User manual MEADE ETX-60AT

[. . . ] Instruction Manual ETX-60AT Astro Telescope with Autostar Hand Controller ETX-70AT Astro Telescope with Autostar Hand Controller Meade Instruments Corporation CONTENTS Quick-Start Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 WARNING! Never use a Astro Telescope to look at the Sun!Looking at or near the Sun will cause instant and irreversible damage to your eye. Eye damage is often painless, so there is no warning to the observer that damage has occurred until it is too late. [. . . ] Try the following key word searches: NASA, Hubble, HST, astronomy, Messier, satellite, nebula, black hole, variable stars, etc. Check out Meade's website for the latest product and technical information. You can download the latest software revisions, links to other astronomical sites, coordinates of celestial objects and the latest satellite tracking information for your #494 Autostar handset. You'll find our website at: http://www. meade. com/ Here are some other sites you might find interesting: · Sky & Telescope: http://www. skypub. com/ · Astronomy: http://www2. astronomy. com/astro/ · The Starfield: http://users. nac. net/gburke/ · Astronomy Picture of the Day: http://antwrp. gsfc. nasa. goc/apod/ · Heaven's Above (satellite observing information): http://www. heavens-above. com/ Autostar Menus 19 · · Train Drive: Trains the altitude and azimuth motors to locate objects with more precision. If you are experiencing any problems with pointing accuracy, follow the procedure described in "APPENDIX D: TRAINING THE DRIVE, " page 35, to insure accurate pointing and tracking. Tracking Rate: Changes the speed at which the telescope tracks targets in the sky. Sidereal: The default setting for Autostar; sidereal rate is the standard rate at which stars move from East to West across the sky due to the rotation of the Earth. IMPORTANT NOTE: While performing the automatic tracking procedure, only use the Arrow keys to move the telescope. Once the telescope has been set in the Alt/Az home position, do not loosen the telescope locks (6 and 9, Fig. 1), or move the base manually, or alignment will be lost. b. Lunar: Choose this option to properly track the Moon over long observing sessions. Custom: Allows entry of user-defined tracking rates. · Reverse L/R: Reverses the functions of the Left and Right Arrow keys (i. e. , the Right key moves the telescope to the left). · Reverse UP/DOWN: Reverses the functions of the Up and Down Arrow keys (i. e. , the Up key moves the telescope down). · Calibrate Motor: If the telescope motors appear to have a problem, use this option to retest the motors before doing a Reset. This option is also used if an Autostar unit is moved between telescopes to match Autostar to the telescope. · High Precision: If High Precision is turned on, when looking for a faint celestial object (i. e. , a nebula or galaxy), Autostar first slews to a nearby bright star and displays "ENTER to Sync. " Center the star in the eyepiece, then press ENTER. At that point the telescope has a high precision alignment to that part of the sky and it then slews to the object that was originally requested. Targets switches between Astronomical targets and Terrestrial targets. If Astronomical targets are selected, the telescope tracking motor is activated and objects you're observing will remain centered in the eyepiece. If Terrestrial targets are selected, the tracking motor is turned off. To track an object automatically, set the telescope in the Alt/Az home position (see "EASY TWO-STAR ALIGNMENT PROCEDURE, step #8", page 14), locate an object you wish to observe using Autostar's Arrow keys (see page 11), and center the object in the eyepiece. Then scroll to the "Targets: Astronomical" menu display and press ENTER. [. . . ] Extending from the "pointer stars" of the Big Dipper's cup is Polaris, the North Star. Extending from Polaris is the Great Square shared by the constellations Pegasus and Andromeda. . Rigel Orion Betelgeuse Andromeda Gemini Pollux Castor Pegasus "Summer Triangle" Deneb Polaris "Sickle" Regulus Cygnus Vega Leo "Big Dipper" Altair Lyra Boötes Arcturus Aquila Spica Antares Virgo Scorpius Fig. 36: Road Map to the Stars. The Summer Triangle is a notable region in the sky to the left of the handle of the Big Dipper. [. . . ]