Overview Of Popular Alignment Methods - Celestron NexStar SE Series Instruction Manual

OVERVIEW OF POPULAR ALIGNMENT METHODS

SKYALIGN
SkyAlign is the easiest way to get your NexStar aligned and
ready to observe Even if you do not know a single star in
the sky, the NexStar+ hand control will have you aligned in
minutes by asking for basic information like the date, time and
location Then simply point the telescope at any three bright
celestial objects You don't need to know the names of the
objects They can be stars, planets, or even the Moon Once
SkyAlign is complete, the telescope is ready to find and track
any of the objects in its database
Before you begin SkyAlign, set up your telescope in an outside location with all its accessories (eyepiece, diagonal and
finderscope) attached and the lens cover removed Make sure that the tripod is leveled To begin:
1 Power on the telescope by flipping the switch located at the base of the fork arm
2 Press ENTER to choose SkyAlign Pressing ALIGN will bypass the other alignment options and the scrolling text and
automatically begin SkyAlign
3 Press ENTER again and the hand control will default to the time setting Press BACK to temporarily bypass this setting The hand
control display will then ask for the following time/site information:
LOCATION
• Use the SCROLL UP and SCROLL DOWN buttons to select City Database or Custom Site City Database will allow you to
select the closest city to your observing site from a list of either international or U S location Custom Site allows you to enter
the exact longitude and latitude of your observing site Your location will be saved in the hand control's memory and automatically
displayed the next time you align To choose a location city, select City Database and press ENTER
• The hand control will allow you to choose from either U S or international locations For a listing of U S locations by state
and then by city, press ENTER while United States is displayed For international locations, use the SCROLL UP or SCROLL
DOWN buttons to select International and press ENTER
• Use the SCROLL UP and SCROLL DOWN buttons to choose your current state (or country if International locations was
selected) from the alphabetical listing and press ENTER
• Use the SCROLL UP and SCROLL DOWN buttons to choose the closest city to your location from the list and press ENTER
• Alternately, if you know your observing sites exact coordinates you can achieve greater alignment accuracy by entering your
local coordinates using the Custom Site option
• Once the location is established, the display will ask the current time
TIME
• Enter the current time in your time zone You can enter either the local time (i e 8:00), or you can enter military time (i e 20:00)
• Select PM or AM (If military time was entered, the hand control will bypass this step )
• Choose Standard time or Daylight Saving time by using the SCROLL UP and SCROLL DOWN buttons to toggle
between options
• Select the time zone that you are observing from Again, use the SCROLL UP and SCROLL DOWN buttons to scroll through
the choices For time zone information, refer to the Time Zone map in the appendix of this manual
DATE
• Enter the month, day, and year of your observing session The display will read: mm/dd/yy
NOTE: If you make a mistake when entering information into the hand control, the BACK button will act as a backspace so that
you can re-enter information.
HINT: The next time you align your telescope, the hand control will automatically display the last location (either a city or
coordinates) that was entered. Press ENTER to accept these parameters if they still apply. Press the BACK button to
select a new city location or coordinates.
10 I
ENGLISH
To watch How to use Sky Align to Align your Telescope,
click on the image above