The Magellan Telescope Computer System offers an electronic package that permits the location and observation of thousands of deep-sky objects as well as all of the major planets. As you move the telescope, the distance to the object is continually updated. Use the STAR catalog to find bright stars, multiple stars, named common stars, and planets from Mercury to Pluto. Illumination is variable from bright to none in 16 levels. The Magellan system is quite simple in its basic operation.
All telescopes have two axis rotation that are perpendicular to each other.
By rotating the telescope on these axis the user can point to any object in the sky. On some telescopes like the Dobsonian, the telescope axes are basically aligned with the surface of the Earth. Telescopes with clock drives, like the Meade Starfinder Equatorial, have the axes of rotation such that rotation about the celestial pole is possible. Magellan is a sophisticated microprocessor system that is programmed to understand the relationship between the moving sky and the Altaz and Polar configurations of a telescope. For the Magellan to operate properly, it must have information about where the telescope is pointing.