Starlight Xpress CoStar - Manual (Page 6)

CoStar handbook Issue 1 May 2011
After a brief delay, the Guiding Info window will open, as above, and you will see the guide star, along
with error values and a reticule showing the guide star location with respect to the reference position. If
all is well, you should see the guide star location being forced towards the centre position with each
successive guide image. However, it is quite likely that it will be pushed away from the correct
position, due to an error in the guiding default settings. If this is the case, note the direction of travel,
and then reverse the appropriate direction setting in the guiding defaults menu. For example, if the star
moves away to the left or right, try reversing the ‘Swap e/w direction’ setting. If guiding works, but is
sluggish, try reducing the ‘Rate’ setting in the guider settings, or increase it if the guiding oscillates
from one side of the guide star to the other.
Imaging with the CoStar
Although the CoStar is designed as a guide camera, it can give good results as a Lunar and Planetary
imager. In this case, you will probably need to add a Barlow lens ahead of it to achieve a good image
scale. Here is a lunar image, taken with a 104mm F5 refractor + 2x Barlow lens.