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Just saying Hi

kennyb

By kennyb
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kennyb

kennyb

Posted
Posted

Hello everyone at SGL

I took the plunge a few days back and ordered my first scope, a Celestron Nexstar 6 SE. It arrived yesterday and I was lucky enough to get a few hours of clear sky last night to try it out. I must admit the best I could do was point it at the moon as my attempts at setting up the skyalign function on the scope failed miserably. I was very impressed with the views of the moon and wanted to see other things but didn't know where to start.

I live in south London and suffer from light pollution which, with the bright moon, would have hindered what I could view. After a while I pointed the scope straight up and viewed one or two stars but I came in feeling that I should have seen more. So can anyone advise me on what I should be able to see with this scope, Yes I know I have a lot to learn. Also any advice on additional equipment / eye pieces to aid my viewing would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Kenny

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Doc

Doc

Posted
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Hi Kenny.

I was born and lived in Catford SE London for 22 years so I know abt light pollution.

Don't know about alligning the Nexstar as I've never had one but my advice would be buy a book called "Turn left at Orion" it a fantastic clearly written book aimed at beginners and with this you will find quite a few deep space onjects.

But for now download "Stellarium" it's a freeware planetarium and you will be able to find onjects with this. At the moment look for the M42 in orion or have a peep at the bright light in the SW which is Venus.

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barkis

barkis

Posted
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Welcome to SGL Kenny. I know the scope is a computerised setup, and there will be an alignment procedure prior to using it.

The manual should help you through that, although I know from scratch it is still difficult to get your head around.

I am not familiar with that model, but I'm sure someone will soon point you in the right direction.

Good luck.

Ron. :)

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philf

philf

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Hi

The manual for your scope is available online at http://www.celestron.com/c3/images/files/downloads/1152120348_1106811069manua.pdf

You need to know / be able to find one star by name (see page 11 for the alignment procedure) so I guess you need to look at some sort of astro map (I've bouight a Phillips planisphere to help me fond my way around from smiths - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-Planisphere-Northern-Degrees-Astronomy/dp/054008817X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231966819&sr=8-1) - it lets you see where the brighter stars are in the sky from the UK on any given day of the year.

The rest of the manual lets you then know how to steer the scope - it comes with a tour mode (page 18) which will show you whats up in the sky and good things to look at.

Hope thats enough to help you get started

Phil

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Astro_Baby

Astro_Baby

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:wave: Hi from me too

I have a Nexstar 4SE - its more or less the same as far as the GoTo is concerned. What problems are you having exactly ? I use a three star align on mine - all you need to do is point it at three bright objects and it should align.

There are however some ifs and buts

1/ The objects you align on must be through its red dot finder - not the scope. The SkyAlign software is geared for naked eye objects cos theres less of them so use the RDF and amek sure its aligned with the main scope

2/ Always approach possible alignment targets from the same direction. ie if you align on the firts object by going LEFT - the UP - use the same approach ( ie LEFT then UP ) on the other alignment objects

3/ You have to set your latitude and the date and time and the time needs to be as precise as you can get - doesnt have to be tmes to the atomic clock at the NPL but it needs to be fairly accurate.

With those provisos and assuming the power supply to the scope is clean then it should align fine. If you stuck let us know - am sure someone can help if your still stuck.

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ZOG

ZOG

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Hi and welcome tp SGL,

Just to add to Astro_baby's post, make sure the tripod is level before aligning, and enter the date in American format, ie mm/dd/year.

If the sky align is the same as the SLT goto, there should be a list of cities in the menu for you to choose from when setting your location.

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