21
1.
Choosing an Object:
2.
Viewing Information on the Object:
3.
Locating the Object:
Press the “
M
” shortcut key on the SynScan hand control. The screen will display “
Messier
Catalog / Messier =”
to wait for input of the 3 digits Messier index number which is between
1 and 110.
• Use the number keys on the keypad to enter a number at the cursor position.
• Use the left or right direction keys to move the cursor.
• A 3-digit number starting with a 0 is acceptable. Ex. 001 = 01 = 1
• Press
ENTER
key to proceed to the next step.
The screen will display “
View Object?
”
• Press the
ESC
key to return to the previous step.
• Press the
ENTER
key to have the mount slew towards the target. When the mount
stops, the SynScan hand control will return to the previous step. The mount will also
automatically start tracking the object.
»
The object is below the horizon; or
»
On an alt-azimuth mount, the object’s altitude exceeds the limit set by the hand control
(Section 11.3)
. (The screen will display “
Target over slew limit
” in this case.)
• Users can press the
ESC
key to stop the mount. The screen will display “
MOUNT
STOPPED!! Press any key…
”. Users can press any key to return to the previous step.
Note:
The mount will not slew if:
• If the selected object is below the horizon at this time, the SynScan hand control will
display “
Below horizon
” for 2 seconds; otherwise, it will display the object’s current az-
imuth and altitude.
• By using the scroll keys, users can browse the following information of the object: Cur-
rent celestial coordinates, J2000 celestial coordinates, magnitude (MAG=), rising time
(Rise:), transit time (Transit:), setting time (Set: ), size (Size=), associated constellation
(Constellation: ) and common name of the object (Object Name) etc.
• Press
ENTER
key to proceed to the next step.
Users can access several popular celestial object catalogs stored in the SynScan hand control
and control the telescope mount to locate a specific object in the catalogs. The object location
function is available for either “Full Feature” mode
(Section 1.4 Step 1)
or “Easy Tracking”
mode
(Section 1.4 Step 2)
of the mount.
5.1 Locating Messier Objects
PART V : LOCATING OBJECTS