Object Menu
Almost all observing with AutoStar II is performed using the Object menu category.
(
Note: Exceptions include Guided Tour and Landmark Survey.
)
See GoTo SATURN,
page 21, for an example of observing using the Object menu. Also see
USING THE
GUIDED TOUR, page 21.
AutoStar II contains many libraries of viewable objects, such as stars, planets, comets,
nebulae and so forth. When one of these objects is selected from a library, AutoStar II
moves your telescope (if properly aligned) and points it at the selected object. Six of the
most popular libraries can be accessed directly using the hot buttons.
The Object Menu options include:
Solar System: A library of the eight planets (Earth is not included) in order out from
the Sun, followed by the Moon, asteroids, and comets.
Constellation: A library of all 88 Northern and Southern Hemisphere constellations.
When this menu option is chosen and a constellation name appears on the first line of
the screen, press GO TO once to change the second line to the name of the brightest
star in the constellation. Press GO TO a second time to slew the telescope to that star.
Use the Scroll keys to cycle through the list of stars in the constellation, from brightest
to dimmest.
Deep Sky: A library of objects outside our Solar System such as nebulae, star
clusters, galaxies, and quasars.
Star: A catalog of stars listed in different categories such as named, double, variable,
or nearby. Also included are the Hipparcos, SAO, HD, and HR catalogs. The Star
catalog may also be accessed directly by pressing the Number key “6”.
Satellite: A library of Earth-orbiting objects such as the International Space Station,
the Hubble Space Telescope, Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites, and
geosynchronous orbit satellites.
Other Catalogs are accessed directly using the AutoStar II “hot keys”: Caldwell
(key “2”), Messier catalog (“3”), Solar System (“5”), IC (“8”), and NGC (“9”).
To slew the telescope to catalog objects:
Enter the catalog number of the object using the Number keys and then press ENTER.
For example
: To slew to NGC 6720, press Number Key “9”, then using the Number
keys, enter the digits “6-7-2-0”. Then press ENTER.
AutoStar II displays the common name and alternate names of the object, if available.
Press one of the Scroll keys to display some or all of the following information about
that object: Type of object (galaxy, nebula, etc.), Dec. and R.A. coordinates,
constellation it is located within, magnitude, size, distance, and star-type classification,
if the object is a star. If further information is available, it displays as scrolling text.
Press GO TO. The telescope, if aligned (see
AUTOMATIC ALIGNMENT, page 19), will
slew to that chosen object. Press MODE repeatedly to return to previous menu levels.
User Objects: Allows the user to define and store in memory deep-sky objects of
specific interest that are not currently in the AutoStar II libraries. See
CREATING USER
OBJECTS
, page 34, for more information.
Landmarks: Stores the location of terrestrial points of interest in the permanent
AutoStar II database. This function works with a telescope that remains in one fixed
spot or can be setup in the exact same spot each time it is used.
Select: To select a Landmark already in the database (see ADD below), choose
the “Select” option and scroll through the list. Press ENTER to select a Landmark,
then press GO TO and the telescope slews to the object.
Add: To add a Landmark, choose the “Add” option. Enter a name for the
Landmark. Locate and center the Landmark in the eyepiece, then press ENTER.
Important Note: To add objects to the Landmark database, the telescope
must be located and aligned exactly as when the original objects were
added to the database.
Want to learn more about
Landmarks? See page 35.
Want to learn more about
Observing Satellites? See
page 35.
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