NOTE:
Keep in mind that when viewing through an eyepiece in the 90°eyepiece holder, images of terrestrial objects are
If you wish to use the telescope for terrestrial observa- tion, use the eye- piece in the 45° prism. The image in this eyepiece will be correctly oriented.
4.Press ENTER. “Calculating” displays. Then “Saturn” and a set of coordinates displays. Saturn’s (and other planets’) coordinates 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 slews (moves) the telescope so that it "tracks" Saturn (or whatever other object you may have chosen); i.e., Saturn remains centered in the eyepiece. If an object is observed in the telescope without using AutoStar's GO TO or automatic tracking capabili- ties, objects in the eyepiece gradually drift out of the field of view due to the Earth's rota- tion.
Using the Guided Tour
You’ve been hiking all day and night falls after you’ve set up camp. The only light is from the stars, which seem so close that you feel you can reach out and touch them. You’ve gotten your friends all excited about looking through your scope during the hike.
You initialize Autostar, set the home position and get aligned. You find Jupiter in the Solar System menu and you show off Jupiter’s four moons and you talk about the detail you can see in the bands circling the giant planet.
Next, you choose Saturn from the Solar system menu and — Autostar displays “Below hori- zon.” So you quickly pick out Mars from the menu. It’s also below the horizon. Your friends are losing interest.
This is the perfect time to use Autostar’s “Guided Tour.”
Guided Tour is one of Autostar’s more fun features. For example, check out the tour called “Tonight’s Best.” “Tonight’s Best” will take you on a tour of the best objects in the sky. Objects that are in the sky right
1. | To find the Guided Tour menu, keep pressing MODE until “Select Item: Object” displays. | |
2. | Press one of the Scroll keys to page through the menus. Keep pressing until “Select | |
| Item: Guided Tour” displays. |
|
3. | Press ENTER. “Guided Tour: Tonight’s Best” displays. Press ENTER. | |
4. | “Tonight’s Best: Searching...” displays. After calculating, “Tonight’s Best: Jupiter” might | |
| ||
5. | Press ENTER to display information about an object. Even though you may have just | |
| looked at Jupiter, read the information screens (use the scroll keys to page through these | |
| screens). You may discover some |
|
| cool information you didn’t know | TIPS FOR BEGINNERS |
| about Jupiter. | |
|
| |
6.Press MODE to return to the Tour list of objects. Press one of the Scroll keys to scroll through the list. Press ENTER when you find the next object you wish to observe; press ENTER to select the object. Then press GO TO to move the tel- escope to that object. Repeat this procedure to find other objects.
7.Press and hold down MODE for two seconds to leave the Guided Tour menu.
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 usual- ly 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 build- ing 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.
19
