23
NexStar Re-Alignment
The NexStar has a re-alignment feature which allows you to replace either of the two original alignment stars
with a new star or celestial object. This can be useful in several situations:
•
If you are observing over a period of a few hours, you may notice that your original two alignment stars
have drifted towards the west considerably. (Remember that the stars are moving at a rate of 15º every
hour). Aligning on a new star that is in the eastern part of the sky will improve your pointing accuracy,
especially on objects in that part of the sky.
•
If you have aligned your telescope using the Quick-Align method, you can use
re-align
to align to two
actual objects in the sky. This will improve the pointing accuracy of your telescope without having to re-
enter addition information.
To replace an existing alignment star with a new alignment star:
1. Select the desired star (or object) from the database and slew to it.
2. Carefully center the object in the eyepiece.
3. Once centered, press the UNDO button until you are at the main menu.
4. With
NexStar Ready
displayed, press the ALIGN key on the hand control.
5. The display will then ask you which alignment star you want to replace. Use the UP and Down scroll
keys to select the alignment star to be replaced. It is usually best to replace the star closest to the new
object. This will space out your alignment stars across the sky.
6. Press ALIGN to make the change.
Since many planets and bright stars can be observed in the daytime, the realign feature can also be useful for
aligning your telescope during the day.
Daytime alignments require the use of a proper solar filter for your
telescope (see
Optional Accessories
section of the manual)
. In order to align the NexStar in the daytime,
you 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
as discussed earlier in this chapter.
2.
With the proper solar filter attached,
manually move the telescope to the Sun and center it in the
eyepiece.
3. Once centered, press the UNDO button until you are at the main menu.
4. With
NexStar Ready
displayed, press the ALIGN key on the hand control
5. The display will then ask you which alignment star you want to replace. Use the UP and Down scroll
keys to select the alignment star to be replaced. Since you did a
Quick-Align
it does not matter which
star you select.
6. Press the ZERO button on the hand control.
7. The hand control will then prompt you to "Center the Sun" and "Press Align"
8. For your second star alignment, do one of the following
•
Select a bright star or planet from the database and slew to it. If it is visible in the eyepiece,
use that object to realign to, replacing the remaining star when asked to choose.
•
Wait approximately 10 minutes, and go through steps 2-7 above and again use the Sun as the
second alignment object. Replace the remaining star when asked to choose.
O
O
b
b
j
j
e
e
c
c
t
t
C
C
a
a
t
t
a
a
l
l
o
o
g
g
Selecting an Object
Now that the telescope is properly aligned, you can choose an object from any of the catalogs in the NexStar's
extensive database. The hand control has a key (4) designated for each of the catalogs in its database. There
are two ways to select objects from the database: scrolling through the named object lists and entering object
numbers.
Pressing the LIST key on the hand control will access all objects in the database that have common names or
types. Each list is broken down into the following categories: Named Stars, Named Object, Double Stars,
Variable Stars, Asterisms and CCD Objects. Selecting any one of these catalogs will display a numeric-
Daytime
Observing
Tip!
