Orion 9826 manual

INSTRUCTION MANUAL IN 163 Rev . E 02/09 Providing Exceptional Consumer Optical Products Since 1975 Customer Support (800 ) 676-1343 E-mail: support@telescope.com Corporate Offices (831) 763-7000 89 Hangar W ay , W atsonville, CA 95076 Orion ® StarMax ™ 1 27mm EQ #9826 Equatorial Maksutov-Cassegrain T elescope[...]

2 Figure 1. StarMax 127mm EQ Parts Diagram Finder scope Finder scope brac ket Eyepiece F ocus knob (behind diagonal) Star diagonal Right ascension slow motion control Declination slow motion control Right ascension lock le v er P olar axis finder scope Latitude adjustment T -bolts Leg lock knob Optical tube attach- ment knobs Declination lock le v [...]

3 T able of Contents 1. Unpacking ........................ 3 2. P ar ts List ......................... 3 3. Assembly ........................ 3 4. Getting Star ted .................... 5 5. Setting Up and Using the Equatorial Mount ................... 6 6. Using Y our T elescope— Astronomical Observing ............ 11 7. T errestr ial Viewing ...[...]

4 assembly from its housing f or any reason, or the product war- ranty and return policy will be voided. 1. Lay the equatorial mount on its side. Attach the tr ipod legs one at a time to the mount using the screws installed in the tops of the tr ipod legs. Remove the scre w from the leg, line up the holes in the top of the leg with the holes in the[...]

the knobs , with washers attached, up through the holes in the mount and thread them into the plate until finger tight. 10. Attach the two slow-motion cables to the R.A. and Dec. worm gear shafts of the equatorial mount by positioning the small screw on the end of the cab le o ver the indented slot on the worm gear shaft. Then tighten the screw . 1[...]

The telescope is now balanced on the R.A. axis . It is not nec- essar y to balance the telescope on the Dec. axis, since the optical tube’ s mounting plate is positioned so that the tele - scope will automatically be balanced on that axis. When you loosen the lock le ver on one or both axes of motion and man- ually point the telescope, it should [...]

T o find Polaris in the sky , look nor th and locate the pattern of the Big Dipper (Figure 7). The two stars at the end of the “bowl” of the Big Dipper point right to P olar is . Obser v ers in the Souther n Hemisphere aren’t so f or tunate to hav e a br ight star so near the south celestial pole (SCP). The star Sigma Octantis lies about 1° [...]

The Polar Axis Finder Scope A nice feature of the StarMax 127 EQ is the polar axis finder scope housed inside the R.A. axis of the equator ial mount (see Figure 4). When properly aligned and used, it makes accurate polar alignment quic k and easy to do . Alignment of the polar finder need only be done once, unless it gets bumped or otherwise shifts[...]

9 F or most accurate polar alignment, you will need to know the appro ximate longitude of your observing site . This inf or mation can be obtained by looking at a local map. Now , you must figure the diff erence between the longitude of y our observing site and the closest standard time meridian. The standard time meridians are 75°, 90°, 105°, a[...]

10 The R.A. and Dec. values f or celestial objects can be found in any star atlas or star catalog. The R.A. setting circle is scaled in hours, from 1 through 24, with small marks in between representing 10 minute incre - ments (there are 60 minutes in 1 hour of R.A.). The upper set of numbers apply to viewing in the Nor ther n Hemisphere, while the[...]

The k ey things to remember when pointing the telescope are, first that you only mov e it in R.A. and Dec., not in azim uth or latitude (altitude), and second, the counterweight and shaft will not alw ays appear as it does in Figure 1. In fact, it almost ne ver will! 6. Using Y our T elescope— Astr onomical Obser ving Choosing an Observing Site W[...]

12 the best ey epiece to use depending on the object being view ed. T o calculate the magnification, or power , of a telescope and ey epiece combination, simply divide the focal length of the telescope by the f ocal length of the ey epiece: focal length of telescope Magnification = focal length of e yepiece F or e xample, the StarMax 127mm EQ, whic[...]

13 Io , Callisto, Europa, and Ganymede. Higher-power ey epieces should bring out the cloud bands on the planet’ s disk. SA TURN The r inged planet is a breathtaking sight when it is well positioned. The tilt angle of the rings varies ov er a per iod of many years; sometimes they are seen edge-on, while at oth er tim es th ey are broa dside and l [...]

the telescope slightly , until the telescope is centered on the new star . Continue using stars as guideposts in this w ay until y ou are at the appro ximate position of the object you are trying to find (Figure 10). Look in the telescope’ s eyepiece , and the object should be somewhere within the field of view . If it’ s not, sw eep the telesc[...]

15 Cleaning Lenses Any quality optical lens cleaning tissue and optical lens clean- ing fluid specifically designed for multi-coated optics can be used to clean the StarMax’s front meniscus lens or e xposed lenses of your ey epieces or finder scope. Ne ver use regular glass cleaner or cleaning fluid designed f or ey eglasses. Before cleaning with[...]