User manual ORION TELESCOPES & BINOCULARS STARBLAST

[. . . ] INSTRUCTION MANUAL Orion StarBlastTM #9814 4. 5" Altazimuth Reflector Tabletop 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 08/02 2 1 4 5 3 6 7 8 10 11 9 12 Figure 1. The StarBlast. 2 Congratulations on your purchase of an Orion StarBlast telescope. The StarBlast will give you breathtaking views of the Moon, planets, and even deep sky objects like the Orion Nebula. [. . . ] Magnification Limits Every telescope has a useful magnification limit of about 2X per millimeter of aperture. Some telescope manufacturers will use misleading claims of excess magnification, such as "See distant galaxies at 640X!". While such magnifications are technically possible, the actual image at that magnification would be an indistinct blur. It is better to view a small, but bright and detailed image than a dim, unclear, oversized image. 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 Sun You can change your nighttime telescope into a daytime Sun viewer by installing an optional full-aperture solar filter over the front opening of the StarBlast. The primary attraction is sunspots, which change shape, appearance, and location daily. Many observers like to make drawings of sunspots to monitor how the Sun is changing from day to day. Important Note: Do not look at the Sun with any optical instrument without a professionally made solar filter, or permanent eye damage could result. Do not use the EZ Finder when solar viewing either. What to Expect So what will you see with your telescope?You should be able to see bands on Jupiter, the rings of Saturn, craters on the Moon, the waxing and waning of Venus, and many bright deep-sky objects. Do not expect to see color as you do in NASA photos, since those are taken with long-exposure cameras and have "false color" added. Our eyes are not sensitive enough to see color in deep-sky objects except in a few of the brightest ones. Remember that you are seeing these objects using your own telescope with your own eyes!The object you see in your eyepiece is in real-time, and not some conveniently provided image from an expensive space probe. Each time you work with your telescope it will get easier to use, and stellar objects will become easier to find. [. . . ] Small specks of dust or flecks of paint have virtually no effect on the visual performance of the telescope The large primary mirror and the elliptical secondary mirror of your telescope are front-surface aluminized and over coated with hard silicon dioxide, which prevents the aluminum from A simple star test will tell you whether the optics are accurately collimated. 11 oxidizing. These coatings normally last through many years of use before requiring re-coating, which is easily done. Do this by holding the secondary mirror holder stationary with your fingers (don't touch the mirror itself) while unthreading the Phillips head screw in the center hub of the 4vaned spider. Completely unthread the screw from the holder, and the holder will come loose in your fingers. [. . . ]