Orion 4.5 EQ manual

INSTRUCTION MANUAL IN 260 Rev . B 01/09 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 ® StarBlast ™ 4.5 EQ #9798 Equatorial Newtonian Reflector T elescope[...]

2 Figure 1a. The StarBlast 4.5 EQ EZ Finder II reflex sight Eyepiece Focuser T ube rings Optical tube Primar y mirror cell Declination slow-motion control Right ascension slow-motion control Latitude adjustment T -bolt Azimuth lock knob Accessory tra y Declination setting circle Right ascension setting circle Counterweight lock knob Counterweight C[...]

3 T able of Contents 1. Unpacking 3 2. P ar ts List 3 3. Assembly 3 4. Getting Star ted 4 5. Setting Up and Using the Equatorial Mount 6 6. Collimating the Optics (Aligning the Mirrors) 9 7. Astronomical Obser ving 11 8. Care and Maintenance 13 9. Specifications 14 1. Unpacking The entire telescope system will arrive in one box. Be careful unpackin[...]

4 4 3. Stand the tr ipod and mount upr ight and spread the tripod legs apar t as f ar as they will go , until the accessory tray brac ket is taut. Connect the accessory tra y to the acces - sor y tra y brac ket with the three wing scre ws already installed in the tray . Do this by pushing the wing screws up through the holes in the accessory tra y [...]

5 5 1. K eeping one hand on the telescope optical tube, loosen the R.A. lock knob . Mak e sure the Dec. lock knob is lock ed, f or now . The telescope should no w be ab le to rotate freely about the R.A. axis. Rotate it until the counterweight shaft is parallel to the ground (i.e ., hor iz ontal). 2. Now loosen the counterweight lock knob and slide[...]

6 Do Y ou Wear Eyeglasses? If y ou w ear e y egla sse s, y ou ma y be abl e to k eep t hem on w hile you obser v e. In order to do this , your ey epiece must hav e enough “ey e relief ” to allow you to see the entire field of view with glasses on. Y ou can tr y this by looking through the eyepiece first with your glasses on and then with them o[...]

7 of a str ono mi cal o bje cts , th er eb y ke epi ng th em fr om dr ift ing o ut of the telescope’ s field of view while y ou’ re obser ving. This is accomplished b y slowly rotating the telescope on its right ascension (R.A.) axis, using only the R.A. slow-motion cable. But fir st the R. A. axis o f t he moun t m ust be al igned w ith the Ea[...]

8 Understanding the Setting Circles The setting circles on an equator ial mount enable you to locate celestial objects by their “celestial coordinates”. Every object resides in a specific location on the “celestial sphere”. That location is denoted by two numbers: its right ascension (R.A.) and declination (Dec.). In the same wa y , ev er y[...]

9 9 6. Collimating the Optics Collimating is the process of adjusting the mirrors so they are aligned with one another . Y our telescope’ s optics w ere aligned at the f actor y , and should not need much adjustment unless the telescope is handled roughly . Accurate mirror alignment is impor tant to ensure peak perf or mance of your telescope, so[...]

10 The Collimating Cap and Primary Mirror Center Mark Y our Sta rBlast 4.5 EQ com es with a collima ting cap . This is a si mpl e cap that fits on th e f ocu ser d ra wtu be l ik e a dus t ca p, bu t has a hole in the cente r and a silv er botto m. T his help s cen ter your eye so collimating is easy to perform. Figures 9b through 9e assume you ha [...]

11 Once the secondar y mirror is centered in the focuser drawtube , and the pr imary mirror reflection is centered in the secondar y mirror , the secondar y mirror is properly aligned, and no fur ther adjustments to it should be needed. Aligning the Primary Mirror The final adjustment is made to the primar y mirror . It will need adjustment if , as[...]

12 when much of the heat absorbed by the Ear th dur ing the day has radiated off into space. Especially impor tant f or obser ving f aint objects is good “tr ans - parency”—air free of moisture, smoke, and dust. All tend to scat - ter light, which reduces an object’s brightness. T ransparency is judged b y the magnitude of the faintest star[...]

13 B. The Planets The planets don’t stay put like the stars, so to find them you should refer to Sky Calendar at Or ionT elescopes.com, or to char ts pub lished monthly in Astronomy , Sky & T elescope , or oth er ast ronom y ma gazine s. V enus , Ma rs, Jup iter , and Saturn are the brightest objects in the sky after the Sun and the Moon. Oth[...]

14 cli ps hel d by tw o scre ws ea ch. Lo ose n t he scre ws an d remo v e the clips. Y ou ma y now remo ve the primar y mirror from its cell. Do not touch the surf ace of the mirror with your fingers. Lift the mirror carefully b y the edges. Set the mirror on a clean soft towel. Fill a cl ean s ink fr ee wit h room temp eratu re w ater , a f ew dr[...]