19
Go To Saturn
After performing the Easy Align procedure, the motor drive begins operating and the telescope
is aligned for a night of viewing. Objects in the eyepiece should maintain their position even
though the Earth is rotating beneath the stars.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Once aligned, only use GO TO or the Arrow keys to move the
telescope. Do not loosen the Alt and Az locks (22 and 19, Fig. 1), or move the base
manually, or alignment will be lost.
This exercise shows how to select a celestial object (Saturn) for viewing from Autostar’s database.
NOTE: Saturn is not always visible and you may need to choose another object
from Autostar's Object database; however, the procedure, as described below,
remains the same—just choose a different object in step 3.
1 After the telescope is aligned, “Select Item: Object” displays. Press ENTER.
2. “Object: Solar System” displays. Press ENTER.
3. “Solar System: Mercury” displays. Keep pressing the Scroll Down key until “Solar System:
Saturn” displays.
4. Press ENTER. “Calculating” displays. Then “Saturn” and a set of coordinates displays.
Note that Saturn’s (and other planets’) coordinates may change throughout the year.
5. Press GO TO. “Saturn: Slewing...” displays and the telescope slews until it finds Saturn.
You may need to use the Arrow keys to center Saturn precisely in the eyepiece. Autostar
then automatically moves the telescope so that it "tracks" Saturn (or whatever other object
you may have chosen); i.e., Saturn remains centered in the eyepiece.
Take a Guided Tour
This example demonstrates using “Tonight’s Best” Guided Tour.
1. After observing Saturn, press MODE twice so that “Select Item: Object” displays again.
2. Press the Scroll Down key twice. “Select Item: Guided Tour” displays.
3. Press ENTER. “Guided Tour: Tonight’s Best” displays. Press ENTER.
NOTE: If you wish to try out other Guided Tours, press the Scroll Down key to scroll
through other tour choices. When the tour you wish to select displays, press
ENTER.
4. “Tonight’s Best: Searching...” displays. After calculating, “Tonight’s Best: Jupiter” displays.
NOTE: Different objects may be displayed on a tour list on any given night.
Press ENTER to display information
about the object. Press GO TO to move
the telescope to the object.
5. Press MODE to return to the Tour list.
Press the Scroll keys to scroll through
the list. Press ENTER when you find the
next object you wish to observe.
6. Press and hold down MODE for two
seconds to exit the Guided Tour menu.
Fig. 21: One of the
most beautiful celes-
tial sights, Saturn.
Which One’s the
Alignment Star?
If Autostar has chosen an alignment star with
which you are unfamiliar, how can you be
sure if the star in your eyepiece is really the
alignment star?
The rule of thumb is that an alignment star is
usually the brightest star in that area of the
sky. When you view an alignment star in an
eyepiece, it stands out dramatically from the
rest of the stars in that portion of the sky.
If you have an obstruction, such as a tree or
a building blocking your view of the alignment
star, or if you have any doubts at all about the
star that has been chosen, no problem. Just
press the Scroll Down key and Autostar will
find another star to align upon.
