Celestron NexStar 6 SE manual

INSTRUCTION MANUAL[...]

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

GPS On/Off ............................................................................................................................... ....................................................... 22 Light Control ............................................................................................................................... ..........[...]

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 co mbination of power and portabilit y. If you are n ew to astronomy, you ma y wish to st[...]

1 2 3 12 11 1 Optical Tube 7 Tripod 2 Star Pointer Fi nderscope 8 Accesso ry Tray / Le g Brace 3 Eyepiece 9 Tilt Wedge Plat e 4 Star Diagonal 10 ON/OFF Switch 5 Focuser Knob 11 Hand Control 6 Battery Compartment 12 Liquid Crystal Display 7 10 5 8 6 4 9 NexStar 8 SE Shown 5[...]

The NexStar 8 comes c ompletely pre-a ssemble d and can be operational in a matter of mi nutes. The NexStar is conv eniently package d in one reusable shipping carton that cont ains all of the following accessories: • 25mm Eyepie ce – 1 ¼ " • Star Diagonal 1 ¼ " • Star Pointer Finderscope • Adjustable Steel Tripod • The Sky?[...]

The Star Diagonal The star diagonal diverts the light at a right angle from the light path of the telescope. For astronomical observing, th is allow s you to observe in positions that are more co mfortable than if you were to loo k straight through. To attach the star diagonal: Figure 3-2 - The visual accessories Eyepiece Visual Back Star Dia g ona[...]

3. Tighten the two screws on th e side of the mounting track to secur e the St ar Pointer to the dovetail bracket. 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 m ust be properly aligned with the m[...]

Attaching the NexStar to the Tripod The Celestron NexStar tripod is a sturdy, heavy duty mount on which to place your NexStar 6/8" telescope. This tripod can go anywhere, from your backyard to a remote observing site. The tripod comes completely assembled and only needs to have the center leg bra ce / accessory tray put in place. Center Suppor[...]

The NexStar has a removable hand controller built into the side o f the fork arm des igned to give you instan t access to all the functions the NexStar has to offer. W ith automatic slewing to 40,000 objects , and common sense menu descrip tions, even a beginner can mast er i ts variety of features in just a f ew observing sessions. Below is a br i[...]

4. Catalog Keys: The NexStar has a key on the hand control to allow direct acce ss to each of th e 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 [...]

telescope. Finally, EQ North and EQ South alignments are designed to assist you in ali gning 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 aligned and ready to observe. Even if you do not know a single star in the sky ,[...]

5. If the finderscope has been properly aligned with the telescope tube, th e alignment star should now be visible inside the field of view of the eyepiece. The hand control wil l ask that you center th e bright alignment star in the center of the e yepiece and pr ess the ALIGN button. This will accept the star as t he first alignmen t position . ([...]

• Press the UNDO button to display the next most suitable star for alignment. nce ar in the field of view of the eyepie c e. When the tar is centered, press ALIGN to accept this s tar as your second alignment star. W hen the telescope has been aligned to bo th st ars the , and you are now r eady to find your first object. ith the two-star alignme[...]

Solar System Align Solar System Align is designed to provide excellent track ing and GoTo p erformance by using solar system objects (Sun, Moon with a telescope (unless you have th e proper solar filter). ent ob ject you selected. Use the direc tion arrow buttons to slew the . position, the NexStar wil l model the sk y b lign Successfu l . • th e[...]

s t one of these s tars (perhaps it is behin d a tree o ui ble stars. nment object and carefully center it in the fi 8. Then, center the object in the eyep iece and press ALIGN. 9. Once you press the ALIGN button the telescope will automaticall gnment. lignment stars it is bes t to choose stars that, a) have a l arge separation in zimuth and b) bot[...]

Sync: The Sync f eature 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 sed in conjun will be explorin g smaller areas of the sk y. To Sync on an object LIGN. OTE: Sync can improve your telescope’s pointing accur acy over a wide area or over smaller areas of the sk y depe[...]

Sle Onc ontrol screen, you have two op tions: limits (see Slew Limits in the Sc ope Setup section of the manual). Press UNDO to go back and selec t a new setting btaine d without h aving to do a star alignment. Afte r the telescope is po wered on, pressing any of t he catalog eys allows you to scroll through object lists or enter catalog numbers an[...]

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 four direction ttons in the center of the hand control which control th e telescope motion in altitude (up and down) and azimuth (left and right). The telescope can be controlled at n in speed rates. The NexStar has bu e different 1 = .5x 6 = 64x 2 = 1x 7 = 1º / sec 3 = 4x 8 = 3º / s[...]

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. [...]

example, if your telescope is pointed at the br ightest star in the constellation Lyra, choosing Identify and then se arching the Named Star catalog will no doubt return the star Vega as the star you are observing. However, by selecting Ide ntify and searching by the Named Object or Messier catalogs, the hand control will let you know that the Ring[...]

Slew Limits – Sets the limits in altitude that the teles cope can slew w ithout displaying a warning message. The slew limits prevent the telescope tube from slewing to an object below the horizon. Th e slew limits can be customized depending on your needs. For e xa mple, if you would like t o slew to an object tha t is close to the zenith but yo[...]

Goto Axis Position - Allows you to enter a speci fic alt itude and azimuth position and slew to it. Hibernate - Hibernate allows the NexStar to be complet ely powered down and still ret ain its alignm ent when turned back on. This not only saves power, but is ideal for those that have their telescopes permanentl y mounted or l eave their telescop e[...]

ALT- AZ EQ NOR T H EQ SOUT H OF F MOD E SIDE RE AL SOLAR LUNAR RATE TRACKIN G VIEW TI M E -SIT E SETU P TIM E-SI T E A NT I- BACKLAS H SLEW LI MIT S FILTER LIMIT S DIRECT IO N B UTTO NS GOTO APP ROAC H AUT OGUID E RAT E S CORDW RA P SCOPE SETU P GPS O N/OF F LIGHT CONTROL FACTORY SE TTING VERSI O N GET AXI S POSI T I ON GO TO AXIS POSITIO N HIBERNA[...]

A telescope is an instrument that collects and fo cuses light. Th e nature of the optical design de termines how the light is foc used. Some telescopes, known as refractors, use lenses. Oth er telescopes, known as reflectors , use mirrors. The Schmidt-Cassegrain optic al system (or Schmidt-Cass for short) uses a combination of mirrors and lenses an[...]

F F o o c c u u s s i i n n g g The NexStar's focusing mechanism controls th e primary mirror which is mounted on a ring that slides back and forth on the primary ba ffle tube. The focusing knob, which moves the primary mirror, is on the rear cell of the telescop e just below the star diagonal and e yepiece. Turn the focusing knob until the im[...]

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 • across or over objects that are producing heat waves . This includes aspha lt parking lots on hot summer days or buil ding rooftops. • phing under thes e conditions, the processed film may come out a little grain ier • ant to remove th em when observing with[...]

Up to this point, this manual covered the assembly and basic operation of your NexSta r telescope. However, to understand your telescope more thoroughly , you need to know a little about the night sky. This section deals with obser vational 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 l l[...]

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 across the sky is familiar to even th e most casual observer. This da ily trek is not the Sun moving as early astronomers thought, but the result of the Earth's rotation. The Earth's rotation also causes the stars to do the same, scribi ng out a la[...]

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[...]

Photography with the NexStar After looking at the night sk y for a while you may want to tr y photographing it. In addition to the specific accessories requi red for celestial photography, there is the need for a camera - but not just any camera. The camera does not have to have many of the features o ffered on today's state-of-the-art equipme[...]

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 sky around which all the other stars appear to rot ate. These points are called the celes tial poles and are named for the hemisphere in which they reside. For example, in the northern hem[...]

With your telescope set up, you are ready to use it for observing. This section covers visu al observing hints for both solar system 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 Often, it is tempting to look at th e Moon wh en[...]

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

While your NexStar te lescope requires little main tenance, there ar e a few things to remember that will ensure your telescope p e rforms at its best. Care and Cleaning of the Optics Occasionally, dust and/or moistu re may build up on the corrector plate of your telescope. Spe cial care should be taken when cl eaning any instrument so as not to da[...]

Figure 8-2 -- Even though the star pa ttern appears the same on both sides of focus, they are asy mmetric. The dark obstruction is skew ed off to the left side o f the diffraction patter n indicating poor c ollimation. To accomplish this, you need to tighten the secondary collimatio n screw(s) that move the star acros s the field toward the direc t[...]

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 tha t allows you to run the NexStar drive off an extern al power source. The [...]

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 NexStar 6SE (#11068) NexStar 8SE (#11069) Design Schmidt Cassegrain Optical Design Schmidt Cassegrain Optical Design Aperture 6 inches (150mm) 8 inches (200mm) Focal Length 60 inches (1500mm) [...]

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 gre ater distance form the sun than the t errestrial p[...]

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 aperture, the better th e resolution. Right Ascension: (RA) The angular distan ce of a celestial object measured in hours, min utes, and seconds along the Celestial Equator eastward fr[...]

Appendix D – Maps of Time Zones 43[...]

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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 a terials or workmanship. As a condition to the obligation of Celestron to repair or re[...]

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)[...]