User manual ORION TELESCOPES & BINOCULARS OBSERVER 60MM AZ

[. . . ] INSTRUCTION MANUAL Orion Observer 60mm AZ TM ® #9854 60mm Altazimuth Refracting Telescope Customer Support (800) 676-1343 E-mail: support@telescope. com Corporate Offices (831) 763-7000 Providing Exceptional Consumer Optical Products Since 1975 P. O. A 07/02 2 ® Welcome to the exciting world of amateur astronomy. Your new Observer 60 Altazimuth Refractor is a quality optical instrument that will deliver countless hours of exciting stargazing, from magnified views of the Moon, star clusters and nebulas to glimpses of Jupiter's moons and Saturn's rings. The Observer 60 includes everything you need to go from box to backyard in less than half an hour. [. . . ] Replacing the EZ Finder II Battery Should the battery ever die, replacement 3-volt lithium batteries are available from many retail outlets. Remove the old battery by inserting a small flat-head screwdriver into the slot on the battery cover (Figure 6) and gently prying open the cover. Then carefully pull back on the retaining clip and remove the old battery. Then slide the new battery under the battery lead with the positive (+) side facing down and replace the battery cover. Figure 7 Azimuth adjustment wheel Altitude adjustment wheel Power knob EZ Finder II superimposes a tiny red dot on the sky, showing right where the telescope is pointed. Battery cover Thumbscrews Figure 6. The EZ Finder II reflex sight 11 6. Using Your Telescope Astronomical Observing Choosing an Observing Site When selecting a location for observing, get as far away as possible from direct artificial light such as street lights, porch lights, and automobile headlights. The glare from these lights will greatly impair your dark-adapted night vision. Set up on a grass or dirt surface, not asphalt, because asphalt radiates more heat, which disturbs the surrounding air and degrades the images seen through the telescope. Avoid viewing over rooftops and chimneys, as they often have warm air currents rising from them. Similarly, avoid observing from indoors through an open (or closed) window, because the temperature difference between the indoor and outdoor air will cause image blurring and distortion. If at all possible, escape the light-polluted city sky and head for darker country skies. You'll be amazed at how many more stars and deep-sky objects are visible in a dark sky! keep the object in the field of view. (Make certain the azimuth lock knob is slightly loosened before moving the scope in the azimuth position. ) Objects will appear to move faster at higher magnifications because the field of view is narrower. Remember that objects are reversed left to right in refractor telescopes, so when you move the telescope in one direction in the azimuth, the object will move in the opposite direction in the eyepiece. This takes some getting used to, but becomes second nature after a few nights out with the telescope. 1. 9 4. 9 2. 4 1. 9 1. 7 3. 4 2. 5 2. 4 "Seeing" and Transparency Atmospheric conditions vary significantly from night to night. "Seeing" refers to the steadiness of the Earth's atmosphere at a given time. In conditions of poor seeing, atmospheric turbulence causes objects viewed through the telescope to "boil". If, when you look up at the sky with your naked eyes, the stars are twinkling noticeably, the seeing is bad and you will be limited to viewing with low powers (bad seeing affects images at high powers more severely). In conditions of good seeing, star twinkling is minimal and images appear steady in the eyepiece. Also, seeing generally gets better after midnight, when much of the heat absorbed by the Earth during the day has radiated off into space. Especially important for observing faint objects is good "transparency" air free of moisture, smoke, and dust. Transparency is judged by the magnitude of the faintest stars you can see with the unaided eye (6th magnitude or fainter is desirable). [. . . ] The correct-image diagonal will yield upright, non-reversed images and provide a more comfortable viewing angle. For terrestrial viewing, it's best to stick with low-powered eyepieces that yield a magnification under 80x. At higher powers, images rapidly lose sharpness and clarity due to "heat waves" caused by Sun-heated air. Remember to aim well clear of the Sun, unless the front of the telescope is fitted with a professionally made solar filter. [. . . ]