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Celestron SkyAlign Technology

With SkyAlign, setting up and using a Celestron Computerized Telescope is faster and easier than ever before.

Point your Celestron Telescope at three bright objects in the sky and the telescope tells YOU what the objects are. You do not need to know the names of the stars 's 1/2 you can even pick the moon or bright planets! Celestron Sky Align is the easiest method to align a Computerized Celestron Telescope; it's perfect for beginners and provides the convenience and accuracy demanded by experienced users.

Input the date, time and your location (Celestron GPS Telescopes obtain all this information automatically) and then point the telescope at three bright stars of your choosing. There is no need to point your Celestron Telescope north or to level the optical tube as in previous alignment methods. The initial position of the telescope is irrelevant. This makes for a fast and very easy method for aligning Celestron Go To Telescope.

What Celestron Telescopes feature SkyAlign?

Celestron SkyAlign Technology is standard in Celestron CPC Telescopes, Celestron NexStar SLT Telescopes and Celestron NexStar SE Telescopes.

Celestron CPC Series Telescopes
Celestron NexStar 8i SE SA Telescope
Celestron NexStar SLT Telescopes
What is Alignment?

You have to know where you are in order to find your destination 's 1/2 that is what aligning your Celestron Computerized Telescope is all about. The software for the Telescope needs to know the exact orientation of the telescope in relation to the night sky in order to find the tens of thousands of celestial objects programmed in the Celestron Telescope Hand Control.

Taking the Guesswork out of Alignment

Other methods for aligning a computerized Celestron Telescope require the user to confirm what star the telescope is pointing at in order to align. If you don't know where Arcturus or Sirius is, how can you confirm that information? The best you can do is guess. Celestron Sky Align is the only alignment method where you truly do not have to know the night sky 's 1/2 and it's only available from Celestron.

How does SkyAlign work?

Celestron NexStar Software with SkyAlign measures the distance in each axis between the objects you selected. Given the current time and location, the software then compares the data to the expected distances of objects in the Telescope Hand Control 's internal database . Once matches are found, the hand control displays the names of the three objects you selected to help you learn the night sky.

What steps can I take to ensure successful alignment with SkyAlign?
1. Level the tripod

Be sure to level the tripod before you start. Assumptions about the available bright stars and planets rely on a level tripod. Once the alignment is complete, GoTo and tracking are not dependent upon the accuracy with which you leveled the tripod, so do not spend time seeking perfect level - close is good enough. Celestron CPC Telescopes and Celestron NexStar SLT Telescopes feature bubble levels on the tripod to assist with this.

2. Set correct time

If you do not have a GPS-equipped Telescope, be accurate to within a couple of minutes when entering the time. Also, either select a city within 50 miles or enter your longitude and latitude to within one degree.

3. Pick bright stars

Only stars of magnitude 2.5 or brighter are included in the SkyAlign procedure, so it is best to take a look around and select three of the brightest stars in the sky. No need to worry about confusing planets for stars - Sky Align works with the four brightest planets as well (Venus, Jupiter, Saturn and Mars). Also, you can even use the Moon as one of your alignment objects - though due to the speed with which it moves across the sky and the size, you would need to switch to a low power eyepiece to center it.

4. Pick stars that are far apart from each other

It is helpful to select widely placed objects for alignment. When scanning the sky before you begin, keep this in mind. Only two of the objects (the two with widest separation) will actually be used for calculating the model of the sky. The third object is needed to provide a positive identification of the other two. So, be sure at least two of the three are widely spaced.

What are the steps of the SkyAlign procedure?
  1. Level the tripod
  2. Setup the scope in alt-az mode - mounted right on top of the tripod. Sky-Align is not currently available when mounted equatorially on a wedge.
  3. Power up the scope
  4. Press ENTER to begin and then ENTER again when the display reads SkyAlign. The hand control will show either the current time or the time when you last used the scope. The top line of the display will cycle through the messages, "Enter if OK", and "UNDO to edit" (entering the time will vary depending on the mount type).
  5. If your scope has a GPS module, the GPS receiver will shortly lock onto 3 GPS satellites and update the date, time, and location (skip to step 6).
  6. If you become impatient waiting for a GPS link, or if you don't have a GPS module in your scope, use the Up and Down buttons (6 and 9 on the keypad) to scroll through the date, time, and location settings. If they are all correct, press Enter to accept and proceed with the alignment. If they need to be adjusted, press Undo and make any necessary corrections. Then you will see a short message about what will happen next - press ENTER to continue.
  7. The display will now prompt to Center Object 1. Prior to beginning, you should scan across the sky looking for three bright points. Two of them should have wide separation, the third should not be close to the line connecting the other two.
  8. Use the arrow buttons to slew (move) to the first of your bright objects. Center the object in the finderscope and press ENTER. Then center the object in the eyepiece and press ALIGN.
  9. Repeat Step 7 for two additional objects and you are finished
  10. The hand control displays "Match Confirmed" and then asks you if you'd like to see the matches (hit Enter) or just carry on (hit Undo). If you hit Enter to see the matches, it brings up a list of the matches that you can scroll through.