Nexstar has database of 4000+ objects - what are they?

[RobertI]

I have a Skyprodigy mount with a standard Nexstar handset which claims to have a database of 4000 objects. I'm just wondering what they are?

The handset claims to have the following catalogues:

• Messier objects (110 items)
• Selected NGC objects (1168*)
• Named stars (about 40*)
• Double stars (about 60*)
• Variable stars (about 20*)
• Asterisms (about 20*)
• Named deep sky objects (about 60*)
• Skytour objects (about 200*)

* According to nexstarsite

That's only about 1700 items, and actually probably fewer as there is likely to be duplication across the lists.

Can anyone provide any more information as to what the full list is?

Many thanks

Rob

 

 

 

[johninderby]

Deleted

[LukeSkywatcher]

9 planets. 

[Tim]

1 hour ago, RobertI said:

Can anyone provide any more information as to what the full list is?

You mean you haven't found them all yet??????

Are there any IC objects included?

[RobertI]

33 minutes ago, LukeSkywatcher said:

9 planets. 

1709! ?

11 minutes ago, Tim said:

You mean you haven't found them all yet??????

Are there any IC objects included?

I don’t believe there are any menus for IC/Abel/CCD like on the more advanced handsets. The reason for asking is that so want to use the mount for EAA but have discovered that it cannot be remote controlled so I will have to use the handset database. No problem for visual but for EAA, where you are potentially looking at obscure objects, they may not be in the database. So just trying to get a full list of what’s on the database to help with planning.

[LukeSkywatcher]

1709.

9 planets and 1700 asteroids. 

[lenscap]

Dont know which version of Nexstar you have. The link below seems to have 40,000 plus stars.

 

NexStarHandControlVersion4UsersGuide.pdf

[RobertI]

42 minutes ago, lenscap said:

Dont know which version of Nexstar you have. The link below seems to have 40,000 plus stars.

 

NexStarHandControlVersion4UsersGuide.pdf

Thanks for the link, I've not spotted that before. My understanding is that there two variants of Nexstar handset, those with a database of 4000 (on the more budget mounts) and those with a database of 40,000+. My CG5 (ASGT) mount has the latter and includes the full Star SAO (30,000 objects), NGC (8000 objects), IC (5000 objects) and Abell (3000 objects) catalogues. 

The manual you linked to states

"The GT/StarSeeker database has been greatly expanded. The SLT shares the same database as the GT/StarSeeker models. In addition to expanding the alignment star list, these models include the entire NGC catalog and more than 29,000 SAO numbered stars. The total number of database objects for the SLT, GT and StarSeeker models is 37,981, despite marketing material that states "4,000+".

The marketing material for my SkyProdigy says 4000+ objects, and I am pretty certain it is not 37,000 as there are no SAO, IC or Abell catalogues. I'm assuming the bulk of the 4000 objects are NGC and Stars, but struggling to get a definitive list. 

[lenscap]

I wonder if this is of any use.

http://www.nexstarsite.com/

[RobertI]

2 hours ago, lenscap said:

I wonder if this is of any use.

http://www.nexstarsite.com/

Yes, that's where I got all the numbers from in my first post, thanks anyway.

[Peter Drew]

Regardless of the number of objects claimed on the handsets, most telescopes that use them are not large enough to see a fair proportion of them.

[RobertI]

3 hours ago, Peter Drew said:

Regardless of the number of objects claimed on the handsets, most telescopes that use them are not large enough to see a fair proportion of them.

Very true Peter. I guess it's only imagers that are likely to see many of these faint objects and in general they would use planetarium programs rather than the handset anyway. In my case I am hoping to image pretty faint stuff with my Skyprodigy EAA setup, and sadly, because it does not have handset connectivity to a PC (apparently the very early SkyProdigys didnt have this) I am going to have to use the database on the handset. So I am trying to figure out how big the database is and what's on it. It would be infuriating to plan an EAA session only to find out half of them are not on the handset.