Operation Manual

22
meChanICal speCIfICaTIons
Motor: Type / Resolution DC Servo motors with encoders, both axes / 0.691 arc seconds
Slew speeds Nine slew speeds: 3º /sec, 2º /sec, 1º/sec, 64x, 32x, 16x, 8x, 4x, 2x
Hand Control
Double line, 16 character Liquid Crystal Display
19 fiber optic backlit LED buttons
sofTware speCIfICaTIons
Ports RS-232 communication port on hand control
Tracking Rates Sidereal, Solar and Lunar
Tracking Modes Alt-Az, EQ North & EQ South
Alignment Procedures Sky Align, Auto Two-Star, Two-Star, One-Star, Solar System Align
Database
99 user defined programmable objects
Expanded information on over 100 objects
Total Object Database 4,033 Objects
appendIx b - glossary of Terms
A –
Absolute The apparent magnitude that a star
magnitude 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.
Airy disk 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.
Alt–Azimuth A telescope mounting using two
Mounting independent rotation axes allowing
movement of the instrument in Altitude
and Azimuth.
Altitude In astronomy, the altitude of a celestial object
is its Angular Distance above or below the
celestial horizon.
Aperture The diameter of a telescope’s primary lens or
mirror;thelargertheaperture,thegreaterthe
telescope’s light–gathering power.
Apparent A measure of the relative brightness of a
Magnitude star or other celestial object as perceived
by an observer on Earth.
Arc minute A unit of angular size equal to 1/60 of
a degree.
Arc second A unit of angular size equal to 1/3,600 of a
degree(or1/60ofanarcminute).
Asterism A small unofficial grouping of stars in the
night sky.
Asteroid A small, rocky body that orbits a star.
Astrology The pseudoscientific belief that the positions
of stars and planets exert an influence on
humanaffairs;astrologyhasnothingin
common with astronomy.
Astronomical The distance between the Earth and the Sun.
unit (AU) It is equal to 149,597,900 km., usually
rounded off to 150,000,000 km.
Aurora The emission of light when charged particles
from the solar wind slams into and excites
atoms and molecules in a planet’s
upper atmosphere.
Azimuth 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.
B –
Binary Stars 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