The Celestron SkyProdigy telescope is designed to automatically align itself with minimal human intervention. The astronomer isn't required to manually align the telescope; just type in the local time and coordinates of the observation site, and the telescope does the rest.
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| Celestron SkyProdigy |
Last week, I borrowed a SkyProdigy 130 Newtonian Reflector to test whether the scope could align itself with numerous obstructions present. Looking back, I had problems with buildings during my previous semester at Susquehanna University with the Celestron NexStar 5SE Schmidt-Cassegrain scope. To loosely simulate the building situation at Susquehanna, a suburban cul-de-sac development served as the test site. Unlike the Susquehanna University campus, however, trees were a concern.
The SkyProdigy telescope, according to Celestron, aligns itself in three minutes. This estimate assumes there are no obstructions interfering with the scope's alignment process. In the cul-de-sac development, however, trees obstructed approximately one-half of the sky. As a result, the alignment process took more than three minutes. With only half the sky available, it took the scope approximately five minutes to align.
Following a successful alignment, my tour of the suburban "night" skies started with the planet Saturn. I was able to make out the largest of the Saturn ring gaps and three "stars," though I'm sure I was actually looking at three of Saturn's moons. Had there been clear skies the following night, I would have taken the telescope out again and determine whether those "stars" were actual stars or satellites of Saturn.
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| M5 as seen through the Hubble Space Telescope. Image by NASA and ESA |
Other than Saturn and it's neighboring "stars," my tour included a few globular clusters, M5 in particular. Unlike the ringed planet, however, I didn't find M5 as amusing. With the local light pollution and the position of the object, M5 appeared similar to a puffball. Had I waited for an hour, or relocated to a darker site, the globular cluster would have appeared to have thousands of individual stars, gathered around one common point in space.
As a result of this test, I am considering bringing a SkyProdigy to Susquehanna University. Although the alignment process took longer with the SkyProdigy, the accuracy and operation had improvements over the NexStar telescope, which, I believe, will make the hobby more enjoyable. However, additional tests will be necessary before my return.
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