Figure 2-5

Hand Control Holder

Leg Clamp

Attaching the Slow Motion Knobs (For Non-GT Models Only)

Figure 2-6

The Advanced Series (non-GT models) comes with two slow motion control knobs that allows you to make fine pointing adjustments to the telescope in both R.A. and Declination. To install the knobs: 1. 2. 3. Locate the hard plastic shell under the R.A. shafts. Remove either of the two oval tabs by pulling tightly. Line up the flat area on the inner portion of the R.A. slow motion knob with the flat area on the R.A. shaft (see Fig 2-7). Slide the R.A. slow motion knob onto the R.A. shaft.

Figure 2-7

The knob is a tension fit, so sliding it on holds it in place. As mentioned above, there are two R.A. shafts, one on either side of the mount. It makes no difference which shaft you use since both work the same. Use whichever one you find more convenient. If, after a few observing sessions, you find the R.A. slow motion knob is more accessible from the other side, pull firmly to remove the knob, then install it on the opposite side. 5. The DEC slow motion knob attaches in the same manner as the R.A. knob. The shaft that the DEC slow motion knob fits over is toward the top of the mount, just below the telescope mounting platform. Once again, you have two shafts to choose from. Use the shaft that is pointing toward the ground. This makes it easy to reach while looking through the telescope, something which is quite important when you are observing.
Attaching the Optical Tube to the Mount

Advanced GT Users!

The telescope attaches to the mount via a dovetail slide bar which is mounted along the bottom of the telescope tube. Before you attach the optical tube, make sure Declination that the declination and right ascension clutch knobs are tight. Index Marks This will ensure that the mount does not move suddenly while attaching the telescope. To mount the telescope tube: In order for the GT computerized mount to function properly, before installing the optical tube, the mounting platform must be positioned so that the Declination Index Marks are aligned (see Fig 2-8).

1. 2 3

Loosen the mounting screw on the side of the telescope mounting platform. This allows you to slide the dovetail bar onto the mount.
Figure 2-8 Slide the dovetail bar on the telescope tube into the mounting platform of the mount. Slide the telescope so that the back of the dovetail bar is close to the back of the mounting platform.
Tighten the mounting screw on the side of the mounting platform to hold the telescope in place. Now that the optical tube is securely in place, the visual accessories can now be attached to the telescope.

Moving the Telescope Manually
In order to properly balance your telescope, you will need to move your telescope manually at various portions of the sky to observe different objects. To make rough adjustments, loosen the R.A. and DEC clutch knobs slightly and move the telescope in the desired direction. Both the R.A. and DEC axis have lock levers to clutch down each axis of the telescope. To loosen the clutches on the telescope, rotate the lock levers counterclockwise.
Balancing The Mount in R.A.
To eliminate undue stress on the mount, the telescope should be properly balanced around the polar axis. Proper balancing is crucial for accurate tracking. To balance the mount: 1. 2. Verify that the telescope is securely attached to the telescope mounting platform. Loosen the R.A. lock lever and position the telescope off to one side of the mount. The counterweight bar will extend horizontally on the opposite side of the mount. Release the telescope GRADUALLY to see which way the telescope rolls. Loosen the set screws on the side of the counterweight so it can be moved the length of the counterweight bar. Move the counterweight to a point where it balances the telescope (i.e., the telescope remains stationary when the R.A. clutch knobs are loose). Tighten the screw on the counterweight to hold it in place.

Declination Lock Lever

R.A. Lock Lever

Figure 2-12

While the above instructions describe a perfect balance arrangement, there should be a SLIGHT imbalance to ensure the best possible tracking. When the scope is on the west side of the mount the counterweight should be slightly imbalanced to the counterweight bar side. And when the tube is on the east side of the mount there should be a slight imbalance toward the telescope side. This is done so that the worm gear is pushing against a slight load. The amount of the imbalance is very slight. When taking astrophotographs, this balance process can be done for the specific area at which the telescope is pointing to further optimize tracking accuracy.

Figure 2-13

Balancing The Mount in DEC
Although the telescope does not track in declination, the telescope should also be balanced in this axis to prevent any sudden motions when the DEC lock lever is loose. To balance the telescope in DEC: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Loosen the R.A. clutch lock lever and rotate the telescope so that it is on one side of the mount (i.e., as described in the previous section on Balancing the Mount in R.A.). Tighten the R.A. lock lever to hold the telescope in place. Loosen the DEC clutch lock lever and rotate the telescope until the tube is parallel to the ground. Release the tube GRADUALLY to see which way it rotates around the declination axis. DO NOT LET GO OF THE TELESCOPE TUBE COMPLETELY! Slightly loosen the knobs that holds the telescope to the mounting platform and slide the telescope either forward or backward until it remains stationary when the DEC clutch is loose. Do NOT let go of the telescope tube while the knob on the mounting platform is loose. It may be necessary to rotate the telescope so that the counterweight bar is pointing down before loosening the mounting platform screw. Tighten the knobs on the telescope mounting platform to hold the telescope in place.

Figure 3-1 The Advanced GT Hand Control
Catalog Keys: The Advanced Series has keys on the hand control to allow direct access to each of the catalogs in its database. The hand control contains the following catalogs in its database: Messier Complete list of all Messier objects. NGC Complete 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. Stars A compiled list of the brightest stars from the SAO catalog. List For quick access, all of the best and most popular objects in the Advanced GT database have been broken down into lists based on their type and/or common name: Named Stars Named Objects Double Stars Variable Stars Asterisms CCD Objects IC Objects Abell Objects Constellation Common name listing of the brightest stars in the sky. Alphabetical listing of over 50 of the most popular deep sky objects. Numeric-alphabetical listing of the most visually stunning double, triple and quadruple stars in the sky. Select list of the brightest variable stars with the shortest period of changing magnitude. A unique list of some of the most recognizable star patterns in the sky. A custom list of many interesting galaxy pairs, trios and clusters that are well suited for CCD imaging with the Advanced GT telescope. A complete list of all the Index Catalog deep-sky objects. A custom list of the Abell Catalog deep-sky galaxies. A complete list of all 88 constellations.
Info: Displays coordinates and useful information about objects selected from the Advanced GT database. Tour: Activates the tour mode, which seeks out all the best objects for the current date and time, and automatically slews the telescope to those objects. 7. Enter: Pressing Enter allows you to select any of the Advanced GT functions and accept entered parameters. 8. Undo: Undo will take you out of the current menu and display the previous level of the menu path. Press Undo repeatedly to get back to a main menu or use it to erase data entered by mistake. 9. Menu: Displays the many setup and utilities functions such as tracking rates and user defined objects and many others. 10. Scroll Keys: Used to scroll up and down within any of the menu lists. A double-arrow will appear on the right side of the LCD when there are sub-menus below the displayed menu. Using these keys will scroll through those sub-menus. 11. Rate: Instantly changes the rate of speed of the motors when the direction buttons are pressed. 12. RS-232 Jack: Allows you to interface with a computer and control the telescope remotely. 5. 6.

Hand Control Operation

This section describes the basic hand control procedures needed to operate the GT Series Telescopes. These procedures are grouped into three categories: Alignment, Setup and Utilities. The alignment section deals with the initial telescope alignment as well as finding objects in the sky; the setup section discusses changing parameters such as tracking mode and tracking rate; finally, the last section reviews all of the utilities functions such as calibrating your mount, polar alignment and backlash compensation.

Alignment Procedures

In order for the telescope to accurately point to objects in the sky, it must first be aligned to three known positions (stars) in the sky. With this information, the telescope can create a model of the sky, which it uses to locate any object with known coordinates. There are many ways to align your telescope with the sky depending on what information the user is able to provide: Auto Align allows the telescope to select three stars and uses the entered time/location information to align the telescope; Auto Three Star Align involves the same process as Auto Align, however it allows the user to select which star to use to align the telescope. Quick-Align will ask you to input all the same information as you would for the Auto Align procedure. However, instead of slewing to the alignment stars for centering and alignment, the telescope bypasses this step and simply models the sky based on the information given. Finally, Last Alignment restores your last saved star alignment and switch position. Last Alignment also serves as a good safeguard in case the telescope should lose power.

Startup Procedure

Before any of the described alignments are performed, the telescope mount needs to be positioned so that the index marks are aligned on both the right ascension and declination axes (see Fig 2-8). First index its switch position so that each axis has an equal amount of travel to move in either direction. Once the index position has been set, Mount Calibration the hand control will display the last entered date and time information stored in the hand control. Once the telescope is powered on: After an Auto Align is successfully 1. Press ENTER begin the alignment process. completed, the hand control will 2. The hand control will ask the user to set the mount to its index display the message, Calibrating. position. Move the telescope mount, either manually or with the hand control, so that the index marked in both R.A. and This automatic calibration routine is necessary to calculate and Dec are aligned (see Fig 2-8). Press Enter to continue. compensates for "cone" error 3. The hand control will then display the last entered local time, inherent in all German equatorial date, time zone, longitude and latitude. mounts. Cone error is the Use the Up/Down keys (10) to view the current inaccuracy that results from the parameters. optical tube not being exactly Press ENTER to accept the current parameters. perpendicular to the mounts Press UNDO to enter current date and time declination axis as well as various other inaccuracies such as backlash information into the hand control. The following in the mounts gears. The telescope information will be displayed: Time - Enter the current local time for your area. You can enter either the local time (i.e. 08:00), or you can enter military time (i.e. 20:00 ). Select PM or AM. If military time was entered, the hand control will bypass this step. Choose between Standard time or Daylight Savings time. Use the Up and Down scroll buttons (10) to toggle between options. Select the time zone that you are observing from. Again, use the Up and Down buttons (10) to scroll through the choices. Refer to Time Zone map in Appendix for more information. Date - Enter the month, day and year of your observing session. Finally, you must enter the longitude and latitude of the location of your observing site. Use the table in Appendix C to locate the closest longitude and latitude for your current observing location and enter those numbers when asked in the hand control, pressing ENTER after each entry. Remember to select "West" for longitudes in North America and "North" for latitudes in the North Hemisphere. For international cities, the correct hemisphere is indicated in the Appendix listings.

Helpful Hint

Slewing to an Object
Once the desired object is displayed on the hand control screen, choose from the following options:
Press the INFO Key. This will give you useful information about the selected object such as R.A. and declination, magnitude size and text information for many of the most popular objects. Press the ENTER Key. This will automatically slew the telescope to the coordinates of the object.
Caution: Never slew the telescope when someone is looking into the eyepiece. The telescope can move at fast slew speeds and may hit an observer in the eye.
Object information can be obtained without having to do a star alignment. After the telescope is powered on, pressing any of the catalog keys allows you to scroll through object lists or enter catalog numbers and view the information about the object as described above.

Finding Planets

Your telescope can locate all 8 of our solar systems planets plus the Moon. However, the hand control will only display the solar system objects that are above the horizon (or within its filter limits). To locate the planets, press the PLANET key on the hand control. The hand control will display all solar system objects that are above the horizon:
Use the Up and Down keys to select the planet that you wish to observe. Press INFO to access information on the displayed planet. Press ENTER to slew to the displayed planet.

Tour Mode

The Advanced Series telescopes include a tour feature which automatically allows the user to choose from a list of interesting objects based on the date and time in which you are observing. The automatic tour will display only those objects that are within your set filter limits (see Filter Limits in the Setup Procedures section of the manual). To activate the Tour mode, press the TOUR key (6) on the hand control. The hand control will display the best objects to observe that are currently in the sky.
To see information and data about the displayed object, press the INFO key. To slew to the object displayed, press ENTER. To see the next tour object, press the Up key.

Constellation Tour

In addition to the Tour Mode, your telescope has a Constellation Tour that allows the user to take a tour of all the best objects in each of the 88 constellations. Selecting Constellation from the LIST menu will display all the constellation names that are above the user defined horizon (filter limits). Once a constellation is selected, you can choose from any of the database object catalogs to produce a list of all the available objects in that constellation.

Direction Buttons

The hand control has four direction buttons (3) in the center of the hand control which control the telescope's motion in altitude (up and down) and azimuth (left and right). The telescope can be controlled at nine different speed rates.

SCOPE SETUP SETUP TIME-SITE ANTI-BACKLASH AZM POSITIVE AZM NEGATIVE ALT POSITIVE ALT NEGATIVE FILTER LIMITS ALTMAX IN LIST ALTMIN IN LIST DIRECTION BUTTONS AZM BUTTONS ALT BUTTONS GOTO APPROACH AZM APPROACH ALT APPROACH AUTOGUIDE RATES

2. 3. 4.

Scope Setup Features
Setup Time-Site - Allows the user to customize the telescope's display by changing
time and location parameters (such as time zone and daylight savings).
Anti-backlash All mechanical gears have a certain amount of backlash or play AZM RATE between the gears. This play is evident by how long it takes for a star to move in the ALT RATE AZIMUTH LIMITS eyepiece when the hand control arrow buttons are pressed (especially when changing directions). The Advanced GT's anti-backlash features allows the user to compensate for AZM MIN LIMIT backlash by inputting a value which quickly rewinds the motors just enough to eliminate AZM MAX LIMIT E/W FILTERING the play between gears. The amount of compensation needed depends on the slewing rate selected; the slower the slewing rate the longer it will take for the star to appear to FILTERING ON move in the eyepiece. There are two values for each axis, positive and negative. Positive FILTERING OFF is the amount of compensation applied when you press the button, in order to get the gears moving quickly without a long pause. Negative is the amount of compensation applied when you release the button, winding the motors back in the other direction to resume tracking. Normally both values should be the same. You will need to experiment with different values (from 0-99); a value between 20 and 50 is usually best for most visual observing, whereas a higher value may be necessary for photographic guiding.
To set the anti-backlash value, scroll down to the anti-backlash option and press ENTER. While viewing an object in the eyepiece, observe the responsiveness of each of the four arrow buttons. Note which directions you see a pause in the star movement after the button has been pressed. Working one axis at a time, adjust the backlash settings high enough to cause immediate movement without resulting in a pronounced jump when pressing or releasing the button. Now, enter the same values for both positive and negative directions. If you notice a jump when releasing the button, but setting the values lower results in a pause when pressing the button, go with the higher value for positive, but use a lower value for negative. The telescope will remember these values and use them each time it is turned on until they are changed.

Center Polaris in the field of the telescope using the fine adjustment controls on the mount. Remember, while Polar aligning, do NOT move the telescope in R.A. or DEC. You do not want to move the telescope itself, but the polar axis. The telescope is used simply to see where the polar axis is pointing. Like the previous method, this gets you close to the pole but not directly on it. The following methods help improve your accuracy for more serious observations and photography.
Finding the North Celestial Pole
In each hemisphere, there is a point in the sky around which all the other stars appear to rotate. These points are called the celestial poles and are named for the hemisphere in which they reside. 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. For those in the northern hemisphere, finding the celestial pole is not too difficult. Fortunately, we have a naked eye star less than a degree away. This star, Polaris, is the end star in the handle of the Little Dipper. Since the Little Dipper (technically called Ursa Minor) is not one of the brightest constellations in the sky, it may be difficult to locate from urban areas. If this is the case, use the two end stars in the bowl of the Big Dipper (the pointer stars). Draw an imaginary line through them toward the Little Dipper. They point to Polaris (see Figure 5-5). The position of the Big Dipper changes during the year and throughout the course of the night (see Figure 5-4). When the Big Dipper is low in the sky (i.e., near the horizon), it may be difficult to locate. During these times, look for Cassiopeia (see Figure 5-5). Observers in the southern hemisphere are not as fortunate as those in the northern hemisphere. The stars around the south celestial pole are not nearly as bright as those around the north. The closest star that is relatively bright is Sigma Octantis. This star is just within naked eye limit (magnitude 5.5) and lies about 59 arc minutes from the pole.

Sky Illumination

General sky brightening caused by the Moon, aurorae, natural airglow, and light pollution greatly affect transparency. While not a problem for the brighter stars and planets, bright skies reduce the contrast of extended nebulae making them difficult, if not impossible, to see. To maximize your observing, limit deep sky viewing to moonless nights far from the light polluted skies found around major urban areas. LPR filters enhance deep sky viewing from light polluted areas by blocking unwanted light while transmitting light from certain deep sky objects. You can, on the other hand, observe planets and stars from light polluted areas or when the Moon is out.

Seeing

Seeing conditions refers to the stability of the atmosphere and directly affects the amount of fine detail seen in extended objects. The air in our atmosphere acts as a lens which bends and distorts incoming light rays. The amount of bending depends on air density. Varying temperature layers have different densities and, therefore, bend light differently. Light
rays from the same object arrive slightly displaced creating an imperfect or smeared image. These atmospheric disturbances vary from time-to-time and place-to-place. The size of the air parcels compared to your aperture determines the "seeing" quality. Under good seeing conditions, fine detail is visible on the brighter planets like Jupiter and Mars, and stars are pinpoint images. Under poor seeing conditions, images are blurred and stars appear as blobs. The conditions described here apply to both visual and photographic observations.
Figure 6-1 Seeing conditions directly affect image quality. These drawings represent a point source (i.e., star) under bad seeing conditions (left) to excellent conditions (right). Most often, seeing conditions produce images that lie some where between these two extremes.
After looking at the night sky for a while you may want to try photographing it. Several forms of celestial photography are possible with your telescope, including short exposure prime focus, eyepiece projection, long exposure deep sky, terrestrial and even CCD imaging. Each of these is discussed in moderate detail with enough information to get you started. Topics include the accessories required and some simple techniques. More information is available in some of the publications listed at the end of this manual.
In addition to the specific accessories required for each type of celestial photography, there is the need for a camera but not just any camera. The camera does not have to have many of the features offered on today's state-of-the-art equipment. For example, you don't need auto focus capability or mirror lock up. Here are the mandatory features a camera needs for celestial photography. First, a B setting which allows for time exposures. This excludes point and shoot cameras and limits the selection to SLR cameras, the most common type of 35mm camera on the market today. Second, the B or manual setting should NOT run off the battery. Many new electronic cameras use the battery to keep the shutter open during time exposures. Once the batteries are drained, usually after a few minutes, the shutter closes, whether you were finished with the exposure or not. Look for a camera that has a manual shutter when operating in the time exposure mode. Olympus, Nikon, 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. The light meter, for example, does not have to be operational since you will be determining the exposure length manually. You also need a cable release with a locking function to hold the shutter open while you do other things. Mechanical and air release models are available.

The three collimation screws are located on the front of the secondary mirror housing.

Figure 8-1

To verify collimation, view a star near the zenith. Use a medium to high power ocular 12mm to 6mm focal length. It is important to center a star in the center of the field to judge collimation. Slowly cross in and out of focus and judge the symmetry of the star. If you see a systematic skewing of the star to one side, then re-collimation is needed.
Figure 8-2 -- Even though the star pattern appears the same on both sides of focus, they are asymmetric. The dark obstruction is skewed off to the left side of the diffraction pattern indicating poor collimation.
To accomplish this, you need to tighten the secondary collimation screw(s) that move the star across the field toward the direction of the skewed light. These screws are located in the secondary mirror holder (see figure 8-1). Make only small 1/6 to 1/8 adjustments to the collimation screws and re-center the star by moving the scope before making any improvements or before making further adjustments. To make collimation a simple procedure, follow these easy steps: 1. 2. While looking through a medium to high power eyepiece, de-focus a bright star until a ring pattern with a dark shadow appears (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 towards the collimation screws. The shadow of your finger should be visible when looking into the eyepiece. Rotate your finger around the tube edge until its shadow is seen closest to the narrowest portion of the rings (i.e. the same direction in which the central shadow is skewed). Locate the collimation screw closest to where your finger is positioned. This will be the collimation screw you will need to adjust first. (If your finger is positioned exactly between two of the collimation screws, then you will need to adjust the screw opposite where your finger is located). Use the hand control buttons to move the de-focused star image to the edge of the field of view, in the same direction that the central obstruction of the star image is skewed. While looking through the eyepiece, use an Allen wrench to turn the collimation screw you located in step 2 and 3. Usually a tenth of a turn is enough to notice a change in collimation. If the star image moves out of the field of view in the direction that the central shadow is skewed, than you are turning the collimation screw the wrong way. Turn the screw in the opposite direction, so that the star image is moving towards the center of the field of view. 6. If while turning you notice that the screws get very loose, then simply tighten the other two screws by the same amount. Conversely, if the collimation screw gets too tight, then loosen the other two screws by the same amount. Once the star image is in the center of the field of view, check to see if the rings are concentric. If the central obstruction is still skewed in the same direction, then continue turning the screw(s) in the same direction. If you find that the ring pattern is skewed in a different direction, than simply repeat steps 2 through 6 as described above for the new direction.

Appendix A Technical Specifications
Advanced Series Specifications:
Optical Design Focal Length Finderscope Mount Eyepiece Star Diagonal Accessory tray Tripod 127mm(5") Schmidt-Cassegrain 1250mm F/10 6x30 CG-5 Equatorial 25mm Plossl (50x) 1.25" Yes 2" Stainless Steel 300x 18x 13 1.1arc seconds.91 arc seconds 200 line/mm 329x unaided eye 1 52.5 ft. Starbright Coating 1.75" 12% 35% 14 inches 48 lbs 203mm (8") Schmidt-Cassegrain 2032mm F/10 6x30 CG-5 Equatorial 25mm Plossl (81x) 1.25" Yes 2" Stainless Steel 480x 29x 14.68 arc seconds.57 arc seconds 200 line/mm 843x unaided eye.64 33.6 ft. Starbright Coating 2.7" 11% 34% 17 inches 54.5 lbs 235mm (9.25") Schmidt-Cassegrain 2350mm F/10 6x30 CG-5 Equatorial 25mm Plossl (94x) 1.25" Yes 2" Stainless Steel 555x 34x 14.4.59 arc seconds.49 arc seconds 200 line/mm 1127x unaided eye.ft. Starbright Coating 3.35" 13% 36% 22 inches 73 lbs

11071/11072 C5-S

11025/11026 C8-S

11045/11046 C9.25-S

Technical Specs
Highest Useful Magnication Lowest Useful Magnification Limiting Stellar Magnitude Resolution: Rayleigh Dawes Limit Photographic Resolution Light Gathering Power Field of View: standard eyepiece Linear FOV (@1000 yds) Optical Coatings - Standard Secondary Mirror Obstruction by Area by Diameter Optical tube length Telescope Weight
Advanced GT Additional Specifications
Hand Control Motor: Type Max Slew Speed Software Precision Hand Control Ports Motor Ports Tracking Rates Tracking Modes Alignment Procedures Database Complete Revised NGC Catalog Complete Messier Catalog Complete IC Catalog Complete Caldwell Abell Galaxies Solar System objects Famous Asterisms Selected CCD Imaging Objects Selected SAO Stars Total Object Database Double line, 16 character Liquid Crystal Display; 19 fiber optic backlit LED buttons DC Servo motors with encoders, both axes 3/second 24bit, 0.08 arcsec calculation RS-232 communication port on hand control Aux Port, Autoguide Ports Sidereal, Solar and Lunar EQ North & EQ South AutoAlign, 3-Star Alignment, Quick Align, Last Align 40,000+ objects, 400 user defined programmable objects. Enhanced information on over 200 objects 7,5,2,29,500 45,492
Appendix B - Glossary of Terms
AAbsolute magnitude Airy disk Alt-Azimuth Mounting Altitude Aperture Apparent Magnitude Arcminute Arcsecond Asterism Asteroid Astrology Astronomical unit (AU) Aurora Azimuth The apparent magnitude that a star would have if it were observed from a standard distance of 10 parsecs, or 32.6 light-years. The absolute magnitude of the Sun is 4.8. at a distance of 10 parsecs, it would just be visible on Earth on a clear moonless night away from surface light. The apparent size of a star's disk produced even by a perfect optical system. Since the star can never be focused perfectly, 84 per cent of the light will concentrate into a single disk, and 16 per cent into a system of surrounding rings. A telescope mounting using two independent rotation axis allowing movement of the instrument in Altitude and Azimuth. In astronomy, the altitude of a celestial object is its Angular Distance above or below the celestial horizon. the diameter of a telescope's primary lens or mirror; the larger the aperture, the greater the telescope's light-gathering power. A measure of the relative brightness of a star or other celestial object as perceived by an observer on Earth. A unit of angular size equal to 1/60 of a degree. A unit of angular size equal to 1/3,600 of a degree (or 1/60 of an arcminute). A small unofficial grouping of stars in the night sky. A small, rocky body that orbits a star. The pseudoscientific belief that the positions of stars and planets exert an influence on human affairs; astrology has nothing in common with astronomy. The distance between the Earth and the Sun. It is equal to 149,597,900 km., usually rounded off to 150,000,000 km. The emission of light when charged particles from the solar wind slams into and excites atoms and molecules in a planet's upper atmosphere. The angular distance of an object eastwards along the horizon, measured from due north, between the astronomical meridian (the vertical line passing through the center of the sky and the north and south points on the horizon) and the vertical line containing the celestial body whose position is to be measured. Binary (Double) stars are pairs of stars that, because of their mutual gravitational attraction, orbit around a common Center of Mass. If a group of three or more stars revolve around one another, it is called a multiple system. It is believed that approximately 50 percent of all stars belong to binary or multiple systems. Systems with individual components that can be seen separately by a telescope are called visual binaries or visual multiples. The nearest "star" to our solar system, Alpha Centauri, is actually our nearest example of a multiple star system, it consists of three stars, two very similar to our Sun and one dim, small, red star orbiting around one another. The projection of the Earth's equator on to the celestial sphere. It divides the sky into two equal hemispheres. The imaginary projection of Earth's rotational axis north or south pole onto the celestial sphere. An imaginary sphere surrounding the Earth, concentric with the Earth's center. The act of putting a telescope's optics into perfect alignment. The angular distance of a celestial body north or south of the celestial equator. It may be said to correspond to latitude on the surface of the Earth. The projection of the Earth's orbit on to the celestial sphere. It may also be defined as "the apparent yearly path of the Sun against the stars". 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.

BBinary Stars

CCelestial Equator Celestial pole Celestial Sphere Collimation DDeclination (DEC) EEcliptic Equatorial mount

FFocal length

The distance between a lens (or mirror) and the point at which the image of an object at infinity is brought to focus. The focal length divided by the aperture of the mirror or lens is termed the focal ratio.

JJovian Planets

Any of the four gas giant planets that are at a greater distance form the sun than the terrestrial planets.
KKuiper Belt LLight-Year (LY) MMagnitude
A region beyond the orbit of Neptune extending to about 1000 AU which is a source of many short period comets. A light-year is the distance light traverses in a vacuum in one year at the speed of 299,792 km/ sec. With 31,557,600 seconds in a year, the light-year equals a distance of 9.46 X 1 trillion km (5.87 X 1 trillion mi). Magnitude is a measure of the brightness of a celestial body. The brightest stars are assigned magnitude 1 and those increasingly fainter from 2 down to magnitude 5. The faintest star that can be seen without a telescope is about magnitude 6. Each magnitude step corresponds to a ratio of 2.5 in brightness. Thus a star of magnitude 1 is 2.5 times brighter than a star of magnitude 2, and 100 times brighter than a magnitude 5 star. The brightest star, Sirius, has an apparent magnitude of -1.6, the full moon is -12.7, and the Sun's brightness, expressed on a magnitude scale, is -26.78. The zero point of the apparent magnitude scale is arbitrary. A reference line in the sky that starts at the North celestial pole and ends at the South celestial pole and passes through the zenith. If you are facing South, the meridian starts from your Southern horizon and passes directly overhead to the North celestial pole. A French astronomer in the late 1700s who was primarily looking for comets. Comets are hazy diffuse objects and so Messier cataloged objects that were not comets to help his search. This catalog became the Messier Catalog, M1 through M110. Interstellar cloud of gas and dust. Also refers to any celestial object that has a cloudy appearance. The point in the Northern hemisphere around which all the stars appear to rotate. This is caused by the fact that the Earth is rotating on an axis that passes through the North and South celestial poles. The star Polaris lies less than a degree from this point and is therefore referred to as the "Pole Star". Although Latin for "new" it denotes a star that suddenly becomes explosively bright at the end of its life cycle. One of the groupings of stars that are concentrated along the plane of the Milky Way. Most have an asymmetrical appearance and are loosely assembled. They contain from a dozen to many hundreds of stars. Parallax is the difference in the apparent position of an object against a background when viewed by an observer from two different locations. These positions and the actual position of the object form a triangle from which the apex angle (the parallax) and the distance of the object can be determined if the length of the baseline between the observing positions is known and the angular direction of the object from each position at the ends of the baseline has been measured. The traditional method in astronomy of determining the distance to a celestial object is to measure its parallax. 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 focus. The distance at which a star would show parallax of one second of arc. It is equal to 3.26 light-years, 206,265 astronomical units, or 30,8000,000,000,000 km. (Apart from the Sun, no star lies within one parsec of us.) An object which cannot be resolved into an image because it to too far away or too small is considered a point source. A planet is far away but it can be resolved as a disk. Most stars cannot be resolved as disks, they are too far away. A telescope in which the light is collected by means of a mirror. The minimum detectable angle an optical system can detect. Because of diffraction, there is a limit to the minimum angle, resolution. The larger the aperture, the better the resolution. The angular distance of a celestial object measured in hours, minutes, and seconds along the Celestial Equator eastward from the Vernal Equinox. Rated the most important advance in optics in 200 years, the Schmidt telescope combines the best features of the refractor and reflector for photographic purposes. It was invented in 1930 by Bernhard Voldemar Schmidt (1879-1935). This is the angular speed at which the Earth is rotating. Telescope tracking motors drive the

Meridian Messier NNebula North Celestial Pole Nova OOpen Cluster

PParallax

Parfocal Parsec Point Source RReflector Resolution Right Ascension: (RA) SSchmidt Telescope Sidereal Rate
telescope at this rate. The rate is 15 arc seconds per second or 15 degrees per hour. TTerminator UUniverse VVariable Star WWaning Moon Waxing Moon ZZenith Zodiac The boundary line between the light and dark portion of the moon or a planet. The totality of astronomical things, events, relations and energies capable of being described objectively. A star whose brightness varies over time due to either inherent properties of the star or something eclipsing or obscuring the brightness of the star. The period of the moon's cycle between full and new, when its illuminated portion is decreasing. The period of the moon's cycle between new and full, when its illuminated portion is increasing. The point on the Celestial Sphere directly above the observer. The zodiac is the portion of the Celestial Sphere that lies within 8 degrees on either side of the Ecliptic. The apparent paths of the Sun, the Moon, and the planets, with the exception of some portions of the path of Pluto, lie within this band. Twelve divisions, or signs, each 30 degrees in width, comprise the zodiac. These signs coincided with the zodiacal constellations about 2,000 years ago. Because of the Precession of the Earth's axis, the Vernal Equinox has moved westward by about 30 degrees since that time; the signs have moved with it and thus no longer coincide with the constellations.
APPENDIX C LONGITUDES AND LATITUDES
LONGITUDE degrees min ALABAMA Anniston Auburn Birmingham Centreville Dothan Fort Rucker Gadsden Huntsville Maxwell AFB Mobile Mobile Aeros Montgomery Muscle Shoal Selma Troy Tuscaloosa ALASKA Anchorage Barrow Fairbanks Haines Hrbor Homer Juneau Ketchikan Kodiak Nome Sitka Sitkinak Skagway Valdez ARIZONA Davis-M AFB Deer Valley Douglas Falcon Fld Flagstaff Fort Huachuc Gila Bend Goodyear GrandCanyon Kingman Luke Page Payson Phoenix Prescott Safford Awrs Scottsdale Show Low Tucson Williams AFB Winslow Yuma Yuma Mcas Yuma Prv Gd ARKANSAS Blytheville Camden El Dorado Fayetteville Ft Smith Harrison Hot Springs Jonesboro Little Rock Pine Bluff Springdale Texarkana Walnut Ridge CALIFORNIA Alameda Alturas Arcata Bakersfield Beale AFB Beaumont Bicycle Lk Big Bear Bishop Blue Canyon 51 26.43.2 5.4 46.2 22.4.2 2.4 37.2 59.4 1.2 37.46.8 52.2 25.34.8 4.25.1.2 31.52.8 4.8 3.6 43.8 40.10.2 22.57 22.19.8 1.2 25.8 40.8 55.55.8 40.2 43.37.2 2.2.4 4.8 10.2 22.0.22.8 55.8 7.55.8 19.2 31.8 0.37.2 40.8 3.6 4.2 LATITUDE degrees min 34.8 40.2 34.19.2 16.8 58.22.8 40.8 37.45 20.4 52.2 13.8 13.49.2 13.8 37.8 22.4.2 52.7.8 10.2 40.28.2 7.33 25.16.2 31.8 55.8 13.8 25.49.2 37.2 16.2 7.1.58.2 31.2 13.19.8 16.2 28.8 49.8 13.2 10.2 10.7.8 46.8 28.8 58.8 25.8 7.8 55.8 16.8 16.16.8 Blythe Burbank Campo Carlsbad Castle AFB Chico China Lake Chino Concord Crescent Cty Daggett Edwards AFB El Centro El Monte El Toro Eureka Fort Hunter Fort Ord Fresno Fullerton George AFB Hawthorne Hayward Imperial Imperial Bch La Verne Lake Tahoe Lancaster Livermore Long Beach Los Alamitos Los Angeles Mammoth March AFB Marysville Mather AFB Mcclellan Merced Miramar NAS Modesto Moffet Mojave Montague Monterey Mount Shasta Mount Wilson Napa Needles North Is Norton AFB Oakland Ontario Intl Oxnard Palm Springs Palmdale Palo Alto Paso Robles Pillaro Pt Point Mugu Pt Arena Pt Arguello Pt Piedras Red Bluff Redding Riverside Sacramento Salinas San Carlos San Clemente San Diego San Francisco San Jose San Luis Obi San Mateo San Miguel Sandburg Santa Ana Santa Barb Santa Maria Santa Monica Santa Rosa LONGITUDE degrees 122 min 43.2 22.2 28.2 16.8 34.40.8 37.13.8 46.8 52.8 40.8 1.8 43.8 16.8 19.2 46.2 43.2 58.2 22.8 19.8 7.2 34.2 7.2 46.13.2 49.3 2.4 55.2 16.2 34.2 1.8 2.4 31.9 31.19.2 4.2 16.8 37.2 1.2 13.8 13.2 37.2 1.7.8 7.2 37.8 49.8 7.2 13.2 7.2 16.1.3 3.37.2 7.8 22.8 55.34.8 2.4 43.8 52.8 49.27 49.2 LATITUDE degrees 38 min 37.37.2 7.8 22.8 46.8 40.8 58.2 58.8 46.8 52.49.2 4.8 40.2 19.40.8 46.2 52.2 34.8 55.49.8 34.54 43.49.2 46.8 55.8 37.8 52.34.2 40.2 16.8 52.2 37.8 25.43.8 34.8 19.2 13.8 13.2 46.6 43.12 49.28.2 40.2 49.8 7.2 34.40.31.2 40.2 31.2 25.2 49.2 37.2 22.2 13.8 22.8 1.40.2 25.1.2 31.2 Shelter Cove Siskiyou Stockton Superior Val Susanville Thermal Torrance Travis AFB Tahoe Tustin Mcas Ukiah Van Nuys Vandenberg Visalia COLORADO Air Force A Akron Alamosa Aspen Brmfield/Jef Buckley Colo Sprgs Cortez Craig-Moffat Denver Durango Eagle Englewood Fort Carson Fraser Ft Col/Lovel Ft Collins Grand Jct Greeley-Wld Gunnison La Junta Lamar Leadville Limon Montrose Pueblo Rifle Salida Trinidad Winter Park

CONNECTICUT

LONGITUDE degrees 81
min 4.2 28.0.10.2 19.8 55.8 7.8 49.8 1.2 28.2.13.2 52.2 52.2 7.43.2 37.8 31.8 52.55.2 49.8 46.1.2 4.8 31.8 37.8 55.8 31.2 3.6 1.8 4.2 52.8 31.2 4.19.8 52.2 7.8 28.39 40.2 4.8 40.8 28.2 3.6 27.6 1.8 34.33 52.8 31.2 0.31.2 31.8 46.2 52.52.2 16.2 22.8 40.8 40.57 31.2 10.8 25.2

LATITUDE degrees 30

min 1.8 46.19.8 37.8 37.16.2 19.7.8 13.19.2 31.2 10.13.43.2 49.34.2 40.8 34.34.8 7.2 25.3 7.10.16.8 31.8 31.0 10.2 22.2 19.8 43.8 13.55.8 7.8 40.43.8 7.2 4.8 28.2 13.2 46.8 37.2 10.28.34.8 4.40.8 28.8 25.8 13.1.50.4 24
Bridgeport Danbury Groton Hartford New Haven New London Windsor Loc DELAWARE Dover Wilmington D.C. WASH Washington FLORIDA Apalachicola Astor NAS Avon Park G Cape Canaveral Cecil Crestview Cross City Daytona Bch Duke Fld Eglin AFB Egmont Key Fort Myers Ft Lauderdale Ft Myers Gainesville Homestead Hurlburt Fld Jacksonville Key West Lakeland Macdill AFB Marianna Mayport NAS
Melbourne Miami Naples Nasa Shuttle Orlando Panama City Patrick AFB Pensacola Ruskin Saint Peters Sanford Sarasota Tallahassee Tampa Intl Titusville Tyndall AFB Vero Beach West Palm Beach Whiting Fld GEORGIA Albany Alma Athens Atlanta Augusta/Bush Brunswick Columbus Dobbins AFB Fort Benning Ft Stewart Hunter Aaf La Grange Macon/Lewis Moody AFB Robins AFB Rome/Russell Valdosta Waycross HAWAII Barbers Pt Barking San Fr Frigate Hilo Honolulu Int Kahului Maui Kaneohe Mca Kilauea Pt Lanai-Lanai Lihue-Kauai Maui Molokai Upolo Pt Ln WaimeaKoha IDAHO Boise Burley Challis Coeur d'Alene Elk City Gooding Grangeville Idaho Falls Lewiston Malad City Malta Mccall Mullan Pocatello Salmon Soda Springs Sun Valley Twin Falls ILLINOIS Alton Aurora Bistate Park Bloomington Bradford Cairo Carbondale Centralia Champaign Chicago Danville DeKalb Decatur Du Page Galesburg

LONGITUDE degrees 88 90

min 37.8 16.8 4.8 40.8 19.2 40.8 3.6 19.2 3.6 40.33 22.2 31.8 4.8 34.8 25.2 7.2 1.2 10.8 31.2 19.2 25.2 58.2 22.8 55.8 31.34.4.1.2 3.6 10.2 16.8 2.4 7.2 1.8 28.2 4.2 55.8 25.8 16.8 40.21 49.8 0.6 28.2 7.2 13.2 46.2 13.2 49.2 25.8 10.2 7.8 4.2 1.2 19.2 22.2 0.6 4.8 3.6 5.4 34.8 1.8 28.19.55.8 3.6 13.5.4 16.3.6 43.2 52.25.8

LATITUDE degrees 41 40

min 6 49.2 7.8 37.2 25.13.58.2 55.2 46.22.8 58.2 31.2 4.40.8 43.2 31.8 31.39 22.31.2 55.2 19.8 52.8 1.2 0.58.2 37.46.31.27 43.22.58.8 58.25.34.2 31.8 31.2 46.2 49.55.2 31.2 22.8 10.52.8 28.2 55.2 10.30 28.8 52.8 46.2 34.2 28.8 9.6 4.2 46.8 30.6 1.12 55.8 49.8 55.2 55.8
Glenview NAS Kankakee Macomb Marion Marseilles Mattoon Moline/Quad Mount Vernon Peoria Quincy Rockford Salem Scott AFB Springfield Sterling Taylorville Vandalia INDIANA Bakalar Bloomington Elkhart Evansville Fort Wayne Gary Grissom AFB Indianapolis Muncie South Bend Terre Haute W Lafayette IOWA Burlington Cedar Rapids Des Moines Dubuque Estherville Fort Dodge Lamoni Mason City Ottumwa Sioux City Spencer Waterloo Mun KANSAS Chanute Col. J Jabar Concordia Dodge City Elkhart Emporia Ft Leavnwrth Ft Riley Garden City Goodland Hays Hill City Hutchinson Johnson Cnty Liberal Manhatten Mcconnell Af Medicine Ldg Olathe Russell Salina Topeka Topeka/Forbe Wichita KENTUCKY Bowling Gren Ft Campbell Ft Knox Jackson Lexington London Louisville Owensboro Paducah Pikeville LOUISIANA Alexandria Barksdale Baton Rouge Boothville Cameron Heli Claiborne R England AFB Eugene Is. Fort Polk

Installing the Counterweight Bar
To properly balance the telescope, the mount comes with a counterweight bar and at least one counterweight (depending on model). To install the counterweight bar: 1. 2. 3. Locate the opening in the equatorial mount on the DEC axis Thread the counterweight bar into the opening until tight. Tighten the counterweight bar lock nut fully for added support. Once the bar is securely in place you are ready to attach the counterweight.
Figure 2-4 Mounting Knob Central Rod Accessory Tray
Accessory Figure 2-3 Tray Knob
Since the fully assembled telescope can be quite heavy, position the mount so that the polar axis is pointing towards north before the tube assembly and counterweights are attached. This will make the polar alignment procedure much easier.
Installing the Counterweight
Depending on which AST telescope you have, you will receive either one or two counterweights. To install the counterweight(s): 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Orient the mount so that the counterweight bar points toward the ground. Remove the counterweight safety screw on the end of the counterweight bar (i.e., opposite the end that attaches to the mount). Loosen the locking screw on the side of the counterweight. Slide the counterweight onto the shaft (see Figure 2-5). Tighten the locking screw on the side of the weight to hold the counterweight in place. Replace the counterweight safety screw.

Counterweight

Counterweight Bar Locking Screw

Safety Screw

Attaching the Hand Control Holder (Advanced GT Models Only)
The Advanced GT telescope models come with a hand control holder to place the computerized hand control. The hand control holder comes in two pieces: the leg clamp that snaps around the tripod leg and the holder which attaches to the leg clamp. To attach the hand control holder: 1. 2. Place the leg clamp up against one of the tripod legs and press firmly until the clamp wraps around the leg. Slide the back of the hand control holder downward into the channel on the front of the legs clamp (see Fig 2-6) until it snaps into place.

Figure 2-5

Hand Control Holder

Leg Clamp

Attaching the Slow Motion Knobs (For Non-GT Models Only)
The Advanced Series (non-GT models) comes with two slow motion control knobs that allows you to make fine pointing adjustments to the telescope in both R.A. and Declination. To install the knobs: 1. 2. 3. Locate the hard plastic shell under the R.A. shafts. Remove either of the two oval tabs by pulling tightly. Line up the flat area on the inner portion of the R.A. slow motion knob with the flat area on the R.A. shaft (see Fig 2-7).

Use the Up and Down keys to select the planet that you wish to observe. Press INFO to access information on the displayed planet. Press ENTER to slew to the displayed planet.

Tour Mode

The Advanced Series telescopes include a tour feature which automatically allows the user to choose from a list of interesting objects based on the date and time in which you are observing. The automatic tour will display only those objects that are within your set filter limits (see Filter Limits in the Setup Procedures section of the manual). To activate the Tour mode, press the TOUR key (6) on the hand control. The hand control will display the best objects to observe that are currently in the sky.
To see information and data about the displayed object, press the INFO key. To slew to the object displayed, press ENTER. To see the next tour object, press the Up key.

Constellation Tour

In addition to the Tour Mode, your telescope has a Constellation Tour that allows the user to take a tour of all the best objects in each of the 88 constellations. Selecting Constellation from the LIST menu will display all the constellation names that are above the user defined horizon (filter limits). Once a constellation is selected, you can choose from any of the database object catalogs to produce a list of all the available objects in that constellation.

Direction Buttons

The hand control has four direction buttons (3) in the center of the hand control which control the telescope's motion in altitude (up and down) and azimuth (left and right). The telescope can be controlled at nine different speed rates.

Rate Button

Pressing the RATE key (11) allows you to instantly change the speed rate of the motors from high speed slew rate to precise guiding rate or anywhere in between. Each rate corresponds to a number on the hand controller key pad. The number 9 is the fastest rate (3 per second, depending on power source) and is used for slewing between objects and locating alignment stars. The number 1 on the hand control is the slowest rate (.5x sidereal) and can be used for accurate centering of objects in the eyepiece and photographic guiding. To change the speed rate of the motors:
Press the RATE key on the hand control. The LCD will display the current speed rate. Press the number on the hand control that corresponds to the desired speed. The number will appear in the upper-right corner of the LCD display to indicate that the rate has been changed.
The hand control has a "double button" feature that allows you to instantly speed up the motors without having to choose a speed rate. To use this feature, simply press the arrow button that corresponds to the direction that you want to move the telescope. While holding that button down, press the opposite directional button. This will increase the slew rate to the maximum slew rate. The direction that a star moves in the eyepiece when a direction is pressed will change depending on which side of the Meridian the telescope tube is positioned. In order to change the direction of the arrow buttons, see Scope Setup Features later in this section.

= = = = =

.5x 1x (sidereal) 4x 8x 16x
= 64x =.5 / sec = 2 / sec = 3 / sec
Nine available slew speeds

Setup Procedures

The Advanced GT contains many user defined setup functions designed to give the user control over the telescope's many advanced features. All of the setup and utility features can be accessed by pressing the MENU key and scrolling through the options:
Tracking Mode This allows you to change the way the telescope tracks depending on the type of mount
being used to support the telescope. The telescope has three different tracking modes:

EQ North

Used to track the sky when the telescope is polar aligned in the Northern Hemisphere. Used to track the sky when the telescope is polar aligned in the Southern Hemisphere. When using the telescope for terrestrial (land) observation, the tracking can be turned off so that the telescope never moves.

EQ South

Tracking Rate
In addition to being able to move the telescope with the hand control buttons, your telescope will continually track a celestial object as it moves across the night sky. The tracking rate can be changed depending on what type of object is being observed:

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. Used for tracking the moon when observing the lunar landscape. Used for tracking the Sun when solar observing with the proper filter.

Lunar Solar

View Time-Site - Displays the current time and longitude/latitude downloaded from the optional CN-16 GPS
receiver. It will also display other relevant time-site information like time zone, daylight saving and local sidereal time. Local sidereal time (LST) is useful for knowing the right ascension of celestial objects that are located on the Meridian at that time. View Time-Site will always display the last saved time and location entered while it is linking with the GPS. Once current information has been received, it will update the displayed information. If GPS is switched off or not present, the hand control will only display the last saved time and location.

User Defined Objects - Your telescope can store up to 400 different user defined objects in its memory. The
objects can be daytime land objects or an interesting celestial object that you discover that is not included in the regular database. There are several ways to save an object to memory depending on what type of object it is:

GoTo Object:

To go to any of the user defined objects stored in the database, scroll down to either GoTo Sky Obj or Goto Land Obj and enter the number of the object you wish to select and press ENTER. The telescope will automatically retrieve and display the coordinates before slewing to the object. Your telescope stores celestial objects to its database by saving its right ascension and declination in the sky. This way the same object can be found each time the telescope is aligned. Once a desired object is centered in the eyepiece, simply scroll to the "Save Sky Obj" command and press ENTER. The display will ask you to enter a number between 1-200 to identify the object. Press ENTER again to save this object to the database. You can also store a specific set of coordinates for an object just by entering the R.A. and declination for that object. Scroll to the "Enter RA-DEC " command and press ENTER. The display will then ask you to enter first the R.A. and then the declination of the desired object. The telescope can also be used as a spotting scope on terrestrial objects. Fixed land objects can be stored by saving their altitude and azimuth relative to the location of the telescope at the time of observing. Since these objects are relative to the location of the telescope, they are only valid for that exact location. To save land objects, once again center the desired object in the eyepiece. Scroll down to the "Save Land Obj" command and press ENTER. The display will ask you to enter a number between 1-200 to identify the object. Press ENTER again to save this object to the database.

Save Sky Object:

Enter R.A. - Dec:

Save Land Object:

To replace the contents of any of the user defined objects, simply save a new object using one of the existing identification numbers; the telescope will replace the previous user defined object with the current one.

Utility Features

Scrolling through the MENU (9) options will also provide access to several advanced utility functions within the Advanced Series telescopes such as; Calibrate Goto, Polar Alignment, Hibernate as well as many others.
Calibrate Goto - Goto Calibration is a useful tool when attaching heavy visual or photographic accessories to the
telescope. Goto Calibration calculates the amount of distance and time it takes for the mount to complete its final slow goto when slewing to an object. Changing the balance of the telescope can prolong the time it takes to complete the final slew. Goto Calibration takes into account any slight imbalances and changes the final goto distance to compensate.

UTILITIES

CALIBRATE GOTO HOME POSTION

GOTO SET

Home Position The telescopes "home" position is a user-definable position that is
used to store the telescope when not in use. The home position is useful when storing the telescope in a permanent observatory facility. By default the Home position is the same as the index position used when aligning the mount. To set the Home position for your mount simply use the arrow buttons on the hand control to move the telescope mount to the desired position. Select the Set option and press Enter.
POLAR ALIGN LIGHT CONTROL
KEYPAD OFF KEYPAD ON DISPLAY OFF DISPLAY ON
Polar Align- The Advanced GT has a polar alignment function that will help you polar align your telescope for increased tracking precision and astrophotography. After performing an Auto Alignment, the telescope will slew to where Polaris should be. By using the equatorial head to center Polaris in the eyepiece, the mount will then be pointed towards the actual North Celestial Pole. Once Polar Align is complete, you must re-align your telescope again using any of the alignment methods described earlier. To polar align the mount in the Northern Hemisphere:
1. 2. With the telescope set up and roughly positioned towards Polaris, align the mount using the Auto Align or Auto Three Star method. Select Polar Align from the Utilities menu and press Enter.

FACTORY SETTING

PRESS UNDO PRESS "0"
Based on your current alignment, the telescope will slew to where it thinks Polaris should be. Use the equatorial head latitude and azimuth adjustments to place Polaris in the center of the eyepiece. Do not use the direction buttons to position Polaris. Once Polaris is centered in the eyepiece press ENTER; the polar axis should then be pointed towards the North Celestial Pole.
VERSION GET ALT-AZ GOTO ATL-AZ HIBERNATE TURN ON/OFF GPS
Light Control This feature allows you to turn off both the red key pad light and LCD display for daytime use to
conserve power and to help preserve your night vision.
Factory Settings Returns the Advanced GT hand control to its original factory settings. Parameters such as backlash compensation values, initial date and time, longitude/latitude along with slew and filter limits will be reset. However, stored parameters such as user defined objects will remain saved even when Factory Settings is selected. The hand control will ask you to press the "0" key before returning to the factory default setting. Version - Selecting this option will allow you to see the current version number of the hand control, motor control and GPS software (if using optional CN-16 GPS accessory). The first set of numbers indicate the hand control software version. For the motor control, the hand control will display two sets of numbers; the first numbers are for azimuth and the second set are for altitude. On the second line of the LCD, the GPS and serial bus versions are displayed. Get Alt-Az - Displays the relative altitude and azimuth for the current position of the telescope. Goto Alt-Az - Allows you to enter a specific altitude and azimuth position and slew to it. Hibernate - Hibernate allows the telescope to be completely powered down and still retain its alignment when turned back on. This not only saves power, but is ideal for those that have their telescopes permanently mounted or leave their telescope in one location for long periods of time. To place your telescope in Hibernate mode: 1. Select Hibernate from the Utility Menu. 2. Move the telescope to a desire position and press ENTER. 3. Power off the telescope. Remember to never move your telescope manually while in Hibernate mode. Once the telescope is powered on again the display will read Wake Up. After pressing Enter you have the option of scrolling through the time/site information to confirm the current setting. Press ENTER to wake up the telescope.

Figure 4-3 The emblem on the end of the focus knob shows the correct rotational direction for focusing your telescope.
NOTE: Before turning the focus knob, remember to lossen to two mirror locking knobs located on the rear cell of the telescope. These knobs connect a screw to the primary mirror mounting plate and prevent the mirror from moving when locked down. These screws should be locked down when transporting the telescope.

Aligning the Finderscope

Accurate alignment of the finder makes it easy to find objects with the telescope, especially celestial objects. To make aligning the finder as easy as possible, this procedure should be done in the daytime when it is easy to find and identify objects. The finderscope has three adjustment screws that put pressure on the finderscope while adjusting the finder horizontally and vertically. To align the finder: 5 Choose a target that is in excess of one mile away. This eliminates any possible parallax effect between the telescope and finder. Release the altitude and azimuth clamps and point the telescope at your target. Center your target in the main optics of the telescope. You may have to move the telescope slightly to center it. Adjust the screw on the finder bracket that is on the right (when looking through the finder) until the crosshairs are centered horizontally on the target seen through the telescope. Adjust the screw on the top of the finder bracket until the crosshairs are centered vertically on the target seen through the telescope. Image orientation through the finder is inverted (i.e., upside down and backwards left-to-right). This is normal for any finder that is used straight-through. Because of this, it may take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with the directional change each screw makes on the finder.
Calculating Magnification
You can change the power of your telescope just by changing the eyepiece (ocular). To determine the magnification of your telescope, simply divide the focal length of the telescope by the focal length of the eyepiece used. In equation format, the formula looks like this: Focal Length of Telescope (mm) Magnification = Focal Length of Eyepiece (mm)
Lets say, for example, you are using the 40mm Plossl eyepiece. To determine the magnification you simply divide the focal length of your telescope (the C8-S for example has a focal length of 2032mm) by the focal length of the eyepiece, 40mm. Dividing 2032 by 40 yields a magnification of 51 power. Although the power is variable, each instrument under average skies has a limit to the highest useful magnification. The general rule is that 60 power can be used for every inch of aperture. For example, the C8-S is 8 inches in diameter. Multiplying 8 by 60 gives a maximum useful magnification of 480 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 160 to 280 times for the C8-S telescope.

Collimation

The optical performance of your telescope is directly related to its collimation, that is the alignment of its optical system. Your telescope was collimated at the factory after it was completely assembled. However, if the telescope is dropped or jarred severely during transport, it may have to be collimated. The only optical element that may need to be adjusted, or is possible, is the tilt of the secondary mirror. To check the collimation of your telescope you will need a light source. A bright star near the zenith is ideal since there is a minimal amount of atmospheric distortion. Make sure that tracking is on so that you wont have to manually track the star. Or, if you do not want to power up your telescope, you can use Polaris. Its position relative to the celestial pole means that it moves very little thus eliminating the need to manually track it. Before you begin the collimation process, be sure that your telescope is in thermal equilibrium with the surroundings. Allow 45 minutes for the telescope to reach equilibrium if you move it between large temperature extremes. Figure 8-1
The three collimation screws are located on the front of the secondary mirror housing.
To verify collimation, view a star near the zenith. Use a medium to high power ocular 12mm to 6mm focal length. It is important to center a star in the center of the field to judge collimation. Slowly cross in and out of focus and judge the symmetry of the star. If you see a systematic skewing of the star to one side, then re-collimation is needed.
Figure 8-2 -- Even though the star pattern appears the same on both sides of focus, they are asymmetric. The dark obstruction is skewed off to the left side of the diffraction pattern indicating poor collimation.
To accomplish this, you need to tighten the secondary collimation screw(s) that move the star across the field toward the direction of the skewed light. These screws are located in the secondary mirror holder (see figure 8-1). Make only small 1/6 to 1/8 adjustments to the collimation screws and re-center the star by moving the scope before making any improvements or before making further adjustments. To make collimation a simple procedure, follow these easy steps: 1. 2. While looking through a medium to high power eyepiece, de-focus a bright star until a ring pattern with a dark shadow appears (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 towards the collimation screws. The shadow of your finger should be visible when looking into the eyepiece. Rotate your finger around the tube edge until its shadow is seen closest to the narrowest portion of the rings (i.e. the same direction in which the central shadow is skewed). Locate the collimation screw closest to where your finger is positioned. This will be the collimation screw you will need to adjust first. (If your finger is positioned exactly between two of the collimation screws, then you will need to adjust the screw opposite where your finger is located). Use the hand control buttons to move the de-focused star image to the edge of the field of view, in the same direction that the central obstruction of the star image is skewed. While looking through the eyepiece, use an Allen wrench to turn the collimation screw you located in step 2 and 3. Usually a tenth of a turn is enough to notice a change in collimation. If the star image moves out of the field of view in the direction that the central shadow is skewed, than you are turning the collimation screw the wrong way. Turn the screw in the opposite direction, so that the star image is moving towards the center of the field of view. 6. If while turning you notice that the screws get very loose, then simply tighten the other two screws by the same amount. Conversely, if the collimation screw gets too tight, then loosen the other two screws by the same amount. Once the star image is in the center of the field of view, check to see if the rings are concentric. If the central obstruction is still skewed in the same direction, then continue turning the screw(s) in the same direction. If you find that the ring pattern is skewed in a different direction, than simply repeat steps 2 through 6 as described above for the new direction.

CONNECTICUT

LONGITUDE degrees 81
min 4.2 28.0.10.2 19.8 55.8 7.8 49.8 1.2 28.2.13.2 52.2 52.2 7.43.2 37.8 31.8 52.55.2 49.8 46.1.2 4.8 31.8 37.8 55.8 31.2 3.6 1.8 4.2 52.8 31.2 4.19.8 52.2 7.8 28.39 40.2 4.8 40.8 28.2 3.6 27.6 1.8 34.33 52.8 31.2 0.31.2 31.8 46.2 52.52.2 16.2 22.8 40.8 40.57 31.2 10.8 25.2

LATITUDE degrees 30

min 1.8 46.19.8 37.8 37.16.2 19.7.8 13.19.2 31.2 10.13.43.2 49.34.2 40.8 34.34.8 7.2 25.3 7.10.16.8 31.8 31.0 10.2 22.2 19.8 43.8 13.55.8 7.8 40.43.8 7.2 4.8 28.2 13.2 46.8 37.2 10.28.34.8 4.40.8 28.8 25.8 13.1.50.4 24
Bridgeport Danbury Groton Hartford New Haven New London Windsor Loc DELAWARE Dover Wilmington D.C. WASH Washington FLORIDA Apalachicola Astor NAS Avon Park G Cape Canaveral Cecil Crestview Cross City Daytona Bch Duke Fld Eglin AFB Egmont Key Fort Myers Ft Lauderdale Ft Myers Gainesville Homestead Hurlburt Fld Jacksonville Key West Lakeland Macdill AFB Marianna Mayport NAS
Melbourne Miami Naples Nasa Shuttle Orlando Panama City Patrick AFB Pensacola Ruskin Saint Peters Sanford Sarasota Tallahassee Tampa Intl Titusville Tyndall AFB Vero Beach West Palm Beach Whiting Fld GEORGIA Albany Alma Athens Atlanta Augusta/Bush Brunswick Columbus Dobbins AFB Fort Benning Ft Stewart Hunter Aaf La Grange Macon/Lewis Moody AFB Robins AFB Rome/Russell Valdosta Waycross HAWAII Barbers Pt Barking San Fr Frigate Hilo Honolulu Int Kahului Maui Kaneohe Mca Kilauea Pt Lanai-Lanai Lihue-Kauai Maui Molokai Upolo Pt Ln WaimeaKoha IDAHO Boise Burley Challis Coeur d'Alene Elk City Gooding Grangeville Idaho Falls Lewiston Malad City Malta Mccall Mullan Pocatello Salmon Soda Springs Sun Valley Twin Falls ILLINOIS Alton Aurora Bistate Park Bloomington Bradford Cairo Carbondale Centralia Champaign Chicago Danville DeKalb Decatur Du Page Galesburg

LONGITUDE degrees 88 90

min 37.8 16.8 4.8 40.8 19.2 40.8 3.6 19.2 3.6 40.33 22.2 31.8 4.8 34.8 25.2 7.2 1.2 10.8 31.2 19.2 25.2 58.2 22.8 55.8 31.34.4.1.2 3.6 10.2 16.8 2.4 7.2 1.8 28.2 4.2 55.8 25.8 16.8 40.21 49.8 0.6 28.2 7.2 13.2 46.2 13.2 49.2 25.8 10.2 7.8 4.2 1.2 19.2 22.2 0.6 4.8 3.6 5.4 34.8 1.8 28.19.55.8 3.6 13.5.4 16.3.6 43.2 52.25.8

LATITUDE degrees 39

min 37.2 37.8 4.2 25.2 13.8 10.8 37.45 13.2 55.8 58.2 10.2 43.21 13.8 46.8 28.55.46.6 40.8 52.7.2 22.7.4.2 25.8 16.2 13.7.16.7.8 4.54 49.2 19.2 1.8 55.2 4.10.2 52.14.4 16.2 7.8 46.2 7.2 46.57 55.16.10.8 12.6 55.31.54 1.2 49.2 49.37.8 16.2 57
LONGITUDE degrees OKLAHOMA Altus AFB 99 Ardmore 97 Bartlesville 96 Clinton 99 Enid 97 Fort Sill 98 Gage 99 Hobart 99 Lawton 98 Mcalester 95 Norman 97 Oklahoma 97 Page 94 Ponca City 97 Stillwater 97 Tinker AFB 97 Tulsa 95 Vance AFB 97 OREGON Astoria 123 Aurora 122 Baker 117 Brookings 124 Burns Arpt 118 Cape Blanco 124 Cascade 121 Corvallis 123 Eugene 123 Hillsboro 122 Klamath Fall 121 La Grande 118 Lake View 120 Meacham 118 Medford 122 Newport 124 North Bend 124 Ontario 117 Pendleton 118 Portland 122 Redmond 121 Roseburg 123 Salem 123 Sexton 123 The Dalles 121 Troutdale 122 PENNSYLVANIA Allentown 75 Altoona 78 Beaver Falls 80 Blairsville 79 Bradford 78 Dubois 78 Erie 80 Franklin 79 Harrisburg 76 Johnstown 78 Lancaster 76 Latrobe 79 Middletown 76 Muir 76 Nth Philadel 75 Philadelphia 75 Philipsburg 78 Pittsburgh 79 Reading 75 Site R 77 State Colleg 77 Wilkes-Barre 75 Williamsport 76 Willow Grove 75 RHODE ISLAND Block Island 71 Nth Kingston 71 Providence 71 SOUTH CAROLINA Anderson 82 Beaufort 80 Charleston 80 Columbia 81 Florence 79 Greenville 82 Mcentire 80
min 16.2 1.1.2 4.8 2.4 46.25.2 46.8 28.2 3.6 37.2 0.6 5.4 22.8 5.4 55.2 52.49.2 28.57 52.8 16.8 13.43.21 2.4 52.15 1.3.22.22.2.4 25.8 19.2 19.8 5.4 37.8 5.4 10.8 52.49.8 1.8 2.4 46.2 34.2 1.7.8 55.8 58.2 25.8 49.8 43.8 55.34.8 25.2 25.8 43.2 43.2 1.8 7.2 43.4.8

LATITUDE degrees 34 33

min 40.22.34.2 52.8 13.40.8 43.8 9.6 25.19.15 49.8 4.22.8 40.7.2 31.16.8 10.22.2 37.8 25.2 1.2 40.16.2 13.8 55.2 37.2 37.45 16.10.8 4.8 22.8 13.2 19.2 7.8 16.25.8 4.8 52.8 28.22.8 43.19.12 10.43.28.57 10.55.2
LONGITUDE degrees Myrtle Beach 78 Shaw AFB 80 Spartanburg 81 SOUTH DAKOTA Aberdeen 98 Brookings 96 Chamberlain 99 Custer 103 Ellsworth 103 Huron 98 Lemmon 102 Mitchell 98 Mobridge 100 Philip 101 Pierre 100 Rapid City 103 Redig 103 Sioux Falls 96 Watertown 97 Yankton 97 TENNESSEE Bristol 82 Chattanooga 85 Clarksville 87 Crossville 85 Dyersburg 89 Jackson 88 Knoxville 83 Memphis Intl 90 Monteagle 85 Nashville 86 Smyrna 86 TEXAS Abilene 99 Alice 98 Amarillo 101 Austin 97 Bergstrom Af 97 Big Sky 101 Big Spring 101 Brownsville 97 Brownwood 98 Carswell AFB 97 Chase NAS 97 Childress 100 College Stn 96 Corpus Chrst 97 Cotulla 99 Dalhart 102 Dallas/FW 97 Del Rio 100 Dyess AFB 99 El Paso 106 Ellington Af 95 Fort Worth 97 Ft Hood Aaf 97 Galveston 94 Gray AFB 97 Greenville 96 Guadalupe 104 Harlingen 97 Hondo 99 Houston 95 Junction 99 Kelly AFB 98 Kerrville 99 Killeen 97 Kingsville 97 Laredo Intl 99 Laughlin AFB 100 Longview 94 Lubbock 101 Lufkin 94 Marfa 104 Mcallen 98 Midland 102 Mineral Wlls 98 Palacios 96 Paris/Cox 95 Plainview 101 Port Arthur 94 Reese AFB 102 Rockport 97

APPENDIX E MAPS OF TIME ZONES
CELESTRON TWO YEAR WARRANTY
A. Celestron warrants this telescope to be free from defects in materials and workmanship for two years. Celestron will repair or replace such product or part thereof which, upon inspection by Celestron, is found to be defective in materials or workmanship. As a condition to the obligation of Celestron to repair or replace such product, the product must be returned to Celestron together with proof-of-purchase satisfactory to Celestron. The Proper Return Authorization Number must be obtained from Celestron in advance of return. Call Celestron at (310) 3289560 to receive the number to be displayed on the outside of your shipping container. All returns must be accompanied by a written statement setting forth the name, address, and daytime telephone number of the owner, together with a brief description of any claimed defects. 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. Celestron shall use reasonable efforts to repair or replace any telescope covered by this warranty within thirty days of receipt. In the event repair or replacement shall require more than thirty days, Celestron shall notify the customer accordingly. Celestron reserves the right to replace any product which has been discontinued from its product line with a new product of comparable value and function. This warranty shall be void and of no force of effect in the event a covered product has been modified in design or function, or subjected to abuse, misuse, mishandling or unauthorized repair. Further, product malfunction or deterioration due to normal wear is not covered by this warranty. CELESTRON DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, WHETHER OF MERCHANTABILITY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR USE, EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY SET FORTH HEREIN. THE SOLE OBLIGATION OF CELESTRON UNDER THIS LIMITED WARRANTY SHALL BE TO REPAIR OR REPLACE THE COVERED PRODUCT, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE TERMS SET FORTH HEREIN. CELESTRON EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY LOST PROFITS, GENERAL, SPECIAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES WHICH MAY RESULT FROM BREACH OF ANY WARRANTY, OR ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE ANY CELESTRON PRODUCT. ANY WARRANTIES WHICH ARE IMPLIED AND WHICH CANNOT BE DISCLAIMED SHALL BE LIMITED IN DURATION TO A TERM OF TWO YEARS FROM THE DATE OF ORIGINAL RETAIL PURCHASE. Some states do not allow the exclusion or limitation of incidental or consequential damages or limitation on how long an implied warranty lasts, so the above limitations and exclusions may not apply to you. This warranty gives you specific legal rights, and you may also have other rights which vary from state to state. Celestron reserves the right to modify or discontinue, without prior notice to you, any model or style telescope. If warranty problems arise, or if you need assistance in using your telescope contact: Celestron Customer Service Department 2835 Columbia Street Torrance, CA 90503 U.S.A. Tel. (310) 328-9560 Fax. (310) 212-5835 Monday-Friday 8AM-4PM PST This warranty supersedes all other product warranties. NOTE: This warranty is valid to U.S.A. and Canadian customers who have purchased this product from an Authorized Celestron Dealer in the U.S.A. or Canada. Warranty outside the U.S.A. and Canada is valid only to customers who purchased from a Celestron Distributor or Authorized Celestron Dealer in the specific country and please contact them for any warranty service.

Celestron 2835 Columbia Street Torrance, CA 90503 U.S.A. Tel. (310) 328-9560 Fax. (310) 212-5835 Web site at http//www.celestron.com Copyright 2003 Celestron All rights reserved. (Products or instructions may change without notice or obligation.) Item # 11025-INST $10.00 09-04