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Meade 114EQ-ASTR manual

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  • Page 1

    MEADE INSTRUCTION MANUAL 114mm | 4.5" Equatorial Reflecting T elescope 114EQ-ASTR www .meade.com Meade114EQASTR 3/28/07 9:33 AM Page 1[...]

  • Page 2

    WARNING! Never use a Meade ® Telescope to look at the Sun! Looking at or near t he Sun will cause instant and irrev ersible damage to y our e y e. Ey e damage is of ten painless, so t here is no w arning to t he obser v er t hat damage has occurred until it is too lat e. Do not point t he telescope at or near t he Sun. Do not look t hrough t he te[...]

  • Page 3

    INTRODUCTION Y our telesc ope is an exc ellent beginner’ s instrument, and is designed to observe objects in the sky . It can be your personal window on the universe . The tel escope is shipped with the foll owing parts: • Optical tube • Aluminum tripod with an acc essory tray • T wo 1.25" eyepiec es: MA9mm, MA25mm • Red Dot viewfind[...]

  • Page 4

    FIGURE 1 Figur e 1 : Mead 114EQ-ASTR Equatorial Refl ecting T elesc ope Inset A : Acc essory T ray Inset B : Red Dot Viewfinder As sembly Inset C : T ripod Leg 2 1. T ripod legs 2. Equatorial Mount 3. Right ascension contr ol cable 4. Declination contr ol cable 5. Counterweight 6. Counterweight shaft 7. Counterweight lock knob 8. Counterweight safe[...]

  • Page 5

    ASSEMBLE YOUR TRIPOD The tripod is the basic support for y our tel escope. Its height may be adjusted so that you can view c omfortably . N N o o t t e e : : N N u u m m b b e e r r i i n n b b r r a a c c k k e e t t s s , , e e . . g g . . , , ( ( 3 3 ) ) , , r r e e f f e e r r t t o o F F i i g g . . 1 1 . . 1. Make sur e that as you attach the[...]

  • Page 6

    to mak e it easier to line up mor e pr ecisely with a tar get. 1. Note the two thumbscr ews (16, Fig. 4) thr ead onto two bolts on the optical tube. Remov e the thumbscrews fr om the tube. 2. Line up the two holes on the r ed dot viewfinder brack et over the two bolts. Slide the brack et over the bolts. 3. Replace the thumbscr ews onto the bolts an[...]

  • Page 7

    SUN WARNING NEVER USE YOUR TELESCOPE TO L OOK A T THE SUN! L OOKING A T OR NEAR THE SUN WILL CAUSE INST ANT AND IRREVERSIBLE DAMAGE TO YOUR EYE. EYE DAMA GE IS OFTEN P AINLESS, SO THERE IS NO WARNING T O THE OBSERVER THA T DAMAGE HAS OCCURRED UNTIL IT IS TOO LA TE. DO NOT POINT THE TELESCOPE OR ITS VIEWFINDER A T OR NEAR THE SUN. DO NOT L OOK THROU[...]

  • Page 8

    UNDERST ANDING HOW CELESTIAL OBJEC TS MOVE Due to the Earth's r otation, cel estial bodies appear to move fr om East to W est in a curved path thr ough the skies. All stars and c elestial objects ar e mapped onto an imaginary spher e surrounding the Earth. This mapping system is similar to the system of latitude and l ongitude on Earth surfac [...]

  • Page 9

    24 primary lines of R.A., loc ated at 15- degr ee intervals along the c eles tial equator . Objects loc ated further and further East of the zer o R.A. grid line (0hr 0min 0sec) carry higher R.A. coor dinates. • • D D e e c c l l i i n n a a t t i i o o n n ( ( D D e e c c . . ) ) : : This celes tial version of latitude is measur ed in degrees,[...]

  • Page 10

    with-mounting may be r otated in a horizontal dir ection. Rotate the tel escope until it points due North. Use a compas s or locate Polaris, the North Star, as an accur ate ref erence t o North (See Fig. 7). 2. Level the mount with the horizon, if neces sary, by adjusting the heights of the thr ee tripod legs. 3. Determine the latitude of your obse[...]

  • Page 11

    can see the object. It will be easier to l ocate an object using the r ed dot viewfinder rather than loc ating with the eyepiece. Line up the object using the viewfinders r ed dot. Look thr ough the eyepiece : Once y ou have the object lined up in the viewfinder, look thr ough the optical tube’ s eyepiece. If y ou have aligned your viewfinder, y [...]

  • Page 12

    Use a neutral density filter (often c alled a “moon filter”) when observing the Moon. Neutral density filters ar e availabl e from Meade as an optional acc essory and enhanc e contrast to impr ove your observation of lunar f eatures. Spend sever al nights observing the Moon. Some nights, the Moon is so bright that it makes other objects in the [...]

  • Page 13

    One of the most f ascinating sights of Jupiter ar e its moons. The four lar gest moons ar e call ed the Galilean moons, after the astr onomer Galileo, who observed them f or the first time. If y ou’ve nev er watched the Galilean moons in y our telescope bef ore, you’r e missing a r eal treat! Each night, the moons appear in differ ent positions[...]

  • Page 14

    gr ouping of stars, containing millions or even billions of s tars. Some galaxies form a spir al (like our galaxy, the Milky W ay) and other galaxies look mor e like a lar ge football and ar e call ed elliptical galaxies. Ther e are many galaxies that ar e irr egularly shaped and ar e thought to have been pulled apart bec ause they passed too close[...]

  • Page 15

    fun, and the mor e rewar ding your tel escope will become. SOME OBSERVING TIPS Eyepiec es : Always begin y our observations using the 25mm low-pow er eyepiec e. The 25mm eyepiec e delivers a bright, wide field of view and is the best to use f or most viewing conditions. Use the high-power 9mm eyepiec e to view details when observing the Moon and pl[...]

  • Page 16

    tel escope. Do not use use a regular flash-light or turn on other lights when observing with a gr oup of other astr onomers. Y ou can make y our own r ed filtered flashlight by taping r ed cell ophane over a flashlight lens. Viewing thr ough windows : Avoid setting up the tel escope inside a room and observing thr ough an opened or closed window pa[...]

  • Page 17

    exposur e. f/5 is fast er than f/10. The fas ter the ratio, the f aster e xposure time is needed when a camera is hook ed up to the tel escope. Y our telesc ope has slower foc al ratio at f/8.8. Sometimes, astr onomers use foc al reducer s to make slow e xposure tel escopes have fas ter foc al ratios. USE THE SPECIFICA TIONS TO CAL CULA TE THE MAGN[...]

  • Page 18

    should not be consider ed r eason to clean the surfac e. When lens or mirr or cleaning does bec ome neces sary, use a camel's hair brush or compr essed air gently t o remove dus t. If the tel escope's dust cov er is r eplaced after each observing session, cl eaning of the optics will rar ely be r equired. • Fingerprints and or ganic mat[...]

  • Page 19

    the diagonal mirr or (3, Fig. 13), the spider vanes (4, Fig. 13), and your e ye (5, Fig. 13). Pr operly aligned, all of these r eflections will appear conc entric (i.e., center ed) as illustrated in Fig. 13. Any deviation fr om the concentric r eflections will r equire adjustments t o the diagonal assembl y and/or the primary mirr or cell (Fig. 10)[...]

  • Page 20

    appear center ed within the drawtube (3, Fig. 15), but the r eflection of your eye and the r eflection of the diagonal mirr or (4, Fig. 15) appear off center, you will need to adjust the primary mirr or tilt Phillips-head scr ews of the primary mirr or cell (3, Fig. 10). These primary tilt scr ews are l ocated behind the primary mirr or, at the low[...]

  • Page 21

    OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES Additional Eyepiec es (1.25" barr el diameter): F or higher or lower magnifications with the tel escopes that acc ommodate 1.25" ey epieces, Meade Series 4000 Super Plössl ey epieces, available in a wide variety of sizes, pr ovide a high le vel of image r esolution and color corr ection at an economical pric e. Conta[...]

  • Page 22

    MEADE CONSUMER SOLUTIONS If you have a ques tion conc erning your tel escope, call Meade Instruments Consumer Solutions Department at (800) 626-3233. Consumer Solutions Department hours ar e 8:00AM to 5:00PM, Pacific Time, Monday thr ough Friday . Write or call the Meade Consumer Solutions Department first, bef ore r eturning the tel escope to the [...]

  • Page 23

    OBSERVER: OBJEC T NAME: DA TE & TIME OBSERVED: CONSTELLA TION: EYEPIECE SIZE: SEEING CONDITIONS: EXCELLENT GOOD POOR NOTES: DRAWING OF IMA GE OBSERV A TION LOG Meade114EQASTR 3/28/07 9:33 AM Page 23[...]

  • Page 24

    OBSERVER: OBJEC T NAME: DA TE & TIME OBSERVED: CONSTELLA TION: EYEPIECE SIZE: SEEING CONDITIONS: EXCELLENT GOOD POOR NOTES: DRAWING OF IMA GE OBSERV A TION LOG Meade114EQASTR 3/28/07 9:33 AM Page 24[...]

  • Page 25

    OBSERVER: OBJEC T NAME: DA TE & TIME OBSERVED: CONSTELLA TION: EYEPIECE SIZE: SEEING CONDITIONS: EXCELLENT GOOD POOR NOTES: DRAWING OF IMA GE OBSERV A TION LOG Meade114EQASTR 3/28/07 9:33 AM Page 25[...]

  • Page 26

    OBSERVER: OBJEC T NAME: DA TE & TIME OBSERVED: CONSTELLA TION: EYEPIECE SIZE: SEEING CONDITIONS: EXCELLENT GOOD POOR NOTES: DRAWING OF IMA GE OBSERV A TION LOG Meade114EQASTR 3/28/07 9:33 AM Page 26[...]

  • Page 27

    Meade114EQASTR 3/28/07 9:33 AM Page 27[...]

  • Page 28

    www .meade.com Meade Instr uments Corporation 6001 Oak Canyon, Ir vine, Califor nia 926 18 1-800 626-3233 Meade114EQASTR 3/28/07 9:33 AM Page 28[...]