OBSERVING
Observ
e during the daytime
: T
ry out
your t
e
lesc
ope during the daytime at
fir
s
t. It is easier t
o
l
earn how it
oper
at
es and how t
o
observ
e when it
is light.
Pick out an easy object to observ
e
: A
dis
tant mount
ain, a lar
ge tr
ee, a lighthouse
or skyscr
aper mak
e
e
xc
ell
ent t
a
rgets. P
oint
the optic
al tube so it lines up with y
our
object.
Unl
ock the l
ock knobs
: T
o
mo
ve
the
te
lesc
ope, y
ou will need t
o
unl
ock the
horizont
al (6) and v
e
rtic
al (5) l
ock knobs (jus
t
ro
ta
te
t
o
unl
ock or l
ock; when l
ocking, onl
y
tight
en t
o
a “firm f
eel,” do not o
vertight
en).
Use the vie
wfinder
: If y
ou hav
e not done so,
align the viewfinder (2) with the t
e
lesc
ope’
s
e
yepiec
e (1) as described earlier
.
Look thr
ough the viewfinder until y
ou c
a
n
see the object. It will be easier t
o
l
o
c
a
te
an
object using the viewfinder r
ather than
lo
c
ating with the e
yepiec
e. Line up the object
in the viewfinder’
s cr
os
shair
s.
Look thr
ough the e
y
epiec
e
: Onc
e y
ou hav
e
the object lined up in the viewfinder, l
ook
thr
ough the optic
al tube’
s e
yepiec
e. If y
o
u
hav
e aligned y
our viewfinder, y
ou will y
o
u
see the object in y
our e
yepiec
e.
F
ocus
: Look thr
ough the e
yepiec
e and
pr
actic
e f
ocusing on the object y
o
u hav
e
chosen.
T
ry out the c
oar
se and fine adjus
tment
contr
ols
: Pr
actic
e using the fine adjus
tment
c
ontr
ol (16) t
o
mo
ve
the t
e
lesc
ope. These
c
an c
ome in v
ery handy, especiall
y when y
o
u
wish t
o
mo
ve
the t
e
lesc
ope in v
ery small
(fine c
ontr
ol) s
teps.
6
T
OO MUCH PO
WER?
Can y
ou e
ver hav
e t
oo much pow
er? If the type of
pow
er y
ou’r
e r
e
ferring t
o
is e
yepiec
e magnific
ation,
yes y
ou c
an! The mos
t c
ommon mis
ta
k
e
of the
beginning observ
er is t
o
“o
verpow
er” a t
e
lesc
ope
by using high magnific
ations which the t
e
lesc
ope’
s
apertur
e and atmospheric c
onditions c
annot
reasonabl
y support. Keep in mind that a small
er,
but bright and well-r
esol
ved image is f
ar superior
to
one that is lar
ger, but dim and poorl
y r
esol
ved.
P
o
wer
s
abo
ve
400x should be empl
o
yed onl
y under
the s
teadies
t atmospheric c
onditions.
Observ
e the Moon
: When y
ou f
eel
c
omf
ort
abl
e with the viewfinder, the
e
ye
piec
es, the l
ocks and the adjus
tment
c
ontr
ols, y
ou will be r
eady t
o
try out the
te
lesc
ope at night. The Moon is the bes
t
object t
o
observ
e the fir
s
t time y
ou go out at
night. Pick a night when the Moon is a
cr
esc
ent. No shadows ar
e seen during a full
Moon, making it appear flat and
unint
er
es
ting.
Look f
or diff
er
ent f
eatur
es on the Moon. The
mos
t obvious f
eatur
es ar
e cr
at
er
s. In f
act
you c
an see cr
at
er
s within cr
at
er
s. Some
cr
at
er
s hav
e bright lines about them. These
ar
e c
all
ed r
ays and ar
e the r
esult of mat
erial
thr
o
wn out of the cr
at
er when it was s
truck
by a c
olliding object. The dark ar
eas on the
Moon ar
e c
all
ed maria and ar
e c
omposed of
lav
a fr
om the period when the Moon s
till had
vo
lc
anic activity
. Y
ou c
an also see mount
ain
ranges and f
ault lines on the Moon.
Use a neutr
al density filt
er (oft
en c
all
ed a
“moon filt
er”) when observing the Moon.
Neutr
al density filt
er
s ar
e av
ailabl
e fr
om
Meade as an optional ac
c
e
s
sory and
enhanc
e c
ontr
as
t t
o
impr
o
ve
y
our
observ
ation of lunar f
eatur
es.
40-04135 8 Page Manual Template 6/29/05 10:54 AM Page 8
