User manual ORION TELESCOPES & BINOCULARS 09835

[. . . ] INSTRUCTION MANUAL Orion SpaceProbe 3" ® TM #9835 Altazimuth Reflecting Telescope 1. 25" Eyepiece Version Customer Support (800) 676-1343 E-mail: support@telescope. com Corporate Offices (831) 763-7000 Providing Exceptional Consumer Optical Products Since 1975 P. O. Box 1815, Santa Cruz, CA 95061 IN 109 Rev. A 0199 Finder Scope Finder Scope Bracket with Alignment Screws Eyepiece Rack-and-Pinion Focuser Altitude Micro-Motion Control Altitude Lock Knob Optical Tube Tripod Accessory Tray Collimation Screws (3) Figure 1. SpaceProbe 3" Altazimuth Parts Diagram 2 Congratulations on your purchase of a precision Orion telescope. [. . . ] So give your eyes a while to get used to the dark before you begin observing. To see what you're doing in the darkness, use a red-filtered flashlight rather than a white light. A simple planisphere, or star wheel, can be a valuable tool for learning the constellations and seeing which ones are visible in the sky on a given night. A good star chart or atlas can come in very handy for helping find objects among the dizzying multitude of stars overhead. Except for the Moon and the brighter planets, it's pretty timeconsuming and frustrating to hunt for objects randomly, without knowing where to look. You should have specific targets in mind before you begin looking through the eyepiece. Start with a basic star atlas, one that shows stars no fainter than 5th or 6th magnitude. In addition to stars, the atlas will show the positions of a number of interesting deep-sky objects, with different symbols representing the different types of objects, such as galaxies, open star clusters, globular clusters, diffuse nebulas, and planetary nebulas. So, for example, your atlas might show a globular cluster sitting just above the lid of the "Teapot" pattern of stars in Sagittarius. You then know to point your telescope in that direction to home in on the cluster, which happens to be 7th-magnitude M28. 5 So, once you've identified an object you'd like to observe from the star chart, loosen the azimuth and altitude lock bolts so the telescope moves freely. Look through the finder scope and move the main telescope to the part of the sky where the object should lie and see if you can see it in the finder. You may have to sweep the telescope side to side or up and down a bit until you spot it. You can tighten the altitude lock knob and rotate the altitude micro-motion knob to move the telescope slowly up or down. Note that this knob has a limited range of movement. If you reach the end of travel, loosen the altitude lock bolt and rotate the knob back a few turns, then tighten the lock bolt again. Center the object on the crosshairs of the finder scope, then tighten the azimuth and altitude lock bolts. If it isn't, or if the object is too faint to see with the finder scope, use it to aim the telescope to the approximate position where the object ought to be, then sweep the area in small increments with the telescope while looking through the eyepiece. The Moon Our nearest celestial neighbor, the Moon, is the easiest and yet one of the most interesting subjects to observe with your new telescope. The best time to look is when the Moon is in a partial phase, not when it is full or nearly full. The shadows cast along the "terminator, " the border between the lit part of the surface and the shadow, help bring out the relief and detail of craters, mountains, and other features. You may want to try using higher magnifications to see even smaller detail. The Planets The major planets--Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn--are the brightest objects visible in the night sky after the Moon. [. . . ] Care and Maintenance Care of the Mount and Tube Assembly Give your telescope reasonable care and it will last a lifetime. Do not leave the telescope outside except when using it. Keep it covered with a plastic tarp or drop cloth to keep dust and dirt off. The optical tube is aluminum and has a smooth painted surface that should resist scratches and smudges. [. . . ]