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Moon and planets. If the image become
fuzzy, switch back down to a lower power.
Changing eyepieces changes the power or
magnification of your telescope.
By the way, you might have noticed
something strange when you looked through
your eyepiece. The image is upside down and
reversed. That means reading words can be
a problem. But it has no affect on
astronomical objects.
Optional Accessory Barlow lens: You can
also change magnification by using a Barlow
lens. The Barlow lens doubles the power of
your telescope (See Fig. 10).
Meade offers a complete line of eyepieces
for your telescope. Most astronomers have
four or five low-power and high power
eyepieces to view different objects and to
cope with different viewing conditions.
Objects move in the eyepiece: If you are
observing an astronomical object (the Moon,
a planet, star, etc.) you will notice that the
object will begin to move slowly through the
telescopic field of view. This movement is
caused by the rotation of the Earth and
makes an object move through the tele-
scope’s field of view. To keep astronomical
objects centered in the field, simply move
the telescope on one or both of its axes—
vertically and/or horizontally as needed—try
using the telescopes coarse and fine
adjustment controls. At higher powers,
astronomical objects will seem to move
through the field of view of the eyepiece
more rapidly.
Place the object to be viewed at the edge
of the field and, without touching the
telescope, watch it drift through the field to
the other side before repositioning the
telescope so that the object to be viewed is
again placed at the edge of the field, ready
to be further observed.
Vibrations: Avoid touching the eyepiece
while observing through the telescope.
Vibrations resulting from such contact will
cause the image to move. Avoid observing
sites where vibrations cause image
movement (for example, near railroad
tracks). Viewing from the upper floors of a
building may also cause image movement.
Let your eyes “dark-adapt:” Allow five or
ten minutes for your eyes to become “dark
adapted” before observing. Use a red-
filtered flashlight to protect your night
vision when reading star maps, or
inspecting the telescope. Do not use
use a regular flash-light or turn on other
lights when observing with a group of other
astronomers. You can make your own red
filtered flashlight by taping red cellophane
over a flashlight lens.
Viewing through windows: Avoid setting up
the telescope inside a room and observing
through an opened or closed window pane.
Images may appear blurred or distorted due
to temperature differences between inside
13
STAR CHARTS
Star charts and planispheres are useful for a variety of
reasons. In particular, they are a great aid in planning a
night of celestial viewing.
A wide variety of star charts are available in books, in
magazines, on the internet and on CD Roms. Meade
offers AutoStar Suite
TM
software. Contact your local
Meade dealer or Meade’s Customer Service department
for more information.
Astronomy
and
Sky and Telescope
magazines print star
charts each month for up-to-the-minute maps of the
heavens.
Looking at or near the Sunwill cause irreversabledamage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.
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