Object Menu
Almost all observing with Autostar is performed using the Object menu category. (NOTE:
Exceptions include Guided Tour and Landmark Survey.
)
See “GO TO SATURN,” page 15, for an
example of observing using the Object menu. Also see “USING THE GUIDED TOUR,” page 15.
Many Autostar menu categories contain databases. An Autostar database is a list of viewable
objects, such as stars, planets, comets, nebulae and so forth. When one of these objects is
selected, Autostar moves your telescope (if properly aligned) and points it at the selected
object.
The Object Menu functions include:
Solar System is a database of the eight planets (Earth is not included) in order out 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 first line of the screen,
press GO TO once to change the second line to the name of the brightest star in the constel-
lation. 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.
Star is a database of stars listed in different categories such as named, double, variable, or
nearby.
Satellite is a database of Earth-orbiting objects such as the International Space Station, the
Hubble Space Telescope, Iridium, Global Positioning System satellites, and geosynchronous
orbit satellites. See “OBSERVING SATELLITES,” page 23.
User Objects allows the user to define deep-sky objects of specific interest that are not cur-
rently in the Autostar database. See "APPENDIX B," page 33, for more information.
Use the Landmark Survey option in the Utilities menu to sequentially view all Landmarks
entered into Autostar.
Landmarks stores the location of terrestrial points of interest in the permanent Autostar database.
IMPORTANT NOTE: To use the Landmark function, the telescope must be located
and aligned exactly as when the landmark was added to the database. Additionally,
the telescope needs to be mounted in the same configuration, i.e., Alt/Az or Polar.
AUTOSTAR MENUS
Etc.
Etc.
Planetary Neb.
Etc.
Etc.
Min. of Algol
A...
Etc.
B...
C...
D...
E...
F...
G...
H...
I...
J...
K...
L...
M...
N...
O...
P...
Q...
R...
S...
T...
U...
V...
W...
X...
Y...
Z...
Eyepiece Calc.
Brightness Adj.
Contrast Adj.
Tele. Model
