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INSTRUCTION MANUAL
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INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................................................................................4 WARNING ................................................................................................................................................................................4 ASSEMBLY......................................................................................................................
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GPS On/Off......................................................................................................................................................................................22 Light Control ...................................................................................................................................................................................22 Factory Setting............................................................................................
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Congratulations on your purchase of the Celestron NexStar! The NexStar ushers in a whole new generation of computer automated technology. Simple and friendly to use, the NexStar is up and running after locating just three bright objects. It’s the perfect combination of power and portability. If you are new to astronomy, you may wish to start off by using the NexStar's built-in Sky Tour feature, which commands the NexStar to find the most interesting objects in the sky and automati
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1 2 3 12 11 4 5 6 10 9 7 8 1 Optical Tube 7 Tripod 2 Star Pointer Finderscope 8 Accessory Tray / Leg Brace 3 Eyepiece 9 Tilt Wedge Plate 4 Star Diagonal 10 ON/OFF Switch 5 Focuser Knob 11 Hand Control 6 Battery Compartment 12 Liquid Crystal Display NexStar 8 SE Shown 5
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The NexStar 8 comes completely pre-assembled and can be operational in a matter of minutes. The NexStar is conveniently packaged in one reusable shipping carton that contains all of the following accessories: • 25mm Eyepiece – 1¼" • Star Diagonal 1¼" • Star Pointer Finderscope • Adjustable Steel Tripod • The Sky™ Level 1 Astronomy Software • NexRemote telescope control software • RS232 Cable • Computerized Hand Control with over 40,000 Object Database A As ss se em mb
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The Star Diagonal The star diagonal diverts the light at a right angle from the light path of the Eyepiece telescope. For astronomical observing, this allows you to observe in positions that are more comfortable than if you were to look straight through. To attach the star diagonal: 1. Turn the thumbscrew on the visual back until its tip no longer extends into (i.e., obstructs) the inner diameter of the visual back. 2. Slide the chrome portion of the star diagonal into the visu
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3. Tighten the two screws on the side of the mounting track to secure the Star Pointer to the dovetail bracket. Star Pointer Operation The star pointer is powered by a long life 3-volt lithium battery (#CR2032) located underneath the front portion of the Star Pointer. Like all finderscopes, the Star Pointer must be properly aligned with the main telescope before it can be used. This is a simple process using the azimuth and altitude control knobs located on the side and bot
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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 brace / accessory tray put in place. To set up the tripod: 1. Hold the tripod with the head up, away from the ground. 2. Pull the legs apart until the legs are fully extended and press it
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The NexStar has a removable hand controller built into the side of the fork arm designed to give you instant access to all the functions the NexStar has to offer. With automatic slewing to 40,000 objects, and common sense menu descriptions, even a beginner can master its variety of features in just a few observing sessions. Below is a brief description of the individual components of the NexStar hand controller: 1. Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) Window: Has a dual-line, 16 c
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4. Catalog Keys: The NexStar has a key on the hand control to allow direct access to each of the 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-sky objects in the Revised New General Catalog. Caldwell – A combination of the best NGC and IC objects. Planets - All 8 planets in our Solar System plus the Moon and Sun. Stars – A compiled list of the bright
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telescope. Finally, EQ North and EQ South alignments are designed to assist you in aligning the NexStar when polar aligned using the tripods built-in wedge. Each alignment method is discussed 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, the NexStar will have you aligned in minutes by asking for basic information like the date, time and location. Then you simply need
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5. If the finderscope has been properly aligned with the telescope tube, the alignment star should now be visible inside the field of view of the eyepiece. The hand control will ask that you center the bright alignment star in the center of the eyepiece and press the ALIGN button. This will accept the star as the first alignment position. (There is no need to adjust the slewing rate of the motors after each alignment step. The NexStar automatically selects the best slewing rate for aligning
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• Press the UNDO button to display the next most suitable star for alignment. • Use the UP and DOWN scroll buttons to manually select any star you wish from the entire list of available stars. Once finished slewing, the display will ask you to use the arrow buttons to align the selected star with the red dot of the finderscope. Once centered in the finder, press ENTER. The display will then instruct you to center the star in the field of view of the eyepiece. When the star is centered
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Solar System Align Solar System Align is designed to provide excellent tracking and GoTo performance by using solar system objects (Sun, Moon and planets) to align the telescope with the sky. Solar System Align is a great way to align your telescope for daytime viewing as well as a quick way to align the telescope for night time observing. Never look directly at the sun with the naked eye or with a telescope (unless you have the proper solar filter). Permanent and irreversible eye d
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slew the telescope to the displayed star. If for some reason you do not wish to select one of these stars (perhaps it is behind a tree or building), you can either: • Press the UNDO button to display the next most suitable star for alignment. • Use the UP and DOWN scroll buttons to manually select any star you wish from the entire list of available stars. 7. The telescope then asks you to center in the eyepiece the alignment object you selected. Use the direction arrow buttons to slew
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Sync: The Sync feature can be used to improve pointing accuracy in a specific region of the sky. Sync is a very useful feature especially when used in conjunction with the Constellation tour and Identify feature in which you will be exploring smaller areas of the sky. To Sync on an object: 1. Select the desired star (or object) from the database and slew to it. 2. Once centered, press the UNDO button until you are at the main menu. 3. With NexStar SE displayed, press the ALIGN key
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Slewing to an Object Once the desired object is displayed on the hand control screen, you have two options: • Press the INFO Key. This will give you useful information about the selected object such as magnitude, constellation and fascinating facts about many of the objects. • Press the ENTER Key. This will automatically slew the telescope to the coordinates of the object. While the telescope is slewing to the object, the user can still access many of the hand control functions (su
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Direction Buttons Direction Buttons The NexStar has four direction buttons in the center of the hand control which control the telescope motion in altitude (up and down) and azimuth (left and right). The telescope can be controlled at nine different speed rates. 1 = .5x 6 = 64x 2 = 1x 7 = 1º / sec 3 = 4x 8 = 3º / sec 4 = 8x 9 = 5º / sec 5 = 16x Nine available slew speeds Rate Button Pressing the RATE key (11) allows you to instantly change the speed r
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Sidereal This rate compensates for the rotation of the earth by moving the telescope at the same rate as the rotation of the earth, but in the opposite direction. When the telescope is polar aligned, this can be accomplished by moving the telescope in Right Ascension only. When mounted in Alt- Az mode, the telescope must make corrections in both R.A. and declination. Lunar Used for tracking the moon when observing the lunar landscape. Solar Used for tracking the Sun when solar obse
