Celestron 4 The Star Pointer Finderscope

The Star Pointer Finderscope

TheS tar Pointer is the quickest and easiest way to point your telescope exactly at a d esired object in the sky. It's like having

alaser poi nter that you can shine directly onto the night sky. TheS tarP ointer is a zero magnification pointing tool that uses

acoated glass window to superimpose the image of a small red dot onto thenight sky. Whilekeeping both eyes open when

looking throughthe Star Pointer, simply move your telescope until the red dot, seen through the Star Pointer,merges with

theobject as seen with your unaided eye. The red dot is produced by a light-emitting diode (LED); it is not a laser beam and

willnot damage the glass window or your eye. The Star Pointer comes equipped with a variable brightnesscontrol, two axes

alignment control and a quick-release dovetail mounting bracket. Before the Star Po inter is ready to be used, it must be

attached to the telescope tube and properly aligned:

1. Locateth ed ovetail mounting bracket on the rear cell of the optical tube.

2. Slidethe mounting track at the bottom of the Star Pointer over the dovetailportion of the bracket. Itmay be necessary

toloosen the two screws on the side of the mounting track before slidingit over the dovetail. The end of the Star

Pointerwith the glass window should be facing out towards the front of the telescope.

3. Tightenthe two screws on the sideof the mounting track to secure the Star Pointer to the dovetail bracket.

Thestar pointer is powered by a long life 3-volt lithium battery (#CR2032)located underneath the front portion of the Star

Pointer. Like all finderscopes, the Star Pointer must be properly alignedwith the main telescope before it can be used. This

isa simple process using the azimuth and altitude control knobs located on the side and bottom ofthe Star Pointer. The

alignmentprocedure is best done at night since the LEDdot will be difficult to see during the day.

1. Toturn on the Star Pointer, rotate the variable brightness control(see figure 3-3) clockwise until you here a

"click".To increase the brightness level of the red dot, continue rotatingthe control knob about 180º until it stops.

Rememberto remove the plasti c cover over the battery, and always turn the power off after you have found

anobje ct. This will extend the life of both t he battery and the LED.

2. Locatea bri ght star or planet and center it in a low power eyepiece in the main telescope.

3. Withboth eyes open, look through the glasswindow at the alignment star.

4. Ifthe Star Pointer is perfectly aligned, you will see the red LED dot overlap the alignment star. If the Star Pointer

isnot aligned, take notice of where the red dot is relative to the bright star.

AzimuthControl

Knob

DovetailMounting Bracket

MountingTrack

ON/OFF

VariableBrightness

Control

AltitudeControl

Knob

Figure3 -3: The Star Pointer Finderscope with Mounting Bracket

GlassWindow