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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 opposite
direction. When the telescope is polar aligned, this can be accomplished
by moving the telescope in Right Ascension only. When mounted in Alt-
Az mode, the telescope must make corrections in both R.A. and
declination.
Lunar
Used for tracking the moon when observing the lunar landscape.
Solar
Used for tracking the Sun when solar observing.
King
As light passes through our atmosphere, atmospheric refraction affects the
apparent motion of objects across the sky. The King rate takes
this
into
account and compensates for the refraction of the atmosphere.
Date/Time
- Allows you to update both the date and the time to improve pointing accuracy on many objects.
User Defined Objects
The NexStar can store up to 25 different user defined objects in its memory. The objects can be
daytime land objects or an interesting celestial object that you discover that is not included in the
regular database. There are several ways to save an object to memory depending on what type of
object it is:
Save
Sky Object:
The NexStar stores celestial objects to its database by saving its right ascension and declination in
the sky. This way the same object can be found each time the telescope is aligned. Once a
desired object is centered in the eyepiece, simply scroll to the "
Save Sky Obj"
Save Sky Obj" Save Sky Obj"
Save Sky Obj"
command and
press ENTER. The display will ask you to enter a number between 1-20 to identify the object.
Press ENTER again to save this object to the database.
Save Land Object
: The NexStar can also be used as a spotting scope on terrestrial objects. Fixed land objects can be
stored by saving their altitude and azimuth relative to the location of the telescope at the time of
observing. Since these objects are relative to the location of the telescope, they are only valid for
that exact location. To save land objects, once again center the desired object in the eyepiece.
Scroll down to the "
Save Land Obj
Save Land ObjSave Land Obj
Save Land Obj
" command and press ENTER. The display will ask you to
enter a number between 21-25 to identify the object. Press ENTER again to save this object to the
database.
Enter R.A. - Dec:
You can also store a specific set of coordinates for an object just by entering the R.A. and
declination for that object. Scroll to the "
Enter RA
Enter RAEnter RA
Enter RA-
--
-DE
DEDE
DEC "
C " C "
C "
command and press ENTER. The
display will then ask you
to
enter first the R.A. and then the declination of the desired object.
GoTo Object:
To go to any of the user defined objects stored in the database, scroll down to "
GoTo Obj
GoTo ObjGoTo Obj
GoTo Obj
" and
enter the number of the object you wish to select and press ENTER. NexStar will automatically
retrieve the coordinates and slew to the object.
To replace the contents of any of the user defined objects, simply save a new object using one of the existing identification
numbers; NexStar will replace the previous user defined object with the current one.
Get RA/DEC
-
Displays the right ascension and declination for the current position of the telescope.
Get Alt-Az
- Displays the relative altitude and azimuth for the current position of the telescope.
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