Orion ED EQ manual

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 INSTRUCTION MANUAL Orion ® SkyV iew ™ Pr o 1 00mm ED EQ Equatorial Apochromatic Refractor T elescope #9977 IN 248 REV C 01/09[...]

2 Figure 1. The SkyView Pro 100mm ED EQ T ube ring mounting plate Declination slow-motion control knob Declination lock le ver Right ascension lock le ver Right ascension slow- motion control knob Counterweight shaft Counterweight Counterweight lock knob “T oe sav er” Eyepiece 1.25" Adapter Finder scope Finder scope brac k et 2" Star [...]

3 Congratulations on your purchase of a quality Or ion telescope. Y our new SkyView Pro 100mm ED EQ is an e xceptional instr ument f or observing and imaging astronomical objects . The ED glass of the objec- tiv e lens ensures you’ll enjo y star , Moon, and planetar y images with far less color distor tion than seen in standard refractors. Other [...]

4 1. Sta nd t he t rip od l eg s up rig ht a nd s pre ad t he l eg s ou t as f ar as they will go . K eep the tripod legs at their shor test (fully retracted) length, f or now; you can extend them to a more desirab le length later , after the scope is fully assembled. 2. Place the base of the equatorial mount into the tr ipod head. Orient the equat[...]

5 Inserting the Diagonal and Eyepiece The SkyView Pro 100mm ED EQ comes with a camera adapt- er attached to its f ocuser drawtube . Loosen the two thumb screws securing the camera adapter to the focuser drawtube and remov e the camera adapter (see Figure 4). Inser t the chrome barrel of the star diagonal into the f ocuser and secure it with the thu[...]

6 3. Retighten the counterweight lock knob. The telescope is now balanced on the right ascension axis. 4. T o balance the telescope on the declination axis, first tighten the R.A. lock le ver , with the counterweight shaft still in the horizontal position. 5. Wit h one han d on the tel esco pe opt ica l tube, loo sen t he Dec. lock lev er . The tel[...]

7 ing throug h t he eyepiec e f irst with your gl asses on , an d t hen with them off, and see if the glasses restrict the view to only a por tion of the full field. If they do, you can easily obser ve with your glasses off by just re-focusing the telescope the needed amount. If you suffer from sev ere astigmatism, how e ver , you ma y find images [...]

8 tions, 2" ey epieces can giv e a wider field of vie w than standard 1.25" ey epieces. This is especially desirable for obser ving deep-sky objects, as many of them appear quite large, but f aint. Many obser vers own at least one 2" eyepiece in order to achie ve the widest field of view possible for deep sky-obser v - ing. The expan[...]

9 T o find Polaris in the sky , look nor th and locate the patter n of the Big Dipper (Figure 9). The tw o stars at the end of the “bowl” of the Big Dipper point right to P olaris. Obser vers in the Souther n Hemisphere aren’t so fortunate to hav e a br ight star so near the south celestial pole (SCP). The star Sigma Octantis lies about 1° f[...]

10 Alignment of the Polar Axis Finder Scope 1. Look through the polar finder at a distant object (dur ing the day) and center it in the crosshairs. Y ou may need to adjust the latitude adjustment L-bolts and the tr ipod posi - tion to do this. 2. Rotate the mount 180° about the R.A. axis. Again, it may be convenient to remov e the counterweights a[...]

11 the polar axis finder from the mo unt. Look through the polar axis finder at a star (at night) or distant object at least 1/4 mile aw a y (during da ylight). Use the ey epiece focus r ing to bring the reticle into shar p focus . Now , loosen the focus lock r ing (Figure 11a) and thread the entire objective end of the finder inwards or outwards u[...]

12 Calibrating the Right Ascension Setting Circle 1. Identify a bright star in the sky near the celestial equa- tor (declination = 0°) and look up its coordinates in a star atlas. 2. Loosen the R.A. and Dec. lock le vers on the equatorial mount, so the telescope optical tube can mov e freely . 3. P oint the telescope at the bright star whose coord[...]

13 hav e warm air currents r ising from them which distor t the image seen in the ey epiece. Similarly , you should not observe thro ugh an open or clo sed window fro m indo ors. B ett er yet, choose a site out-of-town, awa y from any “light pollution”. Y ou’ll be stunned at how many more stars you’ll see! Most impor tantly , make sure that[...]

14 Once you’v e centered the object in the ey epiece, y ou can s witch to higher magnification (shor ter f ocal length e yepiece), if you wish. This is especially recommended for small and bright objects, like planets and double stars. The Moon also takes higher magnifications w ell. Deep-sky objects, howe ver , typically look better at medium or[...]

15 special about seeing an astronomical object in real time, with your o wn ey es — “liv e, ” if not in living color . How to Find Deep-sky Objects: Starhopping Starhopping, as it is called by astronomers, is perhaps the simplest way to hunt down objects to view in the night sky . It entails first pointing the telescope at a star close to the[...]

16 powers , images rapidly lose sharpness and clar ity due to “heat wa v es” caused by Sun-heated air . Remember to aim well clear of the Sun, unless the front of the telescope is fitted with a professionally made solar filter and the finder scope is covered b y an opaque mater ial or remov ed altogether . 9. Astrophotography With the included [...]

17 guide star on the illuminated ey epiece’ s crosshairs. Once the object is centered in the camera and a guide star is centered in the reticle ey epiece, y ou’ re ready to shoot. Deep-sky objects are quite f aint, and typically require expo - sures on the order of 10 minutes . T o hold the camera’ s shutter open this long, you will need a lo[...]

18 One-Y ear Limited W arranty This Or ion SkyView Pro 100mm ED EQ is warranted against defects in mater ials or workmanship for a period of one year from the date of purchase. This warranty is for the benefit of the original retail pur - chaser only . Dur ing this warranty per iod Orion T elescopes & Binoculars will repair or replace, at Orion[...]