User manual MEADE ETX PREMIER Instruction Manual

[. . . ] Instruction Manual ETX Premier Edition Telescope Series ® AutoStar® -- LNTTM -- SmartFinderTM TM CONTENTS WARNING! Never use a Meade ETX PE 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. Do not point the telescope at or near the Sun. [. . . ] Note: If the scheduled appearance position of the satellite is obstructed (i. e. , by a building, tree or hill), press ENTER and AutoStar starts to move the telescope along the expected satellite track. When the track clears the obstruction, press ENTER again to pause the telescope, then continue with this procedure. With about 20 seconds left on the countdown timer, start watching through the telescope SmartFinder for the satellite to enter the field of view. When the satellite enters the SmartFinder field of view, press ENTER. The telescope starts to track with the satellite. Use the AutoStar Arrow keys to center the object in the SmartFinder, then look through the eyepiece to view the object. Satellite orbits change and new satellites (including the Space Shuttle) are launched. Visit the Meade web site (www. meade. com) approximately once a month to get updated information and instructions on how to download this data to AutoStar. If orbital parameters are more than one month old, the satellite pass may not happen at the time predicted by AutoStar. Downloading requires the optional #505 AstroFinderTM Software and Cable Connector Kit. Note: Satellite observing is an exciting challenge. Most satellites are in low orbit, travelling at approximately 17, 500 mph. When visible, they move quickly across the sky and are only in the field of view for a few minutes, requiring AutoStar to slew the telescope rapidly. Best viewing is near Sunrise or Sunset when the sky is still dark. Viewing in the middle of the night can be problematic because the satellite may pass overhead, but not be visible as it is in the Earth's shadow. 9. How to Create Your Own Guided Tour Note: Meade's AutoStar Suite provides an easy way for an observer to create their own Guided Tour. See PHOTOGRAPHY WITH MEADE'S AUTOSTAR SUITE, When a Guided Tour is selected, AutoStar slews your telescope to a predetermined list of objects and displays information about each object, such as type of object, constellation location, R. A. AutoStar contains a few Guided Tours which are programmed at the factory. But it is also possible for an observer to create a custom Guided Tour. A tour is basically an ASCII text file that contains a list of directions and descriptions. Each line of a tour is either a comment line, a command line or a description. What you will need: A PC with text editor or word processing software installed (the tour must be · saved as a "text only" or as a "MS-DOS text" file). · The Meade #505 Cable Connector Kit to download tour information to the AutoStar handbox. Tour Modes The objects chosen for a tour list are selected from AutoStar's database or by entering the object's RA and Dec coordinates. [. . . ] 59: Saturn has the most extensive ring structure in our Solar System. Open Clusters are loose groupings of young stars, all recently formed from the same diffuse nebula. 60) is an open cluster 410 light years from Earth. Several hundred stars of the cluster are visible through your telescope. Constellations are large, imaginary patterns of stars believed by ancient civilizations to be the celestial equivalent of objects, animals, people or gods. [. . . ]