User manual ORION TELESCOPES & BINOCULARS 09009

[. . . ] INSTRUCTION MANUAL Orion Tabletop Equatorial Mount ® #9009 Customer Support (800) 676-1343 E-mail: support@telescope. com Corporate Offices (831) 763-7000 Providing Exceptional Consumer Optical Products Since 1975 P. O. slow-motion control cable Counterweight Counterweight shaft Counterweight lock thumb screw Azimuth lock lever Latitude lock knob Tripod leg Figure 1. The Tabletop Equatorial Mount 2 Congratulations on your purchase of a quality Orion product. Your new Tabletop Equatorial Mount is extremely portable and can be conveniently taken with you wherever you go to observe. [. . . ] This is accomplished by slowly rotating the telescope on its right ascension axis, using only the R. A. axis of the mount must be aligned with the Earth's rotational (polar) axis; this is a process called polar alignment. Polar Alignment For Northern Hemisphere observers, approximate polar alignment is achieved by pointing the mount's R. A. It lies within 1° of the north celestial pole (NCP), which is an extension of the Earth's rotational axis out into space. Stars in the Northern Hemisphere appear to revolve around Polaris. To find Polaris in the sky, look north and locate the pattern of the Big Dipper (Figure 8). The two stars at the end of the "bowl" of the Big Dipper point right to Polaris. For general visual observation, an approximate polar alignment is sufficient: 1. Tilt the mount until the pointer on the latitude scale is set at the latitude of your observing site. If you don't know your latitude, consult a geographical atlas to find it. For example, if your latitude is 35° North, set the pointer to +35 (see Figure 9). The latitude setting should not have to be adjusted again unless you move to a different viewing location some distance away. lock lever and rotate the telescope optical tube until it is parallel with the R. A. lock lever. latitude scale latitude lock knob indicator arrow Figure 9: Adjust the tilt of the mount until the arrow indicates your latitude on the latitude scale. Each mark on the scale represents 5° increments. Little Dipper (in Ursa Minor) Big Dipper (in Ursa Major) N. C. P. Polaris te Poin r Sta rs Cassiopeia The two stars at the end of the "bowl" of the Big Dipper point to Polaris. Figure 8. Loosen the azimuth adjustment lever and rotate the entire equatorial mount left-to-right so the telescope tube (and R. A. If you cannot see Polaris directly from your observing site, eyepiece. If the finder scope is properly aligned, the object should be visible somewhere in the field of view. If it is not, you may need to realign the telescope's finder scope. Once the object is visible in the telescope's eyepiece, use the slow-motion controls to center it in the field of view. You can now switch to a higher magnification eyepiece, if you wish. After switching eyepieces, you can use the slow-motion control cables to re-center the image, if necessary. [. . . ] setting circle indicator arrow matches the R. A. Most setting circles are not accurate enough to put an object dead-center in your finder scope's field of view, but they'll get you close, assuming the equatorial mount 8 Figure 12: The mount is positioned as it would be if attempting to observe at the zenith. Similarly, to point the telescope directly south, the counterweight shaft should again be horizontal. Then you simply rotate the scope on the Dec. [. . . ]