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. [. . . ] Lock the photo tripod's pan-head into place, and move the telescope about the R. A. Aligning and Using the Equatorial Mount When you look at the night sky, you no doubt have noticed that the stars appear to move slowly from east Figure 7: The Tabletop Equatoral Mount used in conjunction with a photo-style tripod. 5 to west over time. That apparent motion is caused by the Earth's rotation (from west to east). An equatorial mount is designed to compensate for that motion, allowing you to easily "track" the movement of astronomical objects, thereby keeping them from drifting out of the telescope's field of view while you're observing. 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. 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. [. . . ] Let's say you want to view an object that is directly overhead, at the zenith. One thing you DO NOT do is make any adjustment to the mount's latitude (tilt). Remember, once the mount is polar aligned, the telescope should be moved only on the R. A. axis until the counterweight shaft is horizontal (parallel to the ground). [. . . ]