Celestron NexStar SLT Instruction Manual
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- Instruction manual (128 pages) ,
- User manual (47 pages) ,
- Communication protocol manual (8 pages)
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Summary of Contents for Celestron NexStar SLT
- Page 1 User Manual of Product 1: Celestron 22097 NexStar 127 SLT Mak Computerised Telescope, Black...
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Page 3: Table Of Contents
INTRODUCTION ................................4 Warning ..................................4 ASSEMBLY ..................................6 Assembling the NexStar..............................6 Attaching the Hand Control Holder ..........................7 Attaching the Fork Arm to the Tripod ........................7 Attaching the Telescope to the Fork Arm ........................7 The Star Diagonal ............................... 7 The Eyepiece................................ - Page 4 Scrolling Menu ................................. 23 Calibrate Goto................................23 Set Mount Position..............................23 TELESCOPE BASICS ..............................25 Focusing..................................25 Image Orientation ..............................25 Calculating Magnification............................26 Determining Field of View ............................26 General Observing Hints............................26 CELESTIAL OBSERVING............................27 Observing the Moon ..............................27 Lunar Observing Hints..............................
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Page 5: Introduction
Congratulations on your purchase of the Celestron NexStar telescope! 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 three bright celestial objects. 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 automatically slews to each one. - Page 6 The NexStar SLT Telescope (NexStar 127MAK Shown) Corrector Lens Tripod Leg Extension Clamp Fork Arm Hand Control Battery Compartment Star Diagonal Tripod Coupling Screw Eyepiece Tripod Star Pointer Finderscope Accessory Tray Telescope Tube...
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Page 7: Assembly
The NexStar comes partially assembled and can be operational in a matter of minutes. The NexStar is conveniently packaged in one reusable shipping carton that contains the following accessories: 25mm and 9mm Eyepieces – 1¼" 1¼" Star Diagonal ... -
Page 8: Attaching The Hand Control Holder
The NexStar comes with a snap-on hand control holder that conveniently attaches to any of the tripod legs. To attach the hand control holder simply position the holder with the square plastic tab facing up and push against the tripod leg until it snaps in to place. With the tripod properly assembled, the telescope tube and fork arm can easily be attached using the quick release coupling screw located underneath the tripod mounting platform: Place the fork arm base inside the tripod mounting platform. -
Page 9: The Eyepiece
The eyepiece, is the optical element that magnifies the image focused by the telescope. The eyepiece fits directly into the star diagonal. To install the eyepiece: Loosen the thumbscrew on the star diagonal so it does not obstruct the inner Star Pointer Finderscope diameter of the eyepiece end of the diagonal. -
Page 10: Star Pointer Installation
Slide the Star Pointer bracket into the dovetail mounting platform on top of the focuser assembly (see figure 2-9). Thumb Screw Orient the Star Pointer so that the sight tube is facing towards the front of the tube. Secure the Star Pointer bracket by tightening the thumb screw on the mounting platform. -
Page 11: Attaching The Hand Control
Knob The NexStar SLT hand control has a phone jack type connector at the end of its cord. Plug the phone jack connector into the outlet at the base of the telescope’s fork arm. Push the connector into the outlet until it clicks into place and place the hand control into its holder as described previously in the Assembly section of the manual. -
Page 12: Hand Control
The NexStar SLT's hand controller is designed to give you instant access to all the functions the NexStar has to offer. With automatic slewing to over 4,000 objects, and common sense menu descriptions, even a beginner can master its variety of features in just a few observing sessions. Below is a brief description of the individual components of the... -
Page 13: Hand Control Operation
The NexStar Hand Control Info: Displays coordinates and useful information about objects selected from the NexStar database. Tour: Activates the tour mode, which seeks out all the best objects for a given month and automatically slews the NexStar to those objects. Enter: Pressing Enter allows you to select any of the NexStar functions, accept entered parameters and slew the telescope to displayed objects. -
Page 14: Alignment Procedure
Power on the NexStar by flipping the switch located on the side of the fork arm, to the "on" position. Once turned on the hand control display will say NexStar SLT. Press ENTER to choose Sky Align. Pressing the ALIGN key will bypass the other alignment options and the scrolling text and automatically begins Sky Align. - Page 15 Enter the current time for your area. You can enter either the local time (i.e. 8:00), or you can enter Time - military time (i.e. 20:00). Select PM or AM. If military time was entered, the hand control will bypass this step. ...
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Page 16: Auto Two-Star Align
As with Sky Align, Auto Two-Star Align requires you to enter all the necessary time/site information as before. Once this information is 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. -
Page 17: One-Star Align
Utilities Menu. To allow the Sun to be displayed on the hand control, do the following: Press the UNDO button until the display reads “NexStar SLT” Press the MENU button and use the Up and Down keys to select the Utilities menu. Press ENTER. -
Page 18: Nexstar Re-Alignment
Carefully center the object in the eyepiece. Once centered, press the UNDO button until you are at the main menu. With NexStar SLT displayed, press the ALIGN key on the hand control. The display will then ask you which alignment star you want to replace. -
Page 19: Slewing To An Object
Once the desired object is displayed on the hand control screen, you have two options: Press the INFO Key. This will give you useful information about the selected object such as magnitude, constellation and fascinating facts about many of the objects. ... -
Page 20: Direction Buttons
Note: EQ North and EQ South tracking modes are only needed with telescopes that can be polar aligned. The NexStar SLT series are exclusively Alt-Az mounted telescopes and do not require equatorial tracking. -
Page 21: Tracking Rate
Tracking Rate In addition to being able to move the telescope with the hand control buttons, the NexStar will continually track a celestial object as it moves across the night sky. The tracking rate can be changed depending on what type of object is being observed: Sidereal This rate compensates for the rotation of the earth by moving the telescope at the same rate as the rotation of the earth, but in the... -
Page 22: Identify
Identify Identify Mode will search any of the NexStar database catalogs or lists and display the name and offset distances to the nearest matching objects. This feature can serve two purposes. First, it can be used to identify an unknown object in the field of view of your eyepiece. -
Page 23: Goto Approach
control, press the MENU button and select Direction Buttons from the Utilities menu. Use the Up/Down arrow keys (10) to select either the Azimuth buttons (left and right) or Altitude buttons (up and down) and press ENTER. Pressing ENTER again will reverse the direction of the hand control buttons from their current state. Direction Buttons will only change the eyepiece rates (rate 1-6) and will not affect the slew rates (rate 7-9). -
Page 24: Sun Menu
Sun Menu For safety purposes the Sun will not be displayed as a database object unless it is first enabled. The enable the Sun, go to the Sun Menu and press ENTER. The Sun will now be displayed in the Planets catalog as can be used as an alignment object when using the Solar System Alignment method. - Page 25 NexStar SLT MENU ALIGNMENT LIST TRACKING SKY ALIGN NAMED STAR NAMED OBJECT ASTERISM Saved Site MODE TOUR ENTER if OK VARIABLE STAR UNDO to Edit ALT-AZ DOUBLE STAR EQ NORTH CCD OBJECTS Center Alignment Object 1 EQ SOUTH ABELL IC CATALOG...
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Page 26: 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 Maksutov-Cassegrain optical system uses a combination of mirrors and lenses and is referred to as a compound or catadioptric telescope. This unique design offers large-diameter optics while maintaining very short tube lengths, making them extremely portable. -
Page 27: Calculating Magnification
Continuing with our example, multiply the angular field .83° by 52.5. This produces a linear field width of 44 feet at a distance of one thousand yards. The apparent field of each eyepiece that Celestron manufactures is found in the Celestron Accessory Catalog (#93685). -
Page 28: Celestial Observing
To increase contrast and bring out detail on the planetary surface, try using Celestron eyepiece filters. 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. -
Page 29: Solar Observing Hints
The best time to observe the Sun is in the early morning or late afternoon when the air is cooler. To center the Sun without looking into the eyepiece, watch the shadow of the telescope tube until it forms a circular shadow. -
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. Varying temperature layers have different densities and, therefore, bend light differently. -
Page 31: Telescope Maintenance
While your NexStar telescope requires little maintenance, there are a few things to remember that will ensure your telescope performs at its best. Occasionally, dust and/or moisture may build up on the lens of your telescope. Special care should be taken when cleaning any instrument so as not to damage the optics. - Page 32 To collimate your telescope, remove the diagonal and eyepiece and look into rear opening of the tube (also remove the dust cover from the front of the tube). This can be done indoors, with the telescope pointed at a white wall in a well-lit room.
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Page 33: Collimation
For ease of reference, all the accessories are listed in alphabetical order. Adapter, Car Battery (#18778) – Celestron offers the Car Battery Adapter that allows you to run the NexStar drive off an external power source. The adapter attaches to the cigarette lighter of your car, truck, van, or motorcycle. - Page 34 They reduce the amplitude and vibration time of your telescope when shaken by the wind or an accidental bump. A full description of all Celestron accessories can be found on our web site at www.celestron.com...
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Page 35: Appendix A - Technical Specifications
APPENDIX A - TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS NexStar 90mm NexStar 127mm Design Maksutov-Cassegrain Maksutov-Cassegrain Aperture 90mm 127mm Focal Length 1250mm 1500mm F/ratio of the Optical System Optical Coatings Fully Coated Fully Coated Highest Useful Magnification 213x 300x Resolution: Rayleigh Criterion 1.55 arc seconds 1.1 arc seconds Dawes Limit 1.29 arc seconds... -
Page 36: Appendix B - Glossary Of Terms
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. - Page 37 Jovian Planets Any of the four gas giant planets that are at a greater distance form the sun than the terrestrial planets. Kuiper Belt A region beyond the orbit of Neptune extending to about 1000 AU which is a source of many short period comets.
- Page 38 Terminator The boundary line between the light and dark portion of the moon or a planet. Universe The totality of astronomical things, events, relations and energies capable of being described objectively. Variable Star A star whose brightness varies over time due to either inherent properties of the star or something eclipsing or obscuring the brightness of the star.
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Page 39: Appendix C - Rs-232 Connection
In addition to NSOL, the telescope can be controlled using other popular astronomy software programs. For detailed information about controlling NexStar via the RS-232 port, Communication protocols and the RS- 232 cable, refer to the NexStar SLT section of the Celestron web site at: http://www.celestron.com. -
Page 40: Appendix D - Time Zone Maps
APPENDIX D – MAPS OF TIME ZONES... - Page 48 2835 Columbia Street Torrance, CA 90503 Tel. (310) 328-9560 Fax. (310) 212-5835 Web site at http://www.celestron.com Copyright 2010 Celestron All rights reserved. (Products or instructions may change without notice or obligation.) This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rule. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: 1) This device may not cause harmful interference, and 2) This device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operations.