Celestron 4SE manual

INSTRUCTION MANUAL[...]

INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... ..................................................... 4 W ARNING ............................................................................................................................................................[...]

Cordwrap ............................................................................................................................... .............................................................. 23 U TILITY F EATURES ................................................................................................................................[...]

Congratulations on your purchase of the Celestron NexStar! The Ne xStar ushers in a whole new ge neration of computer automated technology. Simple and friendly to use, the NexStar is up and running after locating ju st three bright objects. It’s the perf ect combination of power and portability. If you are new to astronomy, you m ay wish to start[...]

1 2 3 12 1 Optical Tube 7 Battery Compartment 2 Star Pointer Fi nderscope 8 Tripod 3 Eyepiece 9 Accesso ry Tray / Leg Br ace 4 Focuser Knob 10 ON/OFF Switch 5 Threaded Photographic Adapter 11 Hand Control 6 Flip Mirror Control 12 Liquid Crystal Display 4 8 11 10 6 9 7 5 NexStar 4 SE 5[...]

The NexStar 4 comes c ompletely pre-assembl e d and can be operational in a matter of mi nutes. The NexStar is convenientl y package d in one reusable shipping car ton that contains all of the following accessories: • 25mm Eyepie ce – 1 ¼ " • Star Pointer Finderscope • Steel Tripod with built-in Wedge • The Sky™ Level 1 Astronom y[...]

You are now ready to attach the i ncluded visual acces sories onto the t elescope optical tube. The Eyepiece Figure 3-2 – The Rear Cel l with Visual Access ories Focuser Knob StarPointer Eyepiece Flip Mirror Control Diagonal Barrel The eyepiece, or ocular, is the optic al element tha t magnifies the i mage focused by the telescope. The NexStar 4 [...]

Star Pointer Operation The star pointer is powered by a long life 3-volt lithium batt ery (#CR2032) located underneath the front portion of the Star Po inter. Like all finderscopes, the Star Pointer must be prop er ly aligned with the main telescope before it can b e used. This is a simple pro cess using the azimuth and altitude control knobs locat[...]

A A t t t t a a c c h h i i n n g g t t h h e e N N e e x x S S t t a a r r t t o o t t h h e e T T r r i i p p o o d d The Celestron NexStar tripod is a sturdy, heavy duty mount on which to place your NexStar 4/5" telescope. This tripod can go anywhere, from your backyard to a remote observing site and can hold your Ne xStar in Alt-Az or can [...]

The NexStar 4 has a removable h and controller built into the side of the fork arm d esigned to give you instant access to all th e functions the NexStar has to offer. With au tomatic slewing to near ly 40,000 objects, and co mmon sense menu descriptions, even a beginn er c an master its variety of features in just a fe w obs erving sessions. Below[...]

4. Catalog Keys: The NexStar has a key on the hand contro l to allow direct access to each of the catalogs in its 40,000 object database. The NexStar contains the following catalogs in its database: Messier – Complete list of all Messier objects. NGC – Select list of all the deep-s ky objects in the Revised New General Catalog. Caldwell – A c[...]

telescope. Finall y, EQ North and EQ South alignments are designed to assist you in alig ning the NexStar when polar aligned using the tripods built-in wedge. Each alignment method is discu ssed in detail below. Sky Align Sky Align is the easiest way to get your NexStar align ed and r eady to observe. Even if you do not know a single star in th e s[...]

5. If the finderscope has been properly aligned with the telescope t ube, the alignment star should now be visible inside the field of view of the eyepiece. The hand control will ask t hat you center th e bright alignment star in th e center of the e yepiece and pr ess the ALIGN button. This will accep t the star as the fi rst alignment po sition. [...]

• Press the UNDO button to display the next most suitable star for alignment. • Use the UP and DOWN scroll b uttons to manuall y select any star you wish from the en tire list of avail able stars. hen the telescop e has been al igned to both stars t he display will ad Align Success , and you are now ready to find your first object. wo Star Alig[...]

Never look directly at the sun with the n aked eye or with a telescope (unless you have th e proper solar filter). Permanent and irreversib le eye damage may resu lt. 1. Select Solar System Align from the alignment options. 2. Press ENTER to accept th e time/site information displa yed on the display, or press UNDO to enter new information. 3. The [...]

7. The telescope then asks you to center in the eyep iece the ali gnment object you s elected. Use th e d irection arrow buttons to sl ew the telescope to the alignmen t obje ct and carefully c enter it in the find erscope. Press EN TER when centered. 8. Then, center the object in the eyep iece and press ALIGN. 9. Once you press the ALIGN button th[...]

Sync: The Sync feature can be used to improve point in g accuracy in a specific region of the sky. Sync is a very useful feature espec ia lly when used in conjunction with th e Constellation tour and Identify feature in which you will be exploring smaller areas of the sk y. To S ync on an object: 1. Select the desired star (or object) from the data[...]

Slewing to an Object Once the desired object is displayed on the ha nd control screen, you have two op tions: • Press the INFO Key . This will give you useful informati on about the sel ected object such as magnitude, constella tion and fascinating facts about many of the objects. • Press the ENTER Key . This will automaticall y slew the te les[...]

D D i i r r e e c c t t i i o o n n B B u u t t t t o o n n s s The NexStar has four direction buttons in the center of the hand control which co ntrol the telescope motion in altitude (up and down) and azimuth (left and right). The telescope can be controlled at n ine different speed rates. 1 = .5x 6 = 64x 2 = 1x 7 = 1º / sec 3 = 4x 8 = 2º / sec[...]

This rate compensates for the ro tation of the earth by moving the telescope at the same rate as th e ro tation of the earth, but in the opposite direction. When the telescope i s polar aligned, this can be accomplished by moving the telescope in Righ t As cension only. When mounted in Alt- Az mode, the telescope must make corrections in both R.A. [...]

For a description of how to attach a camera body to you NexStar mount, see Astronomy Basics section. To locate a f iring cable for your model of cam era, contact your lo cal camera reta iler or go to th e following web site, http://www.micros yncdigital.com Controlling your Camera Camera Wiza rd The Camera Wizard is th e quickest way to build an im[...]

Exposure Delay - Allows you to set a time de l ay between each exposure. Sequence End - The Sequence End option lets you select whether the imaging sequence should repeat indefinitely or stop once it reaches the last entry. Get RA/DEC - Get RA/DEC - Displays the right ascension and declination for the current p osition of the telescope. Goto R.A/ D[...]

necessary for photographic guiding. Positive backlash comp ensation is applied when the mount changes its direction of movement from backwards to forwards. Similarl y, negative backlash compensation is applied when the mount changes its direction of movement f rom forwards to backwards. When tracking is enab led, the mount will be moving in one or [...]

U U t t i i l l i i t t y y F F e e a a t t u u r r e e s s Scrolling through the MENU options will also provide access to seve ral advanced utility functions such as anti- backlash compens ation and slew limits. Wedge Align – The NexStar has two equatorial alignment modes (one for the northern hemisphere and one for the southern) that will help [...]

Set Mount Position The Set Mount Position menu can be used to recover an alignment in cases where the t elescope or tripod has been manually moved. For instance, you might use this feature if you needed to ad just th e level of the tripod by raising or lowering th e tripod legs. A fter the mo unt has been moved, simpl y slew to a bright s tar and c[...]

ALT- A Z EQ NO RT H EQ SOUT H OF F MOD E SIDE REAL SOLAR LUNAR RATE TRACKING VIEW TI M E-SIT E SETU P TIM E-SIT E A NT I- BAC KLASH SLEW LI M IT S FILTER LIMIT S DIRE CTIO N B UT TO NS GOTO APPROAC H CORD W RAP SCOPE SETU P LIGHT CO NTROL FACTORY SE TTING VERSI O N GET AXI S POSI TI O N GO TO A XIS PO SITI O N HIBE RNATE SUN MEN U SCR OLL ING T EX [...]

A telescope is an instrument that collects and focuses light. Th e nature of the optical design de termines how the light is foc used. Some telescopes, known as refractors, use lens es. Other telescopes, known as reflectors, use mirrors. The Maksutov-Cassegrain opti cal system uses a combination of mirrors a nd lenses and is referred to as a compou[...]

Figure 5-3 The emblem on the end of the focus knob shows the correct rotational d irection for focusing the NexStar . F F o o c c u u s s i i n n g g The NexStar's focusing mechanism controls the prim ar y mirror which is mounted on a ring that slid es back and forth on the primary baffle tube. The focusing knob, which m oves the primary mirro[...]

G G e e n n e e r r a a l l O O b b s s e e r r v v i i n n g g H H i i n n t t s s • k across or over objects that are pr oducing heat waves. This includes asphalt parking lots on hot summer days or buil ding rooftops. • ographing under th ese conditions, th e processed film may come out a little grain ier than • may want to r emove them whe[...]

Up to this point, this manual covered the assem bly and basic ope ration of your NexStar telescope. However, to understand your telescope more thoroughly , you need to know a little about the nigh t sky. This section deals with obs erv ational astronomy in general an d includes information on the night sk y and polar alignment. T T h h e e C C e e [...]

M M o o t t i i o o n n o o f f t t h h e e S S t t a a r r s s The daily motion of the Sun acr oss the sky is familiar to even th e m ost casual observer. This da ily tr ek is not the Sun moving as earl y astronomers thought, but the r esult of the Earth's rotation. Th e Earth 's rotation also causes th e stars to do the same, scribi ng [...]

Figure 6-3 This is how the telescope is to be se t up for polar alignment. The tube should be parallel to the fork arm which should be pointed to P olaris. P P o o l l a a r r A A l l i i g g n n m m e e n n t t Even though the NexStar can precisely track a celestial object while in the Alt-Az position, it is still necessary to ali gn the polar axi[...]

Based on your current alignment, NexStar will slew to where it thinks Polaris should be. Use th e tripod ’s tilt plate ad justmen t to place Polaris in the center of the eyepiece. Do not use the hand cont rol’s direc tion buttons to position Polaris. Onc e Polaris is c entered in t he eyepiece, press ENTER; the polar axis should then be poin te[...]

Finding the North Celestial Pole Figure 6-6 The position of the Big Dipper changes throughout the year and the night. In each hemisphere, there is a point in the sk y around wh ich all the other stars appear to rotat e. These points are called the ce lestial poles and are n amed for the hemisphere in which they res ide. For example, in th e norther[...]

With your telescope set up, you are ready to use it for observing . This section covers visual obser ving hints for both solar s ystem and deep sky objects as well as genera l observing conditions which will affect your ability to observe. O O b b s s e e r r v v i i n n g g t t h h e e M M o o o o n n ns. Often, it is tempting to look at th e Moon[...]

S S o o l l a a r r O O b b s s e e r r v v i i n n g g H H i i n n t t s s • The best time to observe th e Sun is in the early mo rning or late afternoon when the air is cooler. • To center the Sun without looking into the eyepiece, watch the shadow of th e telescope tube unt il it forms a circular shadow. • To ensure accurate tracking, be s[...]

While your Nex Star telescope requires l ittle maintenance , there ar e a few things to remember tha t will ensure your telescope pe rforms at its best. C C a a r r e e a a n n d d C C l l e e a a n n i i n n g g o o f f t t h h e e O O p p t t i i c c s s Occasionally, dust and/or moisture m ay build up on the corrector plat e of your telescope. S[...]

You will find that additional accessories enhance your viewing pl easure and expa nd the usefulness of your telescope. For ease o f reference , all the accesso ries are listed in al phabetical order. Adapter, Car Battery (#18769) - Celestron offers the Car Battery Adapter that al lows you to run the NexStar drive off an external power source. The a[...]

lights. This includes mercury and high and low pressure sodium vapor li ghts. In addition, they also block unwanted natural li ght (sk y glow) caused by neutral oxygen emission in our atmosphere. Ce lestron offers a model for 1-1/4" eyepieces (#94126A). Moon Filter (#94119-A) - Celestron’s Moon Filter is an economi cal eyepiece filter for re[...]

Appendix A - Technical Specifications O O O p p p t t t i i i c c c a a a l l l S S S p p p e e e c c c i i i f f f i i i c c c a a a t t t i i i o o o n n n Design Maksutov-Cassegrain Catadioptric Aperture 4 inches (102mm) Focal Length 52 inches (1325mm) F/ratio of the Optical System 13 Primary Mirror: Diameter Coating s 102mm Multi-layer coating [...]

A A p p p p e e n n d d i i x x B B - - G G l l o o s s s s a a r r y y o o f f T T e e r r m m s s A - Absolute magnitude The apparent magnit ude 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 [...]

F - Focal length The distance bet ween a lens (or mirror) and the point at which the image of an object at infinity is brought to focus. The focal length divid ed by the aperture of the mirror or lens is ter med the focal ratio. J - Jovian Planets Any of the four gas giant planets that are at a greater distan ce form the sun than the terrestrial pl[...]

Resolution The minimum dete ctable angle a n optical system can detect. Be cause of diffractio n, there is a l imit to the minimum angle , resolution. The larger the apertur e, the better the r esolution. Right Ascension: (RA) The angular distan ce of a celestial object measured in hours, min utes, and seconds along the Celestial Equator eastward f[...]

Appendix D – Maps of Time Zones 44[...]

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CELESTRON TWO YEAR WARRANTY A. Celestron warrants this telescope to be free from defects in materials and workmanship for two years. Celestron will repair or replace such product or part ther eof which, upon inspection by Celestron, is found to be defective in m aterials or workmanship. As a condition to the obligation of Celestron to repair or rep[...]

Celestron 2835 Columbia Street Torrance, CA 90503 Tel. (310) 328-9560 Fax. (310) 212 -5835 Web site at http//www.celestron.com Copyright 2006 Cele stron All rights reserved. (Products or instructions may change without notice o r obligation.) This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rule. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: 1)[...]