Instruction manual

INDEX
AutoStar #497 HANDBOX
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AUTOSTAR OPERATION
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object in the eyepiece of the telescope for you to view.
The telescope comes pre-loaded with:
• “Tonight’s Best”, a selection of the most
interesting objects visible on any night.
• “A Star’s Life”, tours how stars are formed,
created, changes through their lives and fi nally
die using examples that are visible tonight.
• “How Far is Far”, tour showing the phenomenal
distances you can see with your LT Series.
AutoStar Suite also allows you to create your own
guided tours of the skies, including your own objects
and titles (for complete instructions on how to use the
authoring tools please refer to the reference manual
included on the AutoStar Suite DVD).
Object Menu
Almost all observing with LT Series is performed using
the Object menu category. (NOTE: Exceptions include
Guided Tour and Landmarks).
Many LT Series menu categories contain databases.
An LT Series database is a list of objects, such as stars,
planets, comets, nebulae and so forth. When one of
these objects is selected from a database by pressing
“ENTER” and then “GO TO”, LT Series moves your
telescope (when properly aligned) and points it at the
selected object.
The Object Menu options include:
Solar System is a database of the eight planets (Earth
is not included) in ascending orbits from the Sun,
followed by the Moon, asteroids, and comets.
Constellation is a database of all 88 Northern and
Southern Hemisphere constellations. When this menu
option is chosen and a constellation name appears
on the fi rst 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 is a database of objects outside our Solar
System such as nebulae, star clusters, galaxies, and
quasars grouped in various catalogs like Messier,
Caldwell and NGC.
Entering Data into AutoStar
• To enter numbers and text:
a) Use the Number keys, or
b) Use the Arrow keys to scroll through numbers
0 - 9 and the alphabet. The Down Arrow key
begins with the letter “A”; the Up Arrow key
begins with digit “9”.
• To move the cursor across the display: Use
the Right or Left Arrow key (Pg. 19, Fig. 5, 5) to
move the cursor from one number to the next in
the display
• Press ENTER when the desired information
has been entered.
Navigating AutoStar
AutoStar’s menus are organized for quick and
easy navigation:
• Press ENTER to go deeper into AutoStar’s
menu levels.
• Press MODE (Pg. 19, Fig. 5, 3) to move back
toward the top menu level.
• Press the Scroll keys to move up and down
through the options or lists.
• Press the Arrow keys to move the cursor across
the display.
• Press the Help (?) key to access on-line help.
When multiple choices are available within a menu
option, the option that is currently selected is usually
displayed fi rst and highlighted by a right pointing
arrow (>).
Guided Tour Menu
When Guided Tours is selected, LT Series shows you
a list of theme tours that will help you explore the night
sky. These tours are pre programmed presentations of
objects that are visible for the user’s particular location,
time and date.
The most popular tour is “Tonight’s Best” that guides
the user to the best objects that are currently up
in the night sky. This tour is the easiest way to get
started exploring the cosmos with your new LT Series
telescope.
Each tour will select the objects, present information
about the object and, if you press “GoTo”, put that