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4. Once the two alignment stars have been entered and
alignment is complete, the hand controller will display
"Alignment Successful".
one‑star alignment
One-star alignment is the simplest and quickest alignment
method, as only one alignment star is required. Due to mini-
mal data input, however, a one-star alignment will not yield
optimal results unless polar alignment is very accurate, and
any cone error is minimized (see Appendix A). The descrip-
tion below will lead you on a step-by-step procedure on how
to perform the one-star alignment.
1. Access the alignment screen and select "1-Star Align"
using the scroll buttons. Press ENTER to confirm your
choice.
2. The Sirius EQ-G will provide a list of stars available in your
current sky for you to choose as the first alignment star.
Using the scroll buttons, choose a star you are familiar
with and press ENTER to confirm your choice. The Sirius
EQ-G will start slewing the telescope towards the chosen
star. When the telescope stops slewing, adjust its position
with the directional buttons until the star is centered in the
crosshairs of the finderscope. Now look in the eyepiece
and adjust the position of the telescope (using the direc-
tional buttons) so that the chosen star is centered in the
field of view of the eyepiece. Press ENTER to confirm the
star is centered.
3. Once the alignment star has been entered and alignment
is complete, the hand controller will display "Alignment
Successful".
object catalog
The Sirius EQ-G boasts a vast database of over 13,400 object
coordinates and information. The database contains the fol-
lowing catalogs:
Solar System: The other 8 planets of our solar system, and
our planets' Moon.
Named Star: A list of 100 popular known stars
NGC: 7,840 of the brightest deep sky objects from the
Revised New General Catalog.
IC: 5,386 of standard stars and deep sky objects from the
Index Catalog.
Messier: Complete list of all 110 Messier objects
Others: You can also scroll through lists of the celestial objects
organized by object type instead of catalog designation.
These type-specific catalogs include: Single Stars, Double
Stars, Globular Clusters, Uncertain Stars, Galaxies, Clusters
& Nebulae, Reflection Nebulae, Planetary Nebulae, Open
Star Clusters and User Defined (see "Using the User Defined
Database").
selecting an object
Once the telescope has been aligned, you can access and
view the 13,400 different objects in the Sirius EQ-G data-
base. There are three methods of selecting a celestial object
to view:
1. sHortcut Buttons
TOUR: Takes you on a preset tour across the night sky. The
brightest and most beautiful deep-sky objects will automati-
cally be chosen by the Sirius EQ-G for your viewing pleasure.
Use the scroll buttons to view the different deep-sky objects
that are available for viewing through the tour function. Choose
the desired object by pressing ENTER. The hand controller
will display the coordinate of the chosen object. Press ENTER
once more to have the telescope slew to the object.
M, NGC, IC: These shortcut buttons give you access to the
most popular celestial catalogs. Each catalog has a set num-
ber of objects to choose from. Use the numeric buttons to
select an object by entering its number. Pressing ENTER will
display its coordinate. Primary information such as size, mag-
nitude, and constellation are obtained by pressing the scroll
buttons. Press ENTER once more to have the telescope slew
to the chosen object.
PLANET: This shortcut button takes you straight to the Planets
submenu in the Sirius EQ-G database. Use the scroll buttons
to scroll through the list of planets in our solar system. Press
ENTER to display the chosen planet's coordinates, and press
ENTER once more to have the telescope slew to the planet. If
the planet you have chosen is currently below the horizon, the
hand controller will prompt you to make another choice.
USER: This shortcut button will take you to the database that
you have defined for yourself. You can enter a new location or
recall the objects that have been previously saved (see "Using
the User Defined Database").
2. oBJEct Button
You can choose to locate and slew to objects within a spe-
cific object-type catalog. The OBJECT button takes you to
the Objects Catalog, where you have complete access to
over 13,400 celestial objects in the database, categorized by
object type. Simply scroll through the object-type categories
using the scroll buttons and choose the category of object you
want to view. Press ENTER to confirm your choice. Use the
scroll buttons to choose an individual object within the cat-
egory and press ENTER a second time to display the object's
coordinate. Press ENTER once more to have the telescope
slew to the chosen object.
3. MEnu
You can also access the Objects Catalog through the Main
Menu. In the Main Menu, scroll down to Object Catalog and
press ENTER. Like the OBJECT key, this gives you complete
access to the 13,400 celestial objects in the Sirius EQ-G
database, categorized by object type.
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