Celestron NexStar 5 SE Instruction Manual
  1. Manuals
  2. Brands
  3. Celestron Manuals
  4. Telescope
  5. NexStar 5 SE
  6. Instruction manual

Celestron NexStar 5 SE Instruction Manual

Celestron instruction manual telescope nexstar 5 se
Hide thumbs Also See for NexStar 5 SE:
Table of Contents

Advertisement

Quick Links

INSTRUCTION MANUAL

Advertisement

Table of Contents
loading
Need help?

Need help?

Do you have a question about the NexStar 5 SE and is the answer not in the manual?

Questions and answers

Related Manuals for Celestron NexStar 5 SE

Summary of Contents for Celestron NexStar 5 SE

  • Page 1 INSTRUCTION MANUAL...

  • Page 2: Table Of Contents

    INTRODUCTION ...4 ...4 ARNING ASSEMBLY ...6 ...6 SSEMBLING THE Powering the NexStar ...6 The Hand Control ...6 The Star Diagonal...7 The Eyepiece ...7 The Star Pointer Finderscope...7 Removing the Optical Tube...8 Attaching the NexStar to the Tripod ...9 HAND CONTROL ...10 ...11 ONTROL PERATION...
  • Page 3 Get Axis Position... 24 Goto Axis Postion... 24 Hibernate ... 24 Sun Menu... 24 Scrolling Menu ... 25 Calibrate Goto ... 25 Set Mount Position ... 25 Hand Control Command Tree ...26 TELESCOPE BASICS...26 Image Orientation...27 Focusing ...28 ...28 ALCULATING AGNIFICATION ...28 ETERMINING IELD OF ...29...

  • Page 4: Introduction

    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 automatically slews to each one.
  • Page 5 Optical Tube Star Pointer Finderscope Eyepiece Star Diagonal Focuser Knob Battery Compartment NexStar 5 SE Tripod Accessory Tray / Leg Brace Tilt Wedge Plate ON/OFF Switch Hand Control Liquid Crystal Display...

  • Page 6: Assembly

    Computerized Hand Control with nearly 40,000 Object Database Start by removing the telescope from its shipping carton and setting the round base on a flat table or surface. It is best to carry the telescope by holding it from the lower portion of the fork arm and from the bottom of the base. Remove all of the accessories from their individual boxes.

  • Page 7: The Star Diagonal

    The Star Pointer Finderscope The Star Pointer is the quickest and easiest way to point your telescope exactly at a desired object in the sky. It's like having a laser pointer that you can shine directly onto the night sky. The Star Pointer is a zero magnification pointing tool that uses a coated glass window to superimpose the image of a small red dot onto the night sky.

  • Page 8: 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 bottom of the Star Pointer.

  • Page 9: Attaching The Nexstar To The Tripod

    Tighten the locking lever to hold the tilt plate securely in place. Set the base of the telescope on the wedge tilt plate so that the hole in the center of the base goes over the positioning pin on top of the tilt plate.

  • Page 10: Hand Control

    NexStar hand controller Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) Window: Has a dual-line, 16 character display screen that is backlit for comfortable viewing of telescope information and scrolling text. Align: Instructs the NexStar to use a selected star or object as an alignment position.

  • Page 11: Hand Control Operation

    SkyAlign uses your current date, time and city to create an accurate model of the sky. Then the user can simply point the telescope to any three bright celestial objects to accurately align the telescope with the sky. Auto Two-Star Align will ask the user to choose and center the first alignment star, then the NexStar will automatically select and slew to a second star for alignment.

  • Page 12: Sky Align

    You may even select a planet or the moon. The NexStar is then ready to start finding and tracking any of the objects in its object database. Before the telescope is ready to be aligned, it should be set up in an outside location with all accessories (eyepiece, diagonal and finderscope) attached and lens cover removed.

  • Page 13: Auto Two-Star Align

    Use the arrow buttons on the hand control to slew (move) the telescope towards any bright celestial object in the sky. Align the object with the red dot of the finderscope and press ENTER. 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.

  • Page 14: Two Star Alignment

    Based on this information, the NexStar will automatically display the most suitable second alignment star that is above the horizon. Press ENTER to automatically slew the telescope to the displayed star. If for some reason you do not wish to select this star (perhaps it is behind a tree or building), you can either: •...

  • Page 15: Solar System Align

    The EQ AutoAlign uses all the same time/site information as the Alt-Az alignments, however it also requires you to position the tube so that the altitude index markers are aligned (see figure 4-2), and then rotate the telescope base until the tube is pointed towards the Meridian (see figure 4-3).

  • Page 16: Improving Pointing Accuracy

    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.

  • Page 17: Sync

    Undo Sync: Since doing a Sync can affect your pointing accuracy in other parts of the sky, it may be necessary to ‘Un-Sync” your telescope when exploring other parts of the sky. Doing an Undo Sync will restore the pointing of your telescope to its original alignment.

  • Page 18: Slewing To An Object

    Constellation Tour In addition to the Tour Mode, the NexStar telescope has a Constellation Tour that allows the user to take a tour of all the best objects within a particular constellation. Selecting Constellation from the LIST menu will display all the constellation names that are above the user defined horizon (filter limits).

  • Page 19: D Irection B Uttons

    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...

  • Page 20: View Time-Site

    SLR (DSLR) camera body. The camera feature comes with an easy to use Camera Wizard that allows you to save a list of as many as nine targets. Then with a DSLR attached or piggyback mounted to your telescope, NexStar will automatically slew to the specified targets and take an exposure of each one.

  • Page 21: Connecting Camera

    The Camera Wizard is the quickest way to build an imaging sequence of targets and exposure times. The Wizard will ask you to point the telescope/camera to up to 9 objects. After the user selects 9 objects or presses UNDO it asks you whether the sequence should repeat forever (perhaps for security monitoring) or whether it should stop when it gets to the end.

  • Page 22: Goto R.a/ A Dec

    The hand control then calculates the small difference between its goto position and its centered position. Using this offset, the telescope will then slew to the desired object with enhanced accuracy.

  • Page 23: Scope Setup Features

    NexStar will remember these values and use them each time it is turned on until they are changed. Slew Limits – Sets the limits in altitude that the telescope can slew without displaying a warning message. The slew limits prevent the telescope tube from slewing to an object below the horizon.

  • Page 24: Cordwrap

    – Cord wrap safeguards against the telescope slewing more than 360º in azimuth and wrapping accessory or power cables around the base of the telescope. This is useful any time that cables are plugged into the base of the telescope. By default, the cord wrap feature is turned off when the telescope is aligned in altazimuth and turn on when aligned on a wedge.

  • Page 25: Scrolling Menu

    Set Mount Position The Set Mount Position menu can be used to recover an alignment in cases where the telescope or tripod has been manually moved. For instance, you might use this feature if you needed to adjust the level of the tripod by raising or lowering the tripod legs.

  • Page 26: Hand Control Command Tree

    MENU ALIGNMENT TRACKING SKY ALIGN MODE Saved Site ENTER if OK UNDO to Edit ALT-AZ EQ NORTH EQ SOUTH RATE SIDEREAL SOLAR AUTO TWO-STAR ALIGN LUNAR VIEW TIME-SITE SCOPE SETUP SETUP TIME-SITE ANTI-BACKLASH SLEW LIMITS FILTER LIMITS DIRECTION BUTTONS GOTO APPROACH CORDWRAP UTILITIES TWO-STAR ALIGNMENT...

  • Page 27: Image Orientation

    A telescope is an instrument that collects and focuses light. The nature of the optical design determines how the light is focused. Some telescopes, known as refractors, use lenses. Other telescopes, known as reflectors, use mirrors. The Schmidt-Cassegrain optical system (or Schmidt-Cass for short) uses a combination of mirrors and lenses and is referred to as a compound or catadioptric telescope.

  • Page 28: Focusing

    300 power. Although this is the maximum useful magnification, most observing is done in the range of 20 to 35 power for every inch of aperture which is 100 to 175 times for the NexStar telescope.

  • Page 29: General Observing Hints

    The apparent field of each eyepiece that Celestron manufactures is found in the Celestron Accessory Catalog (#93685). When working with any optical instrument, there are a few things to remember to ensure you get the best possible image.

  • Page 30: The Celestial Coordinate System

    Up to this point, this manual covered the assembly and basic operation of your NexStar telescope. However, to understand your telescope more thoroughly , you need to know a little about the night sky. This section deals with observational astronomy in general and includes information on the night sky and polar alignment.

  • Page 31: Motion Of The Stars

    The daily motion of the Sun across the sky is familiar to even the most casual observer. This daily trek is not the Sun moving as early astronomers thought, but the result of the Earth's rotation. The Earth's rotation also causes the stars to do the same, scribing out a large circle as the Earth completes one rotation.

  • Page 32: Polar Alignment

    Loosen the Latitude Adjustment Lock on the tripod. Slowly tilt the telescope towards the north until the scale on the Latitude Adjustment Rod is equal to the latitude of your observing location. For example, if using your telescope from Los Angeles, you would set the scale to 34 degrees.

  • Page 33: Photography With The Nexstar

    Minolta, Pentax, Canon and others have made such camera bodies. The camera must have interchangeable lenses so 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 functional.

  • Page 34: Finding The North Celestial Pole

    For example, in the northern hemisphere all stars move around the north celestial pole. When the telescope's polar axis is pointed at the celestial pole, it is parallel to the Earth's rotational axis. Many methods of polar alignment require that you know how to find the celestial pole by identifying stars in the area.

  • Page 35: Celestial Observing

    This can damage the telescope and/or any accessories attached to the telescope. For safe solar viewing, use a Celestron solar filter (see Optional Accessories section of manual) that reduces the intensity of the Sun's light, making it safe to view. With a filter you can see sunspots as they move across the solar disk and faculae, which are bright patches seen near the Sun's edge.

  • Page 36: Observing Deep Sky Objects

    The best time to observe the Sun is in the early morning or late afternoon when the air is cooler. To center the Sun without looking into the eyepiece, watch the shadow of the telescope tube until it forms a circular shadow.

  • Page 37: Collimation Collimation

    This will prevent contaminants from entering the optical tube. Internal adjustments and cleaning should be done only by the Celestron repair department. If your telescope is in need of internal cleaning, please call the factory for a return authorization number and price quote.
  • Page 38 (see figure 8-2). Center the de-focused star and notice in which direction the central shadow is skewed. Place your finger along the edge of the front cell of the telescope (be careful not to touch the corrector plate), pointing Place your finger along the edge of the front cell of the telescope (be careful not to touch the corrector plate), pointing towards the collimation screws.
  • Page 39 Exotherm, Hand Warmer- (#93504) - Perfect for chilly evenings of star gazing, the Exotherm Hand Warmer is convenient, reusable and provides up to one hour of instant heat. Filters, Eyepiece - To enhance your visual observations of solar system objects, Celestron offers a wide range of colored eyepiece filter sets that thread into the 1-1/4" oculars. Available sets are: #94119-10 –...
  • Page 40 This includes mercury and high and low pressure sodium vapor lights. In addition, they also block unwanted natural light (sky glow) caused by neutral oxygen emission in our atmosphere. Celestron offers a model for 1-1/4" eyepieces (#94126A). Moon Filter (#94119-A) - Celestron’s Moon Filter is an economical eyepiece filter for reducing the brightness of the moon and improving contrast, so greater detail can be observed on the lunar surface.

  • Page 41: Appendix A - Technical Specifications

    Near Focus standard eyepiece or camera Field of View: Standard Eyepiece : 35mm Camera Linear Field of View (at 1000 yds) Magnification: Standard Eyepiece Optical Tube Length Weight of Telescope Weight of Tripod Input Voltage Batteries Required Power Supply Requirements Motor: Type...

  • Page 42: Appendix B - Glossary Of Terms

    Sun against the stars". Equatorial mount A telescope mounting in which the instrument is set upon an axis which is parallel to the axis of the Earth; the angle of the axis must be equal to the observer's latitude.
  • Page 43 Refers to a group of eyepieces that all require the same distance from the focal plane of the telescope to be in focus. This means when you focus one parfocal eyepiece all the other parfocal eyepieces, in a particular line of eyepieces, will be in Parsec The distance at which a star would show parallax of one second of arc.

  • Page 44: Appendix C - Rs 232 Connection

    Celestial Equator eastward from the Vernal Equinox. Sidereal Rate This is the angular speed at which the Earth is rotating. Telescope tracking motors drive the telescope at this rate. The rate is 15 arc seconds per second or 15 degrees per hour. Terminator The boun dary line between the light and dark portion of the moon or a planet.

  • Page 45: Appendix D - Maps Of Time Zones

    Appen dix D – M aps of Time Zones...

  • Page 53: Celestron Two Year Warranty

    Parts or product for which replacement is made shall become the property of Celestron. The customer shall be responsible for all costs of transportation and insurance, both to and from the factory of Celestron, and shall be required to prepay such costs.
  • Page 54 Celestron 2835 Columbia Street Torrance, CA 90503 Tel. (310) 328-9560 Fax. (310) 212-5835 Web site at http//www.celestron.com Copyright 2006 Celestron All rights reserved. (Products or instructio ns may ch ange without notice or obligation.) This device compl ies with Part 15 of the FCC Rule.

Table of Contents

Save PDF