User manual ORION TELESCOPES & BINOCULARS SPACEPROBEAZ B

[. . . ] INSTRUCTION MANUAL Orion® SpaceProbeTM 3 Altaz #9883 Altazimuth Refractor 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. B 10/02 EZ Finder II EZ Finder II bracket Eyepiece Focuser Altitude micro-motion control thumbwheel Yoke knob Altitude lock knob Micro-motion rod attachment post "Yoke" Azimuth lock knob Tripod leg Altitude micro-motion control rod Accessory tray Accessory tray bracket Leg lock knob Figure 1. The SpaceProbe 3 AZ. 2 ® Welcome to the exciting world of amateur astronomy!Your SpaceProbe 3 Altazimuth Reflector is a highquality optical instrument designed for nighttime stargazing. [. . . ] If you try to find and center objects with high power (narrow field of view), its like trying to find a needle in a haystack!Once you've centered the object in the eyepiece, you can switch to higher magnification (shorter focal length eyepiece), if you wish. This is especially recommended for small and bright objects, like planets and double stars. The best rule of thumb with eyepiece selection is to start with a low power, wide-field eyepiece, and then work your way up in magnification. If the object looks worse, then back off the magnification a little by using a lower-power eyepiece. A. The Moon With its rocky surface, the Moon is one of the easiest and most interesting targets to view with your telescope. Lunar craters, marias, and even mountain ranges can all be clearly seen from a distance of 238, 000 miles away!With its everchanging phases, you'll get a new view of the Moon every night. The best time to observe our one and only natural satellite is during a partial phase, that is, when the Moon is NOT full. During partial phases, shadows are cast on the surface, which reveal more detail, especially right along the border between the dark and light portions of the disk (called the "terminator"). A full Moon is too bright and devoid of surface shadows to yield a pleasing view. Make sure to observe the Moon when it is well above the horizon to get the sharpest images. It simply threads onto the bottom of the eyepieces (you must first remove the eyepiece from the focuser to attach a filter). You'll find that the Moon filter improves viewing comfort, and also helps to bring out subtle features on the lunar surface. B. The Planets The planets don't stay put like the stars, so to find them you should refer to Sky Calendar at our website (telescope. com), or to charts published monthly in Astronomy, Sky & Telescope, or other astronomy magazines. Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn are the brightest objects in the sky after the Sun and the Moon. Your SpaceProbe 3 Altaz is capable of showing you these planets in some detail. Because planets are quite small in apparent size, optional higher-power eyepieces are recommended and often needed for detailed observations. Not all the planets are generally visible at any one time. 7 JUPITER: The largest planet, Jupiter, is a great subject for observation. You can see the disk of the giant planet and watch the ever-changing positions of its four largest moons-- Io, Callisto, Europa, and Ganymede. SATURN: The ringed planet is a breathtaking sight when it is well positioned. The tilt angle of the rings varies over a period of many years; sometimes they are seen edge-on, while at other times they are broadside and look like giant "ears" on each side of Saturn's disk. [. . . ] Submerge the mirror (aluminized face up) in the water and let it soak for several minutes (or hours if it is a very dirty mirror). Wipe the mirror underwater with clean cotton balls, using extremely light pressure and stroking in straight lines across the surface. Any particles on the surface can be swabbed gently with a series of clean cotton balls, each used just one time. Dry the mirror in a stream of air (a "blower bulb" works great), or remove any stray drops of water with the corner of a paper towel. [. . . ]