Polar Align; Observing - Celestron NexStar SE Series Instruction Manual

POLAR ALIGN

The Polar Align feature requires the NexStar SE to be mounted on the optional polar wedge The Polar Align procedure
guides you through the polar alignment technique
POLAR ALIGNMENT (WITH OPTIONAL WEDGE)
The simplest way to perform a basic polar alignment with your NexStar SE is to angle the tilt plate on the equatorial wedge
accessory so that the fork arm (or polar axis) is pointed towards the star Polaris For help in locating Polaris, refer to the Finding
the North Celestial Pole section below To polar align your NexStar SE:
1 Level the tripod and position it so the wedge plate is facing
north or south depending on your hemisphere
2 Loosen the latitude adjustment lock on the wedge
3 Slowly tilt the telescope north (or south) until the scale on the
latitude adjustment is equal to the latitude of your observing
location For example, if using your telescope from Los
Angeles, you would set the scale to 34 degrees
NOTE: To view your current latitude, select View Time-Site
menu feature after completing a successful alignment.
4 Once in position, securely tighten the latitude adjustment lock
to hold the telescope in place
5 Adjust the tripod so the fork arm is roughly pointing
toward Polaris
You are now ready to complete an EQ North (South) Alignment
to begin finding celestial objects
The NexStar has two equatorial wedge alignment modes (one for the northern hemisphere and one for the southern) that will help
you polar align your telescope when using an optional equatorial wedge After performing the rough alignment described above,
complete the alignment by pressing the hand controller ALIGN button and scrolling to the appropriate EQ North or EQ South
alignment option Press ENTER and follow the screen prompts

OBSERVING

Now that the telescope is properly aligned, you can choose an object from any of the catalogs in the NexStar+ hand control's database
SELECTING AN OBJECT
STARS, DEEP SKY, SKY TOUR BUTTONS
There are two ways to select objects from the database—scrolling through the named object lists and entering object numbers:
• Pressing the SOLAR SYSTEM button will allow you to use the SCROLL UP and SCROLL DOWN buttons to scroll through
and select the seven planets, the Sun, the Moon, and Pluto Press OBJECT INFO to access detailed information about the
selected object Press ENTER to slew to it
• Press the STARS button and use the SCROLL UP and SCROLL DOWN buttons to access the Constellations, Double Stars,
Named Stars, SAO, Variable Stars, and Asterisms catalogs After selecting any one of these options you may use the SCROLL
UP and SCROLL DOWN buttons to display an alphabetical list of objects
• Pressing the DEEP SKY button will allow you to SCROLL UP and SCROLL DOWN to access the Named Objects, NGC,
Abell, Caldwell, CCD Objects, IC, and Messier catalogs Press ENTER to select the displayed catalog Use the SCROLL UP
and SCROLL DOWN buttons to scroll through the catalog
Fig. 12
I 17
ENGLISH