User manual MEADE LX200-ACF

[. . . ] Instruction Manual 8", 10", 12", 14", 16" LX200 R Advanced Ritchey-Chrétien Telescopes with GPS and AutoStar II Hand Controller ® ® (800) 626-3233 www. meade. com CONTENTS WARNING! Never use a Meade LX200 R 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 or its viewfinder at or near the Sun. [. . . ] 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 II 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 a satellite may pass overhead, but not be visible as it is in the Earth's shadow. Tips: To use the Landmark function, the telescope must be located and aligned exactly as when the landmark(s) was added to the database. To add objects to the Landmark database, the telescope must be located and aligned exactly as when the original objects were added to the database. Landmarks This menu option allows you to define and store terrestrial objects in the Landmark database. First, a landmark needs to be stored in memory using the "Landmark: Add" option. To view a landmark, use the "Landmark: Select" option. Landmarks may also be viewed using the "Landmark Survey" option in the Utilities menu. To Add a landmark to the database: In this procedure, you will store the location of terrestrial landmarks in AutoStar II's memory. Note for future reference where the telescope is located and if you have aligned the telescope, which alignment method is used. Display the "Setup: Targets" menu option. Chose "Terrestrial" and press ENTER. "Setup: Targets" displays again. Choosing this option turns off tracking for astronomical objects which is not useful for the viewing of terrestrial objects such as - 34 - those in the Landmark database. Be sure to change this option back to "Astronomical" when you wish to view celestial objects again. "Select Item: Setup" displays. Press the Scroll Down key once and "Select Item: Object" displays. "Object: Solar System" displays. Press the Scroll Up key twice and "Object: Landmarks" displays. Using Arrow keys, enter a name for the landmark you wish to add to the database. Using only the Arrow keys (do not manually move the telescope), move the telescope to the desired landmark and center the object in the eyepiece. If you wish to add more landmarks, repeat steps 5 through 8. 9. To Select a landmark from the database: 1. [. . . ] Open Clusters are loose groupings of young stars, all recently formed from the same diffuse nebula. The Pleiades is an open cluster 410 light years away (Fig. Through the LX200R, numerous stars are visible. Constellations are large, imaginary patterns of stars believed by ancient civilizations to be the celestial equivalent of objects, animals, people, or gods. [. . . ]