Celestron NexStar 8i Instruction Manual Download Page 5

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Optical Tube

Battery Compartment

Star Pointer Finderscope

ON/OFF Switch / 12v power

Eyepiece

Fork Arm

Star Diagonal

Electronic Hand Control

Focuser Knob

10 Schmidt Corrector Plate (not shown)

Figure 1-A - The NexStar i-Series

Summary of Contents for NexStar 8i

Page 1: ...1 I IN NS ST TR RU UC CT TI IO ON N M MA AN NU UA AL L N Ne ex xS St ta ar r 5 5i i N Ne ex xS St ta ar r 8 8i i...

Page 2: ...ory 21 EQ Alignments 22 Re Alignment 23 Object Catalog 23 Finding Planets 24 Tour Mode 24 Direction Buttons 25 Rate Button 25 Setup Procedures 25 Tracking Mode 25 Tracking Rate 26 View Time Site 26 Us...

Page 3: ...Observing Deep Sky Objects 41 Seeing Conditions 41 Transparency 41 Sky Illumination 41 Seeing 41 CELESTIAL PHOTOGRAPHY 43 Short Exposure Prime Focus Photography 43 Eyepiece Projection 44 Long Exposur...

Page 4: ...omputerized Hand Control and GPS capabilities Many other high performance features The NexStar s deluxe features combine with Celestron s legendary Schmidt Cassegrain optical system to give amateur as...

Page 5: ...partment 2 Star Pointer Finderscope 7 ON OFF Switch 12v power 3 Eyepiece 8 Fork Arm 4 Star Diagonal 9 Electronic Hand Control 5 Focuser Knob 10 Schmidt Corrector Plate not shown Figure 1 A The NexStar...

Page 6: ...urn on the power to the NexStar by flipping the switch located at the bottom portion of the fork arm to the On position On Off Switch A Attach the included accessories Loosen the thumb screws on the s...

Page 7: ...the telescope at a bright object until it is visible in the eyepiece Use the hand control to place the object in the center of the eyepiece Rotate the focuser knob until the object in the eyepiece com...

Page 8: ...f the containers so that they can be used to transport the telescope P Po ow we er ri in ng g t th he e N Ne ex xS St ta ar r The NexStar can be powered by eight user supplied AA batteries or with an...

Page 9: ...star diagonal into the visual back 3 Tighten the thumbscrew on the visual back to hold the star diagonal in place If you wish to change the orientation of the star diagonal loosen the thumbscrew on t...

Page 10: ...telescope s rear cell 2 Locate the square dovetail bracket that has the proper curvature for the NexStar tube and align the holes with the two holes in the telescope body 3 Use the two 8 32 x screws t...

Page 11: ...tar If the Star Pointer is not aligned take notice of where the red dot is relative to the bright star 4 Without moving the main telescope turn the Star Pointer s azimuth and altitude alignment contro...

Page 12: ...controls the NexStar has to offer Below is a brief description of the individual components of the NexStar hand controller 1 Star Key Activation Light Indicates that the Star button has been pressed a...

Page 13: ...around the sky from object to object 6 per second N A When used in the equatorial tracking modes track rate 1 is equal to 1 5x sidereal and 2x when using the double button The hand control has a doubl...

Page 14: ...tracking will need to be adjusted each time you move the telescope significantly to a different part of the sky For guidelines and tips on correctly adjusting your Alt Az tracking speed see the table...

Page 15: ...lways remain unchanged To change the button direction back to where it was you can either press the same direction button again or press the opposite direction button All four indicator lights will li...

Page 16: ...53x sidereal 2 0x sidereal 0 53x sidereal 2 Altitude 70 Latitude 40 South East South West South North East North West Track Rate Number of button presses Track Rate Number of button presses Track Rat...

Page 17: ...a brief description of the individual components of the computerized hand controller 1 Liquid Crystal Display LCD Window Has a dual line 16 character display screen that is backlit for comfortable vi...

Page 18: ...ul information about objects selected from the NexStar database 6 Tour Activates the tour mode which seeks out all the best objects for the current date and time and automatically slews the NexStar to...

Page 19: ...w to them With the NexStar set up outside with all accessories attached follow the steps below to AutoAlign the NexStar 1 Once the NexStar is powered on Press ENTER to begin alignment 2 Use the Up and...

Page 20: ...e now ready to find your first object If the wrong star was centered and aligned to the NexStar display will read Alignment Failed and scroll the message the positions of the alignment stars did not m...

Page 21: ...sition the NexStar will model the sky based on this information and display Alignment Successful Note Once a Quick Align has been done you can use the Re alignment feature see below to improve your te...

Page 22: ...should now be visible inside the field of view of the eyepiece The NexStar will ask that you center the bright alignment star in the center of the eyepiece and press the ALIGN button This will accept...

Page 23: ...ou will need to perform a Quick Align as discussed earlier in this section and then use the Sun as your alignment star Follow these steps to align your NexStar in the daytime 1 Perform a Quick Align a...

Page 24: ...o back and select a new object Press ENTER to ignore the message and continue the slew Object information can be obtained without having to do a star alignment After the telescope is powered on pressi...

Page 25: ...that you want to move the telescope While holding that button down press the opposite directional button This will increase the slew rate to the maximum slew rate When pressing the Up and Down arrow...

Page 26: ...emory 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 depen...

Page 27: ...eds For example if you have certain photographic accessories attached to your telescope preventing it from pointing straight up you can set the maximum altitude limit to read 80 thus preventing the te...

Page 28: ...user definable line that the NexStar will not pass in order to slew to an object rather it will slew the long way around in order to get to the object For example if you want the no cross line to be...

Page 29: ...and serial bus version Get Alt Az Displays the relative altitude and azimuth for the current position of the telescope Goto Alt Az Allows you to enter a specific altitude and azimuth position and slew...

Page 30: ...A DEC SAVE LAND OBJ GOTO LAND OBJ USER OBJECTS GET RA DEC GOTO RA DEC MENU Center Alignment Star 2 Center Alignment Star 1 FINDING NORTH SEARCHING GPS ALIGNMENT ENTER TIME ENTER DATE MM DD YY Center A...

Page 31: ...LONGITUDE LATITUDE degrees min degrees min Torrance 118 19 8 33 48 Travis AFB 121 55 8 38 16 2 Tahoe 120 7 8 39 19 2 Based on the inputted information the NexStar will automatically pick an alignment...

Page 32: ...rs and objects 3 Press TOUR and let the NexStar display a list of all the best objects that are currently in the sky TOUR Button Object List Catalog Keys Press the TOUR button on the hand control The...

Page 33: ...e The Schmidt Cassegrain system consists of a zero power corrector plate a spherical primary mirror and a secondary mirror Once light rays enter the optical system they travel the length of the optica...

Page 34: ...th of Telescope mm Magnification Focal Length of Eyepiece mm Let s say for example you are using the 25mm Plossl eyepiece To determine the magnification you simply divide the focal length of your tele...

Page 35: ...ly sharp image while in some cases you may actually see a double image Never look across or over objects that are producing heat waves This includes asphalt parking lots on hot summer days or building...

Page 36: ...ation or DEC for short Lines of declination are named for their angular distance above and below the celestial equator The lines are broken down into degrees minutes of arc and seconds of arc Declinat...

Page 37: ...never rise and never set You will never see the stars complete one circle because the sunlight during the day washes out the starlight However part of this circular motion of stars in this region of t...

Page 38: ...ock drive all objects in the sky day or night will slowly drift out of the field This motion is caused by the Earth s rotation Wedge Align with Optional Computerized Hand Control Using the computerize...

Page 39: ...maginary line through them toward the Little Dipper They point to Polaris see Figure 7 4 The position of the Big Dipper changes during the year and throughout the course of the night see Figure 7 3 Wh...

Page 40: ...r works well at improving contrast while a neutral density or polarizing filter will reduce overall surface brightness and glare O Ob bs se er rv vi in ng g t th he e P Pl la an ne et ts s Other fasci...

Page 41: ...ntrast S Se ee ei in ng g C Co on nd di it ti io on ns s Viewing conditions affect what you can see through your telescope during an observing session Conditions include transparency sky illumination...

Page 42: ...se atmospheric disturbances vary from time to time and place to place The size of the air parcels compared to your aperture determines the seeing quality Under good seeing conditions fine detail is vi...

Page 43: ...o you can attach it to the telescope and so you can use a variety of lenses for piggyback photography If you can t find a new camera you can purchase a used camera body that is not 100 percent functio...

Page 44: ...nation alone does not provide enough magnification to produce a usable image size on film In order to get the image large enough you must attach your camera to the telescope with the eyepiece in place...

Page 45: ...1 1 2 Mercury 16 8 4 2 Venus 1 2 1 4 1 8 1 15 Mars 16 8 4 2 Jupiter 8 4 2 1 Saturn 16 8 4 2 The exposure times listed here should be used as a starting point Always make exposures that are longer and...

Page 46: ...to the B setting 7 Focus the telescope on a star 8 Center your subject in the field of your camera 9 Find a suitable guide star in the telescope field This can be the most time consuming process 10 O...

Page 47: ...g vibration Mechanical shutter releases can be used though air type releases are best Blurry pictures can also result from shutter speeds that are too slow To prevent this use films that produce shutt...

Page 48: ...ronment and point it down This will remove the moisture from the telescope tube To minimize the need to clean your telescope replace all lens covers once you have finished using it Since the rear cell...

Page 49: ...iece Rotate your finger around the tube edge until its shadow is seen closest to the narrowest portion of the rings i e the same direction in which the central shadow is skewed 3 Locate the collimatio...

Page 50: ...on delivers the optimal optical performance specifications that your telescope is built to achieve If seeing i e air steadiness is turbulent collimation is difficult to judge Wait until a better night...

Page 51: ...wheels for easy transportation Weight 17 lbs 31 5 x 21 75 x 11 5 Computerized Hand Control 93962 Add the NexStar Hand Control to your NexStar 5i or 8i telescope and transform it into a completely auto...

Page 52: ...preserve your night vision Remove the red cap for normal flashlight operation Very compact size and handy key chain Light Pollution Reduction LPR Filters These filters are designed to enhance your vi...

Page 53: ...aps are the ideal teaching guide for learning the night sky You wouldn t set off on a road trip without a road map and you don t need to try to navigate the night sky without a map either Even if you...

Page 54: ...ace and accessory tray for added stability Vibration Suppression Pads 93503 These pads rest between the ground and tripod feet of your telescope They reduce the amplitude and vibration time of your te...

Page 55: ...unaided eye Near Focus standard eyepiece or camera 20 feet 25 feet Field of View Standard Eyepiece 35mm Camera 1 04 1 6 x 1 1 2 5 x 1 75 with optional Reducer Corrector 64 1 0 x 68 1 6 x 1 07 with op...

Page 56: ...n on over 200 objects Complete Revised NGC Catalog 7 840 Complete Messier Catalog 110 Complete IC Catalog 5 386 Complete Caldwell 109 Solar System objects 9 Abell Galaxies 2 712 Famous Asterisms 20 Se...

Page 57: ...of light when charged particles from the solar wind slam into and excite atoms and molecules in a planet s upper atmosphere Azimuth The angular distance of an object eastwards along the horizon measur...

Page 58: ...the Northern hemisphere around which all the stars appear to rotate This is caused by the fact that the Earth is rotating on an axis that passes through the North and South celestial poles The star Po...

Page 59: ...Star A star whose brightness varies over time due to either inherent properties of the star or something eclipsing or obscuring the brightness of the star W Waning Moon The period of the moon s cycle...

Page 60: ...6 Mather AFB 121 1 8 38 34 2 Mcclellan 121 2 4 38 40 2 Merced 120 31 2 37 16 8 Miramar NAS 117 9 32 52 2 Modesto 120 57 37 37 8 Moffet 122 3 37 25 2 Mojave 118 9 35 3 Montague 122 31 8 41 43 8 Montere...

Page 61: ...wa 92 27 41 6 Sioux City 96 22 8 42 24 Spencer 95 9 43 10 2 Waterloo Mun 92 2 4 42 33 KANSAS Chanute 95 28 8 37 40 2 Col J Jabar 97 13 2 37 45 Concordia 97 39 39 33 Dodge City 99 58 2 37 46 2 Elkhart...

Page 62: ...ercury 116 1 2 36 37 2 Nellis AFB 115 1 8 36 13 8 Owyhee 116 10 2 42 34 8 Reno 119 46 8 39 30 Tonopah 117 4 8 38 4 2 Wildhorse 116 15 41 19 8 Winnemucca 117 4 8 40 54 Yucca Flat 116 4 8 37 34 8 NEW HA...

Page 63: ...101 27 32 18 Brownsville 97 25 8 25 54 Brownwood 98 57 6 31 47 4 Carswell AFB 97 25 8 32 46 8 Chase NAS 97 40 2 28 22 2 Childress 100 16 8 34 25 8 College Stn 96 22 2 30 34 8 Corpus Chrst 97 3 27 46...

Page 64: ...3 25 e 52 30 n Birmingham England 1 55 w 52 25 n Bombay India 72 48 e 19 0 n Bordeaux France 0 31 w 44 50 n Bremen Germany 8 49 e 53 5 n Brisbane Australia 153 8 e 27 29 s Bristol England 2 35 w 51 28...

Page 65: ...s with slew limits there will be no action Goto Ra Dec R34AB 12CE Scope must be aligned If command conflicts with slew limits there will be no action Get Azm Alt Z 12AB 4000 10 characters returned 12A...

Page 66: ...66 A AP PP PE EN ND DI IX X E E M MA AP PS S O OF F T TI IM ME E Z ZO ON NE ES S...

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Page 74: ...ling or unauthorized repair Further product malfunction or deterioration due to normal wear is not covered by this warranty CELESTRON DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTIES EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WHETHER OF MERCHANTABI...

Page 75: ...et Torrance CA 90503 Tel 310 328 9560 Fax 310 212 5835 Web site at http www celestron com Copyright 2003 Celestron All rights reserved Products or instructions may change without notice or obligation...

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