Explore the sky with Celestron’s autoguider

Maybe you’ve got all the time wished to attempt astroimaging, however had been intimidated by the technical features, the tools necessities, the extent of experience wanted — you realize, the works. The {hardware} necessities alone may be daunting for the novice. Fortunately, Celestron has now made leaping into this endeavor lots simpler for a newbie with their StarSense Autoguider (SSAG).

Celestron has built-in their extremely profitable StarSense know-how right into a small telescope and digital digicam. It’s a compact and highly effective piece of kit that performs two important capabilities for profitable imaging: exact alignment and correct monitoring utilizing a information star (known as autoguiding).

With this tools plugged into your Celestron mount or computerized telescope, you possibly can simply polar align or star align your mount and exactly slew to any object within the equipped database. (You’ll be able to examine compatibility at www.celestron.com/merchandise/starsense-autoguider.) You’ll be able to then command the telescope to heart on any desired star in your discipline of view, thus making your telescope prepared for imaging.

Alignment: Clean crusing

The SSAG comes prepared for set up. All you want are the 2 offered Phillips screws to connect the bracket base to your scope. The bracket — which is pre-installed on the SSAG — can merely slide into the bottom. Plug one finish of the auxiliary cable into the again of the SSAG unit and the opposite into the AUX port of your mount, and you’re able to go.

As soon as I put in the SSAG, it was time to delve into the handbook to know the best way to function the SSAG’s capabilities and the way they work. I admit, I used to be left a tad confused; maybe sooner or later, Celestron may embody a one-page quick-start information for a better setup.

Fortuitously, it seems that both the hand management or Celestron’s PlaneWave Devices (CPWI) Telescope Management Software program (accessible as a free obtain for Home windows PCs) will stroll you thru the method of configuring the SSAG settings. And when you have prior expertise with a Celestron mount, one can find the setup very straightforward. I nonetheless do advocate an excellent learn by means of the handbook, simply to realize the essential understanding of the capabilities.

Earlier than beginning up your system, it is best to examine the firmware model you’re working and observe the handbook’s directions for any future updates. The SSAG can be utilized in considered one of 3 ways: 1) with the Celestron hand management; 2) with the CPWI software program; or 3) when you have a SkyPortal Wi-Fi module, you may as well use the SkyPortal app for operation.

When utilizing the hand management, you will want some primary data earlier than beginning the preliminary alignment process: your location in latitude and longitude, and the present time. The hand management will retailer it so that you don’t must enter it once more, except you alter areas.

Subsequent, merely observe the controller’s strategies. The polar-align course of is subsequent, and is non-obligatory. This step barely improves the general pointing accuracy by a couple of arcminutes. The SSAG doesn’t require correct polar alignment to perform, due to the StarSense know-how (a plate-solving software program). However if you happen to do select to polar align, the mount will robotically choose a number of stars close to the pole and carry out the strategy of plate fixing required to find out precisely the place the scope’s line of sight is pointing to within the sky. If a star is blocked or in any other case not seen, the routine will robotically select one other. I actually respect this means, which holds for star alignment as nicely.

As soon as the pole place has been decided, the hand management shows the mount’s offset in altitude and azimuth and lets you modify every in flip by displaying an easy-to-follow linear baseline with a zero level within the heart and +/- values to the best and left. If you’re correcting for azimuth, merely flip the azimuth knobs and watch the real-time offset values change. When the azimuth adjustment is full, the hand management will immediate you to do the identical with altitude. It’s extremely handy — there’s no must crane your neck making an attempt to see by means of a polar scope!

As soon as polar alignment is full, the hand management will immediate you to do a sky align — I like to recommend selecting the autoalign course of and letting the telescope do the give you the results you want. When that’s full, the hand management will ask if you wish to do a middle calibration so SSAG can precisely place objects in your discipline of view.

With alignment accomplished, you possibly can start one of the crucial thrilling components of astroimaging: selecting your goal. Merely kind and choose the item’s identify, and the mount will slew to heart on it. Then, go to the SSAG menu on the controller display and switch the “Autoguide” setting on; now you can picture. I ought to word that autoguide stays on till you both flip it off manually utilizing the controller, otherwise you slew to a unique object, which is able to flip it off robotically.

Imaging with the SSAG

Imaging with the hand management solely and no pc (not wanted for operation) is maybe finest suited to utilizing a DSLR or mirrorless digicam. Nonetheless, If you’re utilizing a pc to regulate a CCD or CMOS astroimaging digicam, it would be best to use the CPWI software program as a substitute of the hand management. Aligning the mount by means of CPWI is simpler than utilizing the controller. If it’s the primary setup, you’ll nonetheless want your latitude, longitude, and time. CPWI will immediate you thru the steps for alignment and heart calibration.

The CPWI program is extra advantageous in that it supplies you with a number of issues the controller can’t, akin to a fullscreen star map exhibiting the present pointing place of the telescope. To alter targets, merely use the cursor on the map and click on on that object. As well as, CPWI additionally supplies a graph exhibiting the guiding corrections the SSAG is sending to the mount — a pleasant characteristic to watch whereas imaging.

CPWI can also be Astronomy Widespread Object Mannequin (ASCOM) compliant. This implies this system can bridge the mount to different ASCOM-compliant packages. I had my Celestron Superior Vector Extensions (AVX) mount concurrently related to each CPWI and one other CMOS program for digicam management.

The reasoning behind controlling a mount from two completely different apps is that some imaging capabilities, akin to dithering (robotically shifting the body a pixel or two between exposures in order that whenever you stack the pictures, the celebrities will align however the background noise is not going to), are solely carried out by digicam management software program. Alas, when the mount slews a pixel or two for dithering, CPWI shuts off the SSAG autoguider perform, so dithering just isn’t but supported. (On the time of this writing, dithering performance for CPWI is in beta testing.)

Testing it out

I examined the SSAG on a small platform {that a} novice imager would possibly personal: a Celestron AVX mount and a Celestron C6 Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope. Setting the system up in my yard, which accommodates sufficient timber to present the polar and star alignment procedures an excellent check, I used the hand management to polar align. A number of stars it selected had been blocked by my home, nevertheless it continued choosing alternates till it had sufficient.

Then I did the automated sky alignment. Once more, a number of stars had been blocked, however the system chosen alternate stars and efficiently accomplished its activity. The controller then urged a middle calibration (which aligns SSAG’s discipline of view with that of your scope), which I did. After solely 10 minutes, I used to be able to picture.

I selected the Pacman Nebula (NGC 281), because it was excessive within the sky and never obstructed. The mount veered and centered on the item. I went to the SSAG menu, turned autoguiding on, and ran a collection of 10-minute exposures with a Hydrogen-alpha (Hα) filter on my CMOS digicam. The C6 has a focal size of 1,500mm; that’s in all probability an excellent deal longer than a novice imager ought to tackle, however was an excellent check for the SSAG.

I used to be more than happy with its efficiency over a two-hour session the place I captured 12 exposures. The slight differential flexure over every 10-minute publicity did end in a several-pixel shift between pictures, thus offering me with the dithering I wanted with out unduly affecting the star geometry.

I’m assured that the Celestron StarSense Autoguider is an excellent, state-of-the-art device for bringing ease to an in any other case complicated activity and inspiring astrophotography newcomers. Even if you happen to’re a extra seasoned imager, I nonetheless advocate the SSAG for its simplicity in terms of discipline setups. Autoguiding is now as easy because the push of a button or the faucet of a display.