User`s guide

132 Starry Night User’s Guide
Connect/Disconnect: Once your telescope
is aligned and plugged in to your
computer, press the Connect button in the
Setup layer of the Tele scop e pane. This
begins communication between your
telescope and Starry Night. To end
communication, press the Disconnect
button.
Telescope Setup: Once you have pressed
the Connect button and your telescope is
connected to Starry Night, an onscreen
marker will indicate where your telescope
is pointing. Your telescope’s right
ascension and declination will also be
shown in the Status layer of the Telesc ope
pane. At first, these values may not be
accurate. One possible reason for this is
that the time and location in Starry Night
are not the same as the time and location
that your telescope is using. Check the
electronic controller for your telesecope
and make sure that the time and location
that your telescope is using match the
values in Starry Night. If the view through
your telescope still does not match what
Starry Night is showing onscreen, use
Starry Night to slew to an object that is
easy to recognize, such as a bright star (see
the next section for information on
slewing your telescope to objects using
Starry Night). Next, guide the telescope
using its built-in control devices (a
handbox or controls on the telescope
itself), so that the bright star is at the centre
of your view when you look through the
telescope eyepiece (i.e. the view in Starry
Night will now match what you see
through the eyepiece). Finally, press the
Sync Gaze button.
Telescope Control: Once your telescope is
pointing in the right direction, you can
click the Slew Scope to Screen Centre
button in the Control layer of the
Tel e sc o pe pane and your telescope will
slew to the co-ordinates of Starry Night’s
screen centre. You can also right-click
(Ctrl-click on the Mac) on any object and
choose Slew To from the object’s
contextual menu. Your telescope will then
slew to and centre on the object you
selected. If you check the box marked
“Follow scope” in the Tele sco pe pane,
Starry Night will keep the sky view
centred in the direction that your telescope
is pointing. Press the Centre Indicator
button to immediately center the Starry
Night view on the onscreen telescope
position marker.
Handbox simulator:
simulates your telescope handbox by
allowing you to push the direction arrows
in the Starry Nightt interface to move your
telescope.
For an altazimuth mounted telescope, the
direction keys move the telescope in
Altitude and Azimuth. In an equatorial
configuration, the direction keys move the
telescope in Right Ascension and
Declination.