Orion SkyQuest XX12g, Instruction Manual

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Solar System – The 8 other planets of our solar system
(including Pluto), plus the Moon
Named Star – 212 of the best-known stars
NGC
*
– 7,840 of the brightest deep-sky objects from the
Revised New General Catalog
IC – 5,386 standard stars and deep-sky objects from the
Index Catalog
Messier – Complete list of 109 Messier objects
Caldwell – Complete list of 109 Caldwell objects
Double Stars – 55 well-known double stars
Variable Stars – 20 well-known variable stars
SAO – Includes 29,523 stars
* NGC 2000.0 database, edited by Roger Sinnott, copyright
Sky Publishing corporation. Used with permission.
Selecting an Object
Once the telescope has been aligned, you can access and
view any object in the GoTo database. There are three meth-
ods for selecting an object to view:
1) Dual Purpose Buttons
(Figure 29a)
TOUR – Takes you on a preset tour of your current sky. It will
automatically choose from the database the best and bright-
est deep-sky objects. Use the scroll buttons to scroll through
the selections, then press ENTER to choose one. The coordi-
nates of the selected object will be displayed. Other informa-
tion such as constellation, magnitude, and size can be dis-
played by using the scroll buttons. Pressing ENTER a second
time will prompt the telescope to slew to the object.
M, NGC, IC – These shortcut buttons give you access to the
most popular celestial catalogs: Messier Catalog, Revised
New General Catalog, and Index Catalog. Use the numeric
buttons to select an object by entering its number. Pressing
ENTER will display its coordinates. Other Information such as
constellation, magnitude, and size are accessed by pressing
the scroll buttons. Pressing ENTER a second time will prompt
the telescope to slew to the object.
PLANET – This button takes you to the Planets submenu in
the database. Use the scroll buttons to scroll through the list
of planets in our solar system. Press ENTER to view its coor-
dinates, and ENTER a second time to slew to the planet.
USER – This button will take you to the database of objects
that you have defined for yourself. You can enter a new loca-
tion or recall the objects that have previously been saved (see
Using the User Defined Database).
2) Object Button
The OBJECT button takes you to the Object Catalog, where
you have complete access to over 42,000 celestial objects in
the database.
3) Menu
In the Main Menu, scroll down to OBJECT CATALOG and
press ENTER. Similar to the OBJECT button, this gives you
access to all 42,900 celestial objects in the database.
Pointing Accuracy Enhancement (PAE)
Each of the two alignment methods described earlier will pro-
vide accurate alignment for most visual applications – accu-
rate enough to land an object somewhere in the field of view
of a low-power eyepiece such as the DeepView 35mm. If dur-
ing an observing session you discover that the GoTo point-
ing is off a bit, the PAE function can be employed. PAE pro-
vides a quick way to “sync” or “true up” the GoTo alignment.
Performing the PAE will correct the displacement error to
improve the telescope pointing accuracy in a small region of
the sky containing the object you’re targeting. It will not affect
the pointing accuracy in other regions in the sky and it will
not affect the original star alignment calculation. With PAE you
can “sync” on the target object or on a bright star close to the
target object. After PAE correction, when you select and slew
to the target object again in GoTo mode, it should be at or
very close to the center of the eyepiece field of view.
The following provides a step-by-step procedure on how to
perform PAE:
1. Choose a bright star or object that’s visible in the same
area of the sky as your object of interest. The reference
object could be a bright named star, a planet, or an object
from the Messier, NGC, or IC catalogs, but not a star
from the SAO catalog.
2. Find the reference object in the hand controller database
and command the telescope to “GoTo” the object.
3. Once the telescope has stopped slewing, press ESC to
return to any submenu.
4. Press and hold down the ESC key for 2 seconds to enter
the PAE mode. The hand control will display “Re-centering
obj” and the name of the reference object will appear
in a blinking mode (3 times). If the reference object is
selected from a planetarium software program, instead of
the name of the object, the hand control will display “Last
goto object”.
5. Use the directional buttons to center the reference object
in the telescope eyepiece (the 12.5mm Illuminated Plossl
eyepiece is recommended). Then press ENTER, or if you
do not wish to record the result, press ESC to abort the
operation. After pressing ENTER, the SynScan will deter-
mine the amount of the displacement and automatically
correct the SynScan’s pointing error for this small region
of the sky. Now the pointing accuracy in this particular
part of the sky should be greatly improved.
NOTE: The PAE correction is stored in the hand control-
ler even after the power has been turned off. You will only
need to perform the star alignment once as long as these
two criteria are met: 1. The telescope Is moved to its Home
position, i.e., the telescope is “parked” (Choose Menu >
Utility Func. > Park Scope > Home position) before turn-
ing off the power, and 2. The telescope setup, including
the mount, has not been moved. Changing accesso-
ries shouldn’t upset the alignment as long as it is done
carefully. When the hand controller is turned on for the
next session, make sure to choose YES when prompted
whether to start from the Home position. The time entered