User manual ORION TELESCOPES & BINOCULARS STARMAX 127 EQ

[. . . ] INSTRUCTION MANUAL Orion StarMaxTM 127mm EQ ® #9826 Equatorial Maksutov-Cassegrain 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. D 05/02 Finder scope Finder scope bracket Optical tube attachment knobs Declination lock lever Counterweights Counterweight lock knobs Counterweight shaft "Toe saver" Eyepiece Focus knob (behind diagonal) Star diagonal Right ascension slow motion control Declination slow motion control Right ascension lock lever Polar axis finder scope Latitude adjustment T-bolts Tripod leg Accessory tray attachment point Accessory tray bracket Accessory tray Leg lock knob Figure 1. StarMax 127mm EQ Parts Diagram 2 Welcome to a new world of adventure. Your new StarMax 127mm EQ is designed for high-resolution observing of astronomical objects, and can also be used for terrestrial exploration. [. . . ] Objects will then remain stationary in the field of view without any manual adjustment of the R. A. Understanding the Setting Circles The setting circles on an equatorial mount enable you to locate celestial objects by their "celestial coordinates". Every object resides in a specific location on the "celestial sphere". That location is denoted by two numbers: its right ascension (R. A. ) and declination (Dec. ). In the same way, every location 9 on Earth can be described by its longitude and latitude. values for celestial objects can be found in any star atlas or star catalog. setting circle is scaled in hours, from 1 through 24, with small marks in between representing 10 minute increments (there are 60 minutes in 1 hour of R. A. ). The upper set of numbers apply to viewing in the Northern Hemisphere, while the numbers below them apply to viewing in the Southern Hemisphere. setting circle is scaled in degrees, with each mark representing 2° increments. When the telescope is pointed north of the celestial equator, values of the Dec. setting circle are positive; when the telescope is pointed south of the celestial equator, values of the Dec. So, the coordinates for the Orion Nebula listed in a star atlas will look like this: R. A. 5h 35. 4m Dec. --5° 27' That's 5 hours and 35. 4 minutes in right ascension, and -5 degrees and 27 arc-minutes in declination (there are 60 arcminutes in 1 degree of declination). Before you can use the setting circles to locate objects, the mount must be well polar aligned, and the R. A. setting circle has been calibrated at the factory, and should read 90° whenever the telescope optical tube is parallel with the R. A. lock levers on the equatorial mount, so the telescope optical tube can move freely. Center the star in the telescope's field of view with the slow-motion control cables. setting circle lock thumbscrew (see Figure 4); this will allow the setting circle to rotate freely. Rotate the setting circle until the arrow under the thumbscrew indicates the R. A. setting circles for finding objects; the thumbscrew is only needed for polar alignment using the polar axis finder scope. Finding Objects With the Setting Circles Now that both setting circles are calibrated, look up in a star atlas the coordinates of an object you wish to view. setting circle are positive when the telescope is pointing north of the celestial equator (Dec. [. . . ] Choose the hole that will best balance the tube; this will vary depending on the accessories being used. The included mirror star diagonal, while preferred for astronomical observing because of its viewing angle and better resolution, is not optimal for land viewing because it inverts images from left-to-right. We recommend purchasing an optional 45° correct-image diagonal for terrestrial observing; it provides a more comfortable viewing angle for land viewing and an image that is oriented the same as the naked eye. For terrestrial viewing, it's best to stick with low power eyepieces that yield a magnification under 100x. [. . . ]