operation

    Messier – Complete list of all Messier objects. NGC – Complete list of all the deep-sky objects in the Revised New General Catalog. Caldwell – A combination of the best NGC and IC objects. Planets - All 8 planets in our Solar System plus the Sun. Stars –...
  • Page 14                               message will appear in the top row of the display. Use the up and down scroll keys (10) to select the star you wish to use for the first alignment star.

  • Page 15: Object Catalog

    as an alignment star. (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 Star Pointer and the eyepiece). After the first alignment star has been entered the NexStar will automatically slew to a second alignment star and have you repeat this      ...

  • Page 16: Slewing To An Object

    Once the desired object is displayed in the hand control screen, you have two options Press the INFO Key. This will give you useful information about the selected object such as R.A. and declination, magnitude and most importantly, altitude above the horizon. (If a star alignment has not yet been performed, the altitude will not be displayed).

  • Page 17: Direction Buttons

    The NexStar has four direction buttons in the center of the hand control which control the telescope motion in altitude (up and down) and azimuth (left and right). The telescope can be controlled at nine different speed rates. Pressing the RATE key (11) allows you to instantly change the speed rate of the motors from high speed slew rate to precise guiding rate or anywhere in between.

  • Page 18: Tracking Rate

    Used to track the sky when the telescope is polar aligned using an EQ North equatorial wedge in the Northern Hemisphere. EQ South Used to track the sky when the telescope is polar aligned using an equatorial wedge in the Southern Hemisphere. When using the telescope for terrestrial (land) observation, the tracking can be turned off so that the telescope never moves.

  • Page 19: Get Ra/Dec

    To replace the contents of any of the user defined objects, simply save a new object using one of the existing identification numbers; NexStar will replace the previous user defined object with the current one. Get RA/DEC - Displays the right ascension and declination for the current position of the telescope. Get Alt-A - Displays the relative altitude and azimuth for the current position of the telescope.

  • Page 20: Hand Control Command Tree

    NexStar Ready M ENU AL IG NM ENT L IST T RAC KING M ODE AUT O AL IG N N A M E D S TA R N A M E D O B JE C T D O U B L E S TA R A L T -A Z P O IN T TU B E N O R TH &...

  • Page 21: Telescope Basics

    A telescope is an instrument that collects and focuses light. The nature of the optical design determines how the light is focused. Some telescopes, known as refractors, use lenses. Other telescopes, known as reflectors, use mirrors. The Schmidt-Cassegrain optical system (or Schmidt-Cass for short) uses a combination of mirrors and lenses and is referred to as a compound or catadioptric telescope.

  • Page 22: Focusing

    1.04° by 52.5. This produces a linear field width of 54.6 feet at a distance of one thousand yards. The apparent field of each eyepiece that Celestron manufactures is found in the Celestron Accessory Catalog...

  • Page 23: General Observing Hints

    When working with any optical instrument, there are a few things to remember to ensure you get the best possible image. • Never look through window glass. Glass found in household windows is optically imperfect, and as a result, may vary in thickness from one part of a window to the next.

  • Page 24: Astronomy Basics

    Up to this point, this manual covered the assembly and basic operation of your NexStar telescope. However, to understand your telescope more thoroughly , you need to know a little about the night sky. This section deals with observational astronomy in general and includes information on the night sky and polar alignment. To help find objects in the sky, astronomers use a celestial coordinate system that is similar to our geographical coordinate system here on Earth.

  • Page 25: Motion Of The Stars

    The daily motion of the Sun across the sky is familiar to even the most casual observer. This daily trek is not the Sun moving as early astronomers thought, but the result of the Earth's rotation. The Earth's rotation also causes the stars to do the same, scribing out a large circle as the Earth completes one rotation.

  • Page 26: Polar Alignment ( With Optional Wedge )

    Even though the NexStar can precisely track a celestial object while in the Alt-Az position, it is still necessary to align the polar axis of the telescope (the fork arm) to the Earth's axis on rotation in order to do long exposure astro photography.

  • Page 27: Finding The North Celestial Pole

    In each hemisphere, there is a point in the sky around which all the other stars appear to rotate. These points are called the celestial poles and are named for the hemisphere in which they reside. For example, in the northern hemisphere all stars move around the north celestial pole.

  • Page 28: Celestial Observing

    See the "Seeing Conditions" section later in this section. • To increase contrast and bring out detail on the planetary surface, try using Celestron eyepiece filters.

  • Page 29: Observing The Sun

    Although overlooked by many amateur astronomers, solar observation is both rewarding and fun. However, because the Sun is so bright, special precautions must be taken when observing our star so as not to damage your eyes or your telescope. Never project an image of the Sun through the telescope. Because of the folded optical design, tremendous heat build- up will result inside the optical tube.

  • Page 30: Seeing

    Seeing conditions refers to the stability of the atmosphere and directly affects the amount of fine detail seen in extended objects. The air in our atmosphere acts as a lens which bends and distorts incoming light rays. The amount of bending depends on air density.

  • Page 31: Celestial Photography

    Short exposure prime focus photography is the best way to begin recording celestial objects. It is done with the camera attached to the telescope without an eyepiece or camera lens in place. To attach your camera you need the Celestron T- Adapter (#93633-A) and a T-Ring for your specific camera (i.e., Minolta, Nikon, Pentax, etc.).

  • Page 32: Eyepiece Projection

    • T-Max 100 • T-Max 400 • Any 100 to 400 ISO color slide film • Fuji Super HG 400 • Ektar 25 or 100 Center the Moon in the field of your NexStar telescope. Focus the telescope by turning the focus knob until the image is sharp. Set the shutter speed to the appropriate setting (see table below).

  • Page 33: Long Exposure Prime Focus Photography

    Advance the film and you're ready for your next shot. Keep in mind that the card should be held a few inches in front of the telescope, and not touching it. It is easier if you use two people for this process; one to release the camera shutter and one to hold the card.
  • Page 34 To accomplish this you need a guiding ocular with an illuminated reticle to monitor your guide star. For this purpose, Celestron offers the Micro Guide Eyepiece (#94171) Here is a brief summary of the technique.

  • Page 35: Photography

    Due to the relative small size of the CCD chip, the field of view when imaging will be less than the field of view of a film camera. Using Celestron's optional f/6.3 Reducer/Corrector accessory in conjunction with a CCD camera (or film camera) will greatly increase the photographic field of view and...

  • Page 36: Telescope Maintenance

    This will prevent contaminants from entering the optical tube. Internal adjustments and cleaning should be done only by the Celestron repair department. If your telescope is in need of internal cleaning, please call the factory for a return authorization number and price quote.
  • Page 37 To verify collimation, view a star near the zenith. Use a medium to high power ocular — 12mm to 6mm focal length. It is important to center a star in the center of the field to judge collimation. Slowly cross in and out of focus and judge the symmetry of the star.

  • Page 38: Optional Accessories

    Celestron offers SMA eyepieces in 1-1/4" sizes in the following focal lengths: 6mm, 10mm, 12mm, 17mm and 25mm.
  • Page 39 Planisphere (#93720) - A simple and inexpensive tool for all levels of observers, from naked eye viewers to users of highl sophisticated telescopes. The Celestron Planisphere makes it easy to locate stars for observing and is a great planet finder as well.
  • Page 40 Skylight Filter (#93621) - The Skylight Filter is used on the Celestron NexStar telescope as a dust seal. The filter threads onto the rear cell of your telescope. All other accessories, both visual and photographic (with the exception of Barlow lenses), thread onto the skylight filter.

  • Page 41: Appendix A - Technical Specifications

    Design Schmidt-Cassegrain Catadioptric Aperture 5 inches (127mm) Focal Length 50 inches (1250mm) F/ratio of the Optical System Primary Mirror: Material Fine Annealed Pyrex Coatings Starbright Coatings - 5 step multilayer process Secondary Mirror: Material Hand Figured Fine Annealed Pyrex Coatings Starbright Coatings - 5 step multilayer process Central Obstruction 2”...

  • Page 42: Appendix B - Glossary Of Terms

    Absolute magnitude The apparent magnitude that a star would have if it were observed from a standard distance of 10 parsecs, or 32.6 light-years. The absolute magnitude of the Sun is 4.8. at a distance of 10 parsecs, it would just be visible on Earth on a clear moonless night away from surface light. Airy disk The apparent size of a star's disk produced even by a perfect optical system.
  • Page 43 Focal length The distance between a lens (or mirror) and the point at which the image of an object at infinity is brought to focus. The focal length divided by the aperture of the mirror or lens is termed the focal ratio.
  • Page 44 Resolution The minimum detectable angle an optical system can detect. Because of diffraction, there is a limit to the minimum angle, resolution. The larger the aperture, the better the resolution. Right Ascension: (RA The angular distance of a celestial object measured in hours, minutes, and seconds along the Celestial Equator eastward from the Vernal Equinox.

  • Page 45: Appendix C -Longitudes And Latitudes

    LONGITUDE LATITUDE LONGITUDE LATITUDE LONGITUDE LATITUDE degrees degrees degrees degrees degrees degrees ALABAMA Blythe 43.2 37.2 Shelter Cove Anniston 34.8 Burbank 22.2 Siskiyou 28.2 46.8 Auburn 26.4 40.2 Campo 28.2 37.2 Stockton Birmingha 34.2 Carlsbad 16.8 Superior Val 19.8 Centreville Castle AFB 34.2 22.8...
  • Page 46 LONGITUDE LATITUDE LONGITUDE LATITUDE LONGITUDE LATITUDE degrees degrees degrees degrees degrees degrees Melbourne 37.8 Glenview 49.2 Grand Isle 10.8 Miami 16.8 49.2 High Island Naples Kankakee Houma 34.2 Nasa Shuttle 40.8 37.2 Macomb 39.6 31.2 Intercoastal 43.8 Orlando 19.2 25.8 Marion Lafayette Panama City...
  • Page 47 LONGITUDE LATITUDE LONGITUDE LATITUDE LONGITUDE LATITUDE degrees degrees degrees degrees degrees degrees Wurtsmith Ainsworth 58.8 34.8 Roswell 31.8 Ypsilanti 31.8 13.8 Alliance Santa Fe 37.2 MINNESOT Beatrice 19.2 Silver City 10.2 37.8 Albert Lea 22.2 40.8 Broken Bow 25.8 Socorro Alexandria 22.8 52.2...
  • Page 48 LONGITUDE LATITUDE LONGITUDE LATITUDE LONGITUDE LATITUDE degrees degrees degrees degrees degrees degrees OKLAHOMA Greenville San Angelo 22.2 Altus AFB 16.2 40.2 Mcentire 55.2 San Antonio 28.2 31.8 Ardmore Myrtle Beach 55.8 40.8 Sanderson 25.2 10.2 Bartlesville Shaw AFB 28.2 58.2 South Brazos 52.2 Clinton...
  • Page 49 LONGITUDE LATITUDE LONGITUDE LATITUDE LONGITUDE LATITUDE degrees degrees degrees degrees degrees degrees Walla Walla 16.8 Wh Sulphur 27.6 WYOMING Wenatchee WISCONSIN Big Piney 34.2 Whidbey Is Appleton 31.2 Casper 28.2 55.2 Yakima 31.8 34.2 Eau Claire 28.8 52.2 Cheyenne 49.2 WEST Green Bay 28.8...

  • Page 50: Appendix D - Rs-232 Connection

    To make a RS-232 connection with the NexStar , the hand control must be in RS-232 mode – which can be accessed through the Menu button. Once in the RS-232 mode, the hand control still has the following abilities • Direction buttons –...

  • Page 51: Appendix E - Maps Of Time Zones

    – –...
  • Page 59 CI. The Proper Return Authorization Number must be obtain ed from CI in advance of return. Call Celestron at (310) 328-9560 to receive the number to be displayed on the outside of your shipping container.
  • Page 60 Celestron International 2835 Columbia Street Torrance, CA 90503 Tel. (310) 328-9560 Fax. (310) 212-5835 Web site at http//www.celestron.com Copyright 1999 Celestron International All rights reserved. (Products or instructions may change without notice or obligation.) Item # 11031-INST 0899...

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