" wrote:

The XT-8 Intelliscope is
computer assisted (a hand held unit plugs into the scope base and
directs the user to 14000 celestial objects and will run almost $600 w/
shipping. Handy to have, but amateur astronomers are encouraged not to
be computer dependent, but to learn the sky. If you fork over the
extra cash for the object locator and learn the sky, you'll be glad in
the long run you did both.


That object locator feature sounds very tempting to get. How does the
telescope know where in the sky it is pointing?

I am assuming you have to enter your exact location and the the date
and time and it uses the same database that some of the web sites
have, but it also has to know where it is pointing somehow.


Yes - unless it has a built in GPS, which will nake the location and
time entry superfluous. It will then point to a couple (or three)
bright stars in succession and ask you to line them up exactly and
press enter. Once you have done that it's ready to find anything in
its database.

Eugene L Griessel

People who want to share their religious views with you almost never
want you to share yours with them.