Orion 8 EQ Telescope User Manual
Contents
1. 17 10 Care and Maintenance 18 11 Specifications 19 1 Unpacking The entire telescope will arrive in three boxes one containing the tripod one containing the equatorial mount and the third box containing the optical tube Be careful unpacking the boxes We recommend keeping the boxes and original pack aging In the event that the telescope needs to be shipped to another location or returned to Orion for warranty repair hav ing the proper packaging will ensure that your telescope will survive the journey intact Make sure all the parts in the Parts List are present Be sure to check each box carefully as some parts are small If anything appears to be missing or broken immediately call Orion Customer Support 800 676 1343 or email support telescope com for assistance 2 Parts List Box 1 1 Tripod 2 Counterweights 1 Tripod support tray Box 2 1 Equatorial mount 1 Hand controller 1 Battery pack 1 Nylon hook and loop adhesive strip Box 3 1 Optical tube 2 Tube rings 1 Tube ring mounting plate 1 25mm Sirius Pl ssl eyepiece 1 10mm Sirius Pl ssl eyepiece 1 9x50 Finder scope 1 Finder scope bracket with O ring 1 Collimation cap 1 Camera adapter 1 Dust cover Congratulations on your purchase of a quality Orion telescope Your new Atlas 8 EQ is designed for high resolution vie2. C Cooling the Telescope All optical instruments need time to reach thermal equilibri um to achieve maximum stability of the lenses and mirrors which is essential for peak performance When moved from a warm indoor location outside to cooler air or vice versa a telescope needs time to cool to the outdoor temperature The bigger the instrument and the larger the temperature change the more time will be needed Allow at least 30 minutes for your Atlas 8 EQ to equilibrate If the scope has more than a 40 temperature adjustment allow Figure 20 Megrez connects the Big Dipper s handle to it s pan It is a good guide to how conditions are If you can not see Megrez a 3 4 mag star then conditions are poor Figure 19 A star test will determine if a telescope s optics are properly collimated An unfocused view of a bright star through the eyepiece should appear as illustrated on right if optics are perfectly collimated If circle is unsymmetrical as in illustration on left scope needs collimation Out of collimation Collimated 2 4 1 7 3 4 2 4 4 9 1 9 1 9 2 5 15 an hour or more In the winter storing the telescope outdoors in a shed or garage greatly reduces the amount of time need ed for the optics to stabilize It also is a good idea to keep the scope covered until the Sun sets so the tube does not heat greatly above the temperature of the outside air Youc an attach a small fan to the Atla
3. The Atlas EQ Mount Dec lock lever Dec setting circle Front opening Azimuth adjustment knobs 2 R A setting circle R A lock lever Polar axis finder scope Latitude scale Latitude adjustment L bolts Right Ascension R A axis Declination Dec axis Right Ascension R A axis Declination Dec axis 8 Polar Alignment For Northern Hemisphere observers approximate polar align ment is achieved by pointing the mount s right ascension axis at the North Star or Polaris It lies within 1 of the north celes tial pole NCP which is an extension of the Earth s rotational axis out into space Stars in the Northern Hemisphere appear to revolve around the NCP To find Polaris in the sky look north and locate the pattern of the Big Dipper Figure 8 The two stars at the end of the bowl of the Big Dipper point right to Polaris Observers in the Southern Hemisphere aren t so fortunate to have a bright star so near the south celestial pole SCP The star Sigma Octantis lies about 1 from the SCP but it is barely visible with the naked eye magnitude 5 5 For general visual observation an approximate polar align ment is sufficient 1 Level the equatorial mount by adjusting the length of the three tripod legs Temporarily remove the optical tube and counterweights from the mount before attempting to do this 2 There are two altitude adjusting L bolts see Figure 7 loosen o
4. 2 Orient the equatorial head so that the post on the tripod lines up with the azimuth adjustment knobs on the equatorial mount Azimuth adjustment knobs Post Figure 3b Pull back on the tensioner and slide the finder scope into its bracket until the O ring is seated in the bracket ring 5 place to keep the hand controller out of the way when not in use Place the hooks strip of nylon adhesive on the back of the hand controller and the loops strip on a tripod leg or on the mount where it will be in a conveniently reached spot Simply hang the hand controller by the nylon adhesive when it is not in use Make certain when you attach the nylon adhesive to the mount that the hand controller s posi tion will not interfere with the motion of the mount Installing the Finder Scope To place the finder scope Figure 3a in the finder scope brack et unthread the two black nylon thumbscrews until the screw ends are flush with the inside diameter of the bracket Place the O ring that comes on the base of the bracket over the body of the finder scope until it seats into the slot on the middle of the finder scope Slide the eyepiece end narrow end of the finder scope into the end of the bracket s cylinder opposite the alignment screws while pulling the chrome spring loaded ten sioner on the bracket with your fingers Figure 3b Push the finder scope through the bracket until the O ring seats just inside the front open
5. Figure 22c Use the camera s viewfinder to frame the picture Use the tele scope s focuser to focus the image You may want to consider using a remote shutter release instead of the shutter release on the camera touching the camera can vibrate the system and blur the resulting photographic image on the film Use the focus lock knob on the focuser to fix the focus when the image is sharp Several different types of astrophotography can be success fully attempted with the Atlas 8 EQ Moon Photography This is perhaps the simplest form of astrophotography Point the telescope toward the Moon and center it within the cam era s viewfinder Focus the image with the telescope s focuser Try several exposure times all less than 1 second depending on the phase of the moon and the ISO film speed of the film being used A remote shutter release is recommended as touching the camera s shutter release can vibrate the camera enough to ruin the exposure Planetary Photography Once basic Moon photography has been mastered it s time to get images of the planets This type of astrophotography also works to get highly magnified shots of the Moon In addition to the T ring you will need a Universal 1 25 Camera Adapter The equatorial mount must be accurately polar aligned too As before connect the T ring to your camera Before connect ing the universal camera adapter to the T ring an eyepiece must be inserted and locked into the
6. Magnification Eyepiece Focal Length mm The Atlas 10 EQ has a focal length of 1200mm which when used with the supplied 25mm eyepiece yields a magnification of 1000mm 40x 25mm The magnification provided by the 10mm eyepiece is 1000mm 100x 10mm The maximum attainable magnification for a telescope is direct ly related to how much light it can gather The larger the aper ture the more magnification is possible In general a figure of 60x per inch of aperture is the maximum attainable for most tel escopes Your Atlas 8 EQ has an aperture of 8 inches so the maximum magnification would be about 480x This level of magnification assumes you have ideal conditions for viewing Keep in mind that as you increase magnification the brightness of the object viewed will decrease this is an inherent principle of the laws of physics and cannot be avoided If magnification is doubled an image appears four times dimmer If magnification is tripled image brightness is reduced by a factor of nine Always start with your lowest power eyepiece and work your way up Start by centering the object being viewed in the 25mm eyepiece Then you may want to increase the magnifi cation to get a closer view If the object is off center i e it is near the edge of the field of view you will lose it when you increase magnification since the field of view will be narrower with the higher powered eyepiece To change eyepieces first loosen the secur
7. Orion Telescopes amp Binoculars Post Office Box 1815 Santa Cruz CA 95061 Customer Support Help Line 800 676 1343 Day or Evening
8. aligned and used it makes accurate polar alignment quick and easy to do Alignment of the Polar Axis Finder Scope 1 Loosen the Dec lock lever and rotate the optical tube on the declination axis so that the tube is at a 90 to the right ascension axis Figure 10 Tighten the Dec lock lever 2 Look through the polar finder at a distant object during the day and center it in the crosshairs You may need to adjust the latitude adjustment L bolts and the tripod position to do this 3 Rotate the mount 180 about the R A axis Again it may be convenient to remove the counterweights and optical tube first 4 Look through the polar finder again Is the object being viewed still centered on the crosshairs If it is then no fur ther adjustment is necessary If not then look through the polar finder while rotating the mount about the R A axis You will notice that the object you have previously centered moves in a circular path Use the three alignment setscrews on the polar axis finder Figure 9 to redirect the crosshairs of the polar finder to the apparent center of this circular path Repeat this procedure until the position that the crosshairs point to does not rotate off center when the mount is rotated in R A The polar axis finder scope is now ready to be used When not in use replace the plastic protective cover to prevent the polar finder from getting bumped Using the Polar Axis Finder Scope The reticle of the polar axi
9. before viewing through the telescope Choose any bright star or plan et center the object in telescope eyepiece and then adjust the finder scope bracket s alignment thumbscrews until the star or planet is centered on the finder s crosshairs Focusing the finder scope If when you look through the finder scope the images appear somewhat out of focus you will need to refocus the finder scope for your eyes Loosen the lock ring located behind the objective lens cell on the body of the finder scope see Figure Naked eye view View through finder scope and telescope Figure 6 The view through a standard finder scope and reflector telescope is rotated 180 This is true for the Atlas 8 EQ and its finder scope as well 7 3a Back the lock ring off by a few turns for now Refocus the finder scope on a distant object by threading the objective lens cell in or out of the finderscope body Precise focusing will be achieved by focusing the finder scope on a bright star Once the image appears sharp retighten the locking ring behind the objective lens cell The finder scope s focus should not need to be adjusted again Magnification amp Eyepieces Magnification or power is determined by the focal length of the telescope and the focal length of the eyepiece Therefore by using eyepieces of different focal lengths the resultant magnification can be varied Magnification is calculated as follows Telescope Focal Length mm
10. better at sites that have an altitude over about 3000 feet Altitude helps because it decreases the amount of distortion causing atmosphere you are looking through A good way to judge if the seeing is good or not is to look at bright stars about 40 above the horizon If the stars appear to twinkle the atmosphere is significantly distorting the incom ing light and views at high magnifications will not appear sharp If the stars appear steady and do not twinkle seeing conditions are probably good and higher magnifications will be possible Also seeing conditions are typically poor during the day This is because the heat from the Sun warms the air and causes turbulence Good transparency is especially important for observing faint objects It simply means the air is free of moisture smoke and dust All tend to scatter light which reduces an object s brightness One good way to tell if conditions are good is by how many stars you can see with your naked eye If you cannot see stars of magnitude 3 5 or dimmer then conditions are poor Magni tude is a measure of how bright a star is the brighter a star is the lower its magnitude will be A good star to remember for this is Megrez mag 3 4 which is the star in the Big Dipper connecting the handle to the dipper If you cannot see Megrez then you have fog haze clouds smog light pollution or other conditions that are hindering your viewing See Figure 20
11. finder scope 4 Flip the power switch on the hand controller to the N or S position With the power on you can now use the illuminator on the polar axis reticle Look through the polar axis finder and adjust the illuminator by turning the dial on the mount located above the power and hand controller jacks count er clockwise to make it brighter and clockwise to make it dimmer Use the dimmest possible setting that allows you to see the reticle without difficulty Note the constellation Cassiopeia and the Big Dipper in the reticle They do not appear in scale but they indicate the general positions of Cassiopeia and the Big Dipper relative to the north celestial pole which is indicated by the cross at the center of the ret icle Rotate the reticle so the constellations depicted match their current orientation in they sky when viewed with the naked eye To do this release the R A lock lever and rotate the main telescope around the R A axis until the reticle is oriented with sky For larger optical tubes you may need to remove the tube from the mount to prevent it from bumping into the mount Once the reticle is correctly oriented use the right ascension lock lever to secure the mount s position 5 Now use the azimuth adjustment knobs Figure 2 and the latitude adjustment L bolts Figure 7 on the mount to posi tion the star Polaris inside the tiny circle marked Polaris on the finder s reticle You must first loosen the kno
12. mirror first remove it from the tele scope Do this by holding the secondary mirror holder station ary while completely unthreading the center Phillips head screw Be careful there is a spring between the secondary mirror holder and the Philips head screw be sure that it will not fall into the optical tube and hit the primary mirror Handle the mirror by its holder do not touch the mirror surface Then follow the same procedure described below for cleaning the primary mirror You do not need to remove the secondary mir ror from its holder when cleaning To clean the primary mirror carefully remove the mirror cell from the telescope To do this means you must remove the six screws on the side of the tube near the mirror cell You do not need to remove the collimation screws on the bottom of the mirror cell Remove the mirror cell from the tube You will notice the primary mirror is held down with three clips held by two screws each Loosen the screws and remove the clips You may now remove the mirror from the mirror cell Do not touch the surface of the mirror with your fingers Lift the mirror carefully by the edges Set the mirror on a clean soft towel Fill a clean sink free of abrasive cleanser with room temperature water a few drops of liquid dishwashing detergent and if pos sible a capful of rubbing alcohol Submerge the mirror alu minized face up in the water and let it soak for a few minutes or hours if it s a very dirty m
13. mirror holder until the reflection of the primary mirror is as centered in the secondary mirror as possible It may not be perfectly centered but that is OK Now tighten the three small alignment screws equally to secure the secondary mirror in that position This adjustment will rarely if ever need to be done If the entire primary mirror reflection is not visible in the sec ondary mirror as in Figure 14c you will need to adjust the tilt 12 Figure 14 Collimating the optics a When the mirrors are properly aligned the view down the focuser drawtube should look like this b With the collimation cap in place if the optics are out of alignment the view might look something like this c Here the secondary mirror is centered under the focuser but it needs to be adjusted tilted so that the entire primary mirror is visible d The secondary mirror is correctly aligned but the primary mirror still needs adjustment When the primary mirror is correctly aligned the dot will be centered as in e a b c d e 13 of the secondary mirror This is done by alternately loosening one of the three alignment set screws while tightening the other two as depicted in Figure 16 The goal is to center the primary mirror reflection in the secondary mirror as in Figure 14d Don t worry that the reflection of the secondary mirror the smallest circle with the collimation cap dot in the cen ter is off center You will f
14. optics can be used to clean the exposed lenses of your eyepieces or finder scope Never use regular glass cleaner or cleaning fluid designed for eyeglasses Before cleaning with fluid and tissue however blow any loose particles off the lens with a blower bulb or compressed air Then apply some cleaning fluid to a tissue never directly on the optics Wipe the lens gently in a circular motion then remove any excess fluid with a fresh lens tissue Oily fingerprints and smudges may be removed using this method Use caution rubbing too hard may scratch the lens On larger lenses clean only a small area at a time using a fresh lens tissue on each area Never reuse tissues Cleaning Mirrors You should not have to clean the telescope s mirrors very often normally once every year or so Covering the telescope with the dust cover when it is not in use will prevent dust from accumulating on the mirrors Improper cleaning can scratch mirror coatings so the fewer times you have to clean the mir rors the better Small specks of dust or flecks of paint have virtually no effect on the visual performance of the telescope The large primary mirror and the elliptical secondary mirror of your telescope are front surface aluminized and over coated 19 with hard silicon dioxide which prevents the aluminum from oxidizing These coatings normally last through many years of use before requiring re coating which is easily done To clean the secondary
15. to loosen the azimuth adjustment knobs on the equatorial mount in order to fit the mount onto the tripod head 3 Thread the central support shaft into the equatorial mount until tight This will secure the equatorial mount to the tri pod head 4 Remove the knob and washer from the bottom of the cen ter support shaft Slide the tripod support tray up the bot tom of the central support shaft until the three tray arms are touching the legs of the tripod The flat side of the sup port tray should be facing up Make sure the V of each tray arm is against a tripod leg Place the knob washer on the center support shaft against the tray and follow it by threading the securing knob all the way up the center sup port shaft until it is tight against the tray The tripod support tray provides additional stability for the tripod and holds up to five 1 25 eyepieces and two 2 eyepieces 5 Loosen the counterweight shaft lock lever and let the counterweight shaft extend into its downward position Retighten the lock lever 6 Remove the knurled toe saver retaining screw on the bot tom of the counterweight shaft and slide both counter weights onto the shaft Make sure the counterweight lock knobs are adequately loosened to allow the counterweight shaft to pass through the hole Position the counterweights about halfway up the shaft and tighten the lock knobs Replace the toe saver at the end of the bar The toe saver prevents the
16. A scaled in 10 min increments Dec scaled in 2 increments for N or S hemisphere Polar axis latitude adjustment 10 to 65 Polar axis finder scope Included Motor drives Dual axis internally housed Power requirements 12V DC tip positive Battery type Eight D cells Operation Northern or Southern hemisphere Guiding rates Sidereal 100 sidereal Centering rates 8x sidereal 16x sidereal 20 One Year Limited Warranty This Orion Atlas 8 EQ is warranted against defects in materials 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 During this warranty period Orion Telescopes amp Binoculars will repair or replace at Orion s option any warranted instrument that proves to be defective provided it is returned postage paid to Orion Warranty Repair 89 Hangar Way Watsonville CA 95076 If the product is not registered proof of purchase such as a copy of the original invoice is required This warranty does not apply if in Orion s judgment the instrument has been abused mishan dled or modified nor does it apply to normal wear and tear This warranty gives you specific legal rights and you may also have other rights which vary from state to state For further war ranty service information contact Customer Service Department Orion Telescopes amp Binoculars P O Box 1815 Santa Cruz CA 95061 800 676 1343
17. Dec setting circle until the pointer reads exactly 90 Re tighten the setting circle thumbscrew Calibrating the Right Ascension Setting Circle 1 Identify a bright star in the sky near the celestial equator declination 0 and look up its coordinates in a star atlas 2 Loosen the R A and Dec lock levers on the equatorial mount so the telescope optical tube can move freely 3 Point the telescope at the bright star whose coordinates you know Lock the R A and Dec lock levers Center the star in the telescope s field of view with the hand controller 4 Loosen one of the R A setting circle thumbscrews see Figure 12 this will allow the setting circle to rotate freely Rotate the setting circle until the R A pointer arrow indi cates the R A coordinate listed in the star atlas for the object Re tighten the setting circle thumbscrew Finding Objects With the Setting Circles Now that both setting circles are calibrated look up in a star atlas the coordinates of an object you wish to view 1 Loosen the Dec lock lever and rotate the telescope until the declination value from the star atlas matches the read ing on the Dec setting circle Remember that values of the Dec setting circle are positive when the telescope is point ing north of the celestial equator Dec 0 and negative when the telescope is pointing south of the celestial equa tor Retighten the lock lever 2 Loosen the R A lock lever and rotate t
18. INSTRUCTION MANUAL IN 213 Rev A 12 02 Providing Exceptional Consumer Optical Products Since 1975 Customer Support 800 676 1343 E mail support telescope com Corporate Offices 831 763 7000 P O Box 1815 Santa Cruz CA 95061 Orion Atlas 8 EQ 9873 Equatorial Reflector Telescope 2 Figure 1 The Atlas 8 EQ Tube ring mounting plate Tube ring mounting plate lock knobs 2 Declination setting circle Declination lock lever Counterweight shaft lock lever Counterweight shaft Counterweights Counterweight lock knobs Toe Saver Tripod leg Leg lock lever Finder scope Finder scope bracket Eyepiece Focus knob Tube rings Right ascension setting circle Right ascension lock lever Mirror cell Latitude scale Latitude adjustment L bolts Center support shaft not shown Hand controller Tripod support tray 3 Table of Contents 1 Unpacking 3 2 Parts List 3 3 Assembly 4 4 Balancing the Telescope 5 5 Using Your Telescope 6 6 Setting Up and Using the Equatorial Mount 7 7 Collimating 12 8 Astronomical Observing 14 9 Astrophotography
19. Once the polar axis finder s objective lens is focused it should not need to be adjusted again Operation of the Atlas Mount Motor Drives The Atlas EQ mount comes with dual built in motor drives These motor drives will be used to track objects in the night sky as well as to make small adjustments when aiming the telescope The motors are controlled from the hand controller Figure 11 To start the drives flip the power switch on the Figure 10 The optical tube must be at a 90 angle to the R A axis in order to view through the polar axis finder Figure 11 The Atlas EQ Mount hand controller Indicator light R A pushbuttons Reverse switches Dec pushbuttons Power switch Rate switch 10 hand controller to N if you live in the northern hemisphere or S if you live in the southern hemisphere When you flip the power switch the power indicator light on the mount will glow red and the power indicator light on the hand controller will glow green Your mount will now be moving at the sidereal rate which is the same rate as the sky s apparent motion If the mount is properly polar aligned the mount will be track ng the motion of astronomical objects as the Earth rotates To move your telescope to a new object loosen both the R A and Dec lock levers and move the telescope until it is pointed in the general direction of the object you wish to view Retighten the R A and Dec lock levers To c
20. b under neath the equatorial mount on the center support shaft to use the azimuth adjustment knobs Once Polaris is proper ly positioned within the reticle you are precisely polar aligned Retighten the knob underneath the mount If you do not have a clear view of Polaris from your observing site you will not be able to use the polar axis finder to pre cisely polar align the telescope Note From this point on in your observing session you should not make any further adjustments in the azimuth or the latitude of the mount nor should you move the tri pod Doing so will undo the polar alignment The tele scope should be moved only about its right ascension and declination axes Additional Note Regarding Focusing the Polar Axis Finder Scope The polar axis finder scope is normally focused by simply rotating the eyepiece focus ring However if after adjusting the focus ring you find that the image of the reticle is sharp but the stars are out of focus then you must adjust the focus of the polar axis finder s objective lens To do this first remove the polar axis finder from the mount Look through the polar axis finder at a star at night or distant object at least 1 4 mile away during daylight Use the eyepiece focus ring to bring the reticle into sharp focus Now loosen the focus lock ring Figure 9 and thread the entire objective end of the finder inwards or outwards until images appear sharp Re tighten the focus lock ring
21. bject in your telescope at night One can merely be a pretty image someone gave to you The other is an experience you will never forget A The Moon With is rocky and cratered surface the moon is one of the most interesting and easy subjects for your scope The best time to view it is during its partial phases when shadows fall on the craters and canyon walls to give its features definition While the full moon may look like a tempting target it is actu ally the worst time for viewing The light of a full moon is too bright and lacks any decent surface definition Use an optional Moon filter to dim the Moon when it is very bright It simply threads onto the bottom of the eyepiece from the focuser you must first remove the eyepiece from the focuser to attach the filter You ll find the Moon filter improves viewing comfort and helps bring out the subtle features if the lunar surface B The Sun You can change your nighttime telescope into a daytime Sun viewer by installing an optional full aperture solar filter over the front opening of a Atlas 8 EQ The primary attraction is sunspots which change shape appearance and location daily Sunspots are directly related to magnetic activity in the Sun Many observers like to make drawings of sunspots to monitor how the Sun is changing from day to day 16 Important Note Do not look at the Sun with any optical instrument without a professionally made solar filter or permanent eye damage
22. body of the universal camera adapter Start by using a medium low power eyepiece about 25mm you can increase the magnification later with a high power eyepiece Then connect the entire camera adapter with eyepiece inside to the T ring Insert the whole system into the focuser s 1 25 adapter and secure firmly with the thumbscrew Aim the telescope at the planet or Moon you wish to shoot The image will be highly magnified so you may need to use the finder scope to center it within the camera s viewfinder Turn the motor drive on Adjust the telescope s focuser so that the image appears sharp in the camera s viewfinder The cam Figure 22a First remove both the 1 25 and 2 adapters as shown Figure 22b Thread the camera adapter into the focuser drawtube Figure 22c The SkyView Pro 8 EQ with 35mm SLR camera attached 18 era s shutter is now ready to be opened A remote shutter release must be used or the image will be blurred beyond recognition Try exposure times between 1 and 10 seconds depending upon the brightness of the planet to be pho tographed and the ISO of the film being used Piggyback Photography The Moon and planets are interesting targets for the budding astrophotographer but what next Literally thousands of deep sky objects can be captured on film with a type of astrophotography called piggybacking The basic idea is that the camera with its own camera lens attached rides on top of the
23. could result Also be sure to cover the finder scope or better yet remove it altogether C The Planets The planets don t stay put like the stars so to find them you should refer to Sky Calendar at our website telescope com or to charts published monthly in Astronomy Sky amp Telescope or other astronomy magazines Venus Mars Jupiter and Saturn are the brightest objects in the sky after the Sun and the Moon Your Atlas 8 EQ is capable of showing you these planets in some detail Other planets may be visible but will likely appear starlike Because planets are quite small in apparent size optional higher power eyepieces are recom mended and often needed for detailed observations Not all the planets are generally visible at any one time JUPITER The largest planet Jupiter is a great subject for observation You can see the disk of the giant planet and watch the ever changing positions of its four largest moons Io Callisto Europa and Ganymede Higher power eyepieces should bring out the cloud bands on the planet s disk SATURN The ringed planet is a breathtaking sight when it is well positioned The tilt angle of the rings varies over a period of many years sometimes they are seen edge on while at other times they are broadside and look like giant ears on each side of Saturn s disk A steady atmosphere good see ing is necessary for a good view You will probably see a bright star close by which is Satur
24. counterweights from falling on your foot if the lock knobs happen to come loose 7 Loosen and open the tube rings on the optical tube and remove the optical tube from the tube rings Attach the tube rings to the mounting plate with the provided screws Loosen the two mounting plate securing knobs Place the mounting plate with the tube rings attached in the dovetail slot on top of the equatorial mount Position the mounting plate so that it is centered on the dovetail slot Re tighten the mounting plate securing knobs until the mounting plate is secure Please note that the actual tube ring mounting plate will be shorter than the one shown in Figure 1 8 Open the tube rings and lay the telescope optical tube in the rings at about the midpoint of the tube s length Rotate the tube so that the focuser is at a convenient height for viewing Close the tube rings and tighten them 9 Insert the plug on the end of the control cable from the hand controller into its jack on the side of the EQ mount 10 Insert eight D cell batteries into the battery pack Orient the batteries as indicated on the white plastic battery hold er Plug the battery cord into its jack on the mount 11 Two strips of nylon adhesive one strip of hooks and one strip of loops have been provided so you can create a Finder scope Finder scope bracket Nylon alignment thumbscrews Focus lock ring Figure 3a The 6x30 finder scope Tensioner Figure
25. e focuser Figure 4 The focuser was collimated at the factory and should never need to be adjusted Focuser collimating is only required under very rare circumstances but has been made available for this telescope should such a need arise The Collimation Cap and Mirror Center Mark Your Atlas 8 EQ comes with a collimation cap This is a simple cap that fits on the focuser drawtube like a dust cap but has a hole in the center and a silver bottom This helps center your eye so that collimating is easy to perform Figures 14b through 14e assume you have the collimation cap in place In addition to the collimation cap the primary mirror is marked with a circle at its exact center This center mark allows you to achieve a precise collimation of the primary mirror you don t have to guess where the center of the mirror is You sim ply adjust the mirror position described below until the reflec tion of the hole in the collimation cap is centered in the ring The center mark is also required for best results when using other collimating devices such as Orion s LaserMate Laser Collimator obviating the need to remove the primary mirror and mark it yourself Note The center ring sticker need not ever be removed from the primary mirror Because it lies directly in the shadow of the secondary mirror its presence in no way adversely affects the optical performance of the tele scope or the image quality That might seem counter intuit
26. e scope overhead first loosen the R A lock lever and rotate the tele scope on the right ascension axis until the counterweight shaft is horizontal parallel to the ground Then loosen the Dec lock lever and rotate the telescope until it is pointing straight overhead The counterweight shaft is still horizontal Then retighten both lock levers What if you need to aim the telescope directly north but at an object that is nearer to the horizon than Polaris You can t do it with the counterweights down as pictured in Figure 1 Again you have to rotate the scope in right ascension so that the counterweight shaft is positioned horizontally Then rotate the scope in declination so it points to where you want it near the horizon To point the telescope directly south the counterweight shaft should again be horizontal Then you simply rotate the scope on the declination axis until it points in the south direction To point the telescope to the east or west or in other direc tions you rotate the telescope on its right ascension and dec lination axes Depending on the altitude of the object you want to observe the counterweight shaft will be oriented some where between vertical and horizontal Figure 13 illustrates how the telescope will look when pointed at the four cardinal directions north south east and west The key things to remember when pointing the telescope are that a you only move it in right ascension and declination n
27. elescope because the finder scope has a much wider field of view The Atlas 8 EQ s finder scope uses a spring loaded bracket that makes alignment of the finderscope very easy As you turn either of the thumbscrews the spring in the bracket s tensioner moves in and out to keep the finder scope secure in the bracket The finder scope must be aligned accurately with the tele scope for proper use To align it first aim the main telescope in the general direction of an object at least a 1 4 mile away the top of a telephone pole a chimney etc loosen the R A and Dec lock levers and move it until it is pointing at the desired object Then sight along the tube to precisely aim the telescope Turn the focus knob until the object is properly focused Retighten the R A and Dec lock levers Now look in the finder scope Is the object visible Ideally it will be somewhere in the field of view If not some coarse adjust ment to the finder scope bracket s alignment thumbscrews will be needed until the object comes into the finder scope s field of view With the image in the finder scope s field of view you now need to fine adjust the alignment thumbscrews to center the object on the intersection of the crosshairs Adjust the aim of the finder scope by turning the thumbscrews one at a time until the object is centered The finder scope alignment needs to be checked before every observing session This can easily be done at night
28. enter the object in the eye piece s field of view you will need to use the hand controller There are four pushbuttons on the hand controller If no but tons are pushed the R A motor will turn on the R A axis at sidereal rate to track the motion of the night sky The left and right buttons move the mount about its R A axis and the up and down buttons move the mount about its Dec axis The rate of speed is determined by the rate switch at the top right of the hand controller If the switch is at the 2x position the mount will move at two times sidereal rate when the right hand button is pushed which will cause objects to viewed in the eyepiece to move slowly eastward If the left button is pushed the drive will stop turning which will cause objects in the eye piece to move slowly westward The top and bottom bottoms will cause the telescope to move north and south in Declina tion at the 2x speed Similarly if the rate switch is at the 8x or 16x position the mount will move eight times or sixteen times sidereal rate when a button is pushed The 2x sidereal rate is the best setting for making guiding cor rections during long exposure astrophotography The 8x and 16x rates are best for centering an object within the tele scope s eyepiece or finder scope Note that whenever any of the four buttons on the hand con troller are pressed the LED in the center of the controller will shine red when the button is released the LED wi
29. he telescope until the right ascension value from the star atlas matches the reading on the R A setting circle Remember to use the lower set of numbers on the R A setting circle Retighten the lock lever Most setting circles are not accurate enough to put an object dead center in the telescope s eyepiece but they should place the object somewhere within the field of view of the finder scope assuming the equatorial mount is accurately polar aligned Use the hand controller to center the object in the find er scope and it should appear in the telescope s field of view The setting circles should be re calibrated every time you wish to locate a new object Do so by calibrating the setting circles for the centered object before moving on to the next one Confused About Pointing the Telescope Beginners occasionally experience some confusion about how to point the telescope overhead or in other directions In Figure 1 the telescope is pointed north as it would be during polar alignment The counterweight shaft is oriented down ward But it will not look like that when the telescope is point ed in other directions Let s say you want to view an object that is directly overhead at the zenith How do you do it DO NOT make any adjustment to the latitude adjustment L bolts That will spoil the mount s polar alignment Remember once the mount is polar aligned the telescope should be moved only on the R A and Dec axes To point th
30. high quality Sirius Pl ssl eyepieces a 25mm which gives a magnification of 40x and a 10mm which gives a magnification of 100x Other eyepieces can be used to achieve higher or lower powers It is quite common for an observer to own five or more eyepieces to access a wide range of magnifications This allows the observer to choose the best eyepiece to use depending on the object being viewed At least to begin with the two supplied eyepieces will suffice nicely Whatever you choose to view always start by inserting your lowest power longest focal length eyepiece to locate and center the object Low magnification yields a wide field of view which shows a larger area of sky in the eyepiece This makes acquiring and centering an object much easier If you try to find and center objects with high power narrow field of view it s like trying to find a needle in a haystack Once you ve centered the object in the eyepiece you can switch to higher magnification shorter focal length eyepiece if you wish This is especially recommended for small and bright objects like planets and double stars The Moon also takes higher magnifications well Deep sky objects however typically look better at medium or low magnifications This is because many of them are quite faint yet have some extent apparent width Deep sky objects will often disappear at higher magnifications since greater magnification inherently yields dimmer images This
31. iewing in the Southern Hemisphere The Dec setting circle is scaled in degrees with each mark representing 2 increments Values of declination coordinates range from 90 to 90 The 0 mark indicates the celestial equator When the telescope is pointed north of the celestial equator values of the declination setting circle are positive when the telescope is pointed south of the celestial equator values of the declination setting circle are negative So the coordinates for the Orion Nebula listed in a star atlas will look like this R A 5h 35 4m Dec 5 27 That s 5 hours and 35 4 minutes in right ascension and 5 degrees and 27 arc minutes in declination there are 60 arc minutes in 1 degree of declination Before you can use the setting circles to locate objects the mount must be accurately polar aligned and the setting cir cles must be calibrated Calibrating the Declination Setting Circle 1 Loosen the Dec lock lever and position the telescope as accurately as possible in declination so it is parallel to the R A axis as shown in Figure 7 Re tighten the lock lever 2 Loosen one of the thumbscrews on the Dec setting circle this will allow the setting circle to rotate freely Rotate the Figure 12 The R A and Dec setting circles Dec setting circle Dec setting circle thumbscrew 2 Dec indicator arrow R A setting circle R A indicator arrow R A setting circle thumbscrew 2
32. imately 7 so you should choose another star that is no more that 7 from the first star if possi ble Move the telescope slightly until the telescope is centered on the new star Continue using stars as guideposts in this way until you are at the approximate position of the object you are trying to find Figure 21 Look in the telescope s eyepiece and the object should be somewhere within the field of view If it s not sweep the telescope carefully around the immediate vicinity until the object is found If you have trouble finding the object start the starhop again from the brightest star near the object you wish to view This time be sure the stars indicated on the star chart are in fact the stars you are centering in the eyepiece Remember the finder scope and main telescope eyepiece for that matter gives an inverted image so you must keep this in mind when starhopping from star to star 9 Astrophotography When coupled to a 35mm single lens reflex camera the Atlas 8 EQ becomes a telephoto lens To attach a camera you need only a T ring for your specific camera model and the included camera adapter First you must attach the included camera adapter to the Atlas 8 EQ s focuser To do this remove the 1 25 and 2 eyepiece adapters from the focuser drawtube Figure 22a Then screw the camera adapter into the focuser drawtube Figure 22b Now attach the T Ring to your camera and thread it onto the camera adapter
33. in the eyepiece then the optics will always appear out of collimation even though they may be perfectly aligned It is critical to keep the star centered so over time you will need to make slight corrections to the telescope s position in order to account for the sky s apparent motion 8 Astronomical Observing For many users the Atlas 8 EQ telescope will be a major leap into the world of amateur astronomy This section is intended to get you ready for your voyages through the night sky Observing Tips A Site Selection Pick a location away from street lights and bright yard lighting Avoid viewing over rooftops and chimneys as they often have warm air currents rising from them which distort the image seen in the eyepiece Similarly you should not observe through an open window from indoors Better yet choose a site out of town away from any light pollution You ll be stunned at how many more stars you ll see Most importantly make sure that any chosen site has a clear view of a large portion of the sky B Seeing and Transparency Atmospheric conditions play a huge part in quality of viewing In conditions of good seeing star twinkling is minimal and objects appear steady in the eyepiece Seeing is best over head worst at the horizon Also seeing generally gets better after midnight when much of the heat absorbed by the Earth during the day has radiated off into space Typically seeing conditions will be
34. ing of the bracket cylinder Release the tensioner and tighten the two black nylon thumbscrews a cou ple of turns each to secure the finder scope in place Insert the base of the finder scope bracket into the dovetail holder on the optical tube near the focuser Lock the bracket into position by tightening the knurled thumbscrew on the dovetail holder Inserting the Eyepiece Loosen the thumbscrew on the 1 25 adapter Figure 4 and remove the small dust cap Insert the 25mm eyepiece into the focuser and secure it with the thumbscrew Your Atlas 8 EQ is now fully assembled and should resemble Figure 1 Keep the dust cover on the front of the telescope when it is not is use Note about the Atlas 8 EQ Mount Weight The Atlas 8 EQ mount is very heavy Alone it weighs 54 lbs With the optical tube and counterweights it weighs almost 100 lbs Keep this in mind when moving the telescope even small distances and use assistance when needed It is best to remove the optical tube and counterweights when moving the mount or extending the tripod legs 4 Balancing the Telescope To ensure smooth movement of the telescope on both axes of the equatorial mount it is imperative that the optical tube is prop erly balanced We will first balance the telescope with respect to the right ascension R A axis then the declination Dec axis 1 Keeping one hand on the telescope optical tube loosen the R A lock lever Make sure the Dec lock lever is l
35. ing thumbscrew on the focuser s 1 25 adapter Then carefully lift the eyepiece out of the holder Do not tug or pull the eyepiece to the sides as this will knock the telescope off its target Replace the eyepiece with the new one by sliding it gently into the holder Re tighten the thumb screw and refocus for your new magnification Using 2 eyepieces The Atlas 8 EQ s focuser is capable of accepting optional 2 eyepieces To use 2 eyepieces you must remove the 1 25 adapter from the focuser by loosening the two thumbscrews that hold it in place Figure 4 Once this adapter is removed insert a 2 eyepiece into the focuser and use the same thumb screws to secure the larger eyepiece 6 Setting Up and Using the Equatorial Mount When you look at the night sky you no doubt have noticed that the stars appear to move slowly from east to west over time That apparent motion is caused by the Earth s rotation from west to east An equatorial mount Figure 7 is designed to compensate for that motion allowing you to easi ly track the movement of astronomical objects thereby keep ing them from drifting out of your telescope s field of view while you re observing This is accomplished by slowly rotating the telescope on its right ascension R A axis using the built in motor drive But first the R A axis of the mount must be aligned with the Earth s rotational polar axis a process called polar alignment Figure 7
36. irror Wipe the mirror under water with clean cotton balls using extremely light pressure and stroking in straight line across the mirror Use one ball for each wipe across the mirror Then rinse the mirror under a stream of lukewarm water Any particles on the surface can be swabbed gently with a series of cotton balls each used just one time Dry the mirror in a stream of air a blower bulb works great or remove any stray drops of water with the cor ner of a paper towel Water will run off a clean surface Cover the mirror surface with Kleenex and leave the mirror in a warm area until it is completely dry before reassembling the telescope 11 Specifications Primary mirror diameter 203mm Primary mirror coating Aluminized SiO2 overcoat Focal length 1000mm Focal ratio f 4 7 Secondary mirror axis 58mm minor axis Secondary mirror holder Four vaned spider Eyepiece 25mm and 10mm Sirius Pl ssls fully coated 1 25 Magnification 40x with 25mm and 100x 10mm Finder scope 6x30 achromatic 7 field of view Focuser Rack and pinion push pull tilt adjustment for collimating accepts 2 and 1 25 eyepieces Camera adapter couples 35mm SLR camera T Ring to focuser Mount Atlas German equatorial Tripod Steel Tripod support tray Aluminum provides additional stability holds five 1 25 eyepeices and two 2 eyepieces Weight 98 lbs Counterweights Quantity 2 11 lbs each Setting circles R
37. is not the case for all deep sky objects however Many galaxies are quite small yet are somewhat bright so higher power may show more detail The best rule of thumb with eyepiece selection is to start with a low power wide field and then work your way up in magnifi cation If the object looks better try an even higher magnifica tion If the object looks worse then back off the magnification a little by using a lower power eyepiece What to Expect So what will you see with your telescope You should be able to see bands on Jupiter the rings of Saturn craters on the moon the waxing and waning of Venus and hundreds of deep sky objects Do not expect to see as much color as you in NASA photos since those are taken with long exposure cam eras and have false color added Our eyes are not sensitive enough to see color in deep sky objects except in a few of the brightest ones Remember that you are seeing these objects using your own telescope with your own eyes The object you see in your eye piece is in real time and not some conveniently provided image from an expensive space probe Each session with your telescope will be a learning experience Each time you work with your telescope it will get easier to use and stellar objects will become easier to find Take it from us there is big difference between looking at a well made full color NASA image of a deep sky object in a lit room during the daytime and seeing that same o
38. ive but its true Aligning the Secondary Mirror With the collimation cap in place look through the hole in the cap at the secondary diagonal mirror Ignore the reflections for the time being The secondary mirror itself should be cen tered in the focuser drawtube in the direction parallel to the length of the telescope If it isn t as in Figure 14b it must be adjusted This adjustment will rarely if ever need to be done It helps to adjust the secondary mirror in a brightly lit room with the telescope pointed towards a bright surface such as white paper or wall Also placing a piece of white paper in the telescope tube opposite the focuser in other words on the other side of the secondary mirror will also be helpful in colli mating the secondary mirror Using a 2mm hex wrench loosen the three small alignment set screws in the center hub of the 4 vaned spider several turns Now keep the mirror s holder stationary be careful not to touch the surface of the mirrors while turning the center screw with a Phillips head screwdriver See Figure 15 Turning the screw clockwise will move the secondary mirror toward the front opening of the optical tube while turning the screw counter clockwise will move the secondary mirror toward the primary mirror Note When making these adjustments be careful not to stress the spider vanes or they may bend When the secondary mirror is centered in the focuser draw tube rotate the secondary
39. ix that in the next step Adjusting the Primary Mirror The final adjustment is made to the primary mirror It will need adjustment if as in Figure 14d the secondary mirror is cen tered under the focuser and the reflection of the primary mir ror is centered in the secondary mirror but the small reflection of the secondary mirror with the dot of the collimation cap is off center The tilt of the primary mirror is adjusted with three spring loaded collimation thumbscrews on the back end of the opti cal tube bottom of the primary mirror cell these are the larg er thumbscrews The other three smaller thumbscrews lock the mirror s position in place these thumbscrews must be loosened before any collimation adjustments can be made to the primary mirror To start turn the smaller thumbscrews that lock the primary mirror in place a few turns each Figure 17 Use a screwdriv er in the slots if necessary Now try tightening or loosening one of the larger collimation thumbscrews with your fingers Figure 18 Look into the focuser and see if the secondary mirror reflection has moved closer to the center of the primary You can tell this easily with the collimation cap and mirror center mark by simply watching to see if the dot of the collimation cap is moving closer or fur ther away from the ring on the center of the primary mirror mark When you have the dot centered as much as is possible in the ring your primary
40. ll be green Also when the LED starts to blink at a constant rate its time to change the batteries in the battery pack Using the R A and Dec Reversal Switches On the side of the hand controller there are two reversal switches one for the R A axis and one for the Dec axis When these switches are flipped to the REV setting the function of the pushbuttons on the hand controller will be reversed The reversal switches allow you to orient the push buttons to the direction of the apparent movement of a guide star in a guide scope for astrophotography Understanding the Setting Circles The setting circles on an equatorial mount Figure 12 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 way every location on Earth can be described by its longitude and latitude Right ascension is similar to longitude on Earth and declination is similar to latitude The R A and Dec values for 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 right ascension The lower set of numbers apply to viewing in the Northern Hemisphere while the numbers above them apply to v
41. main telescope The telescope and camera both move with the rotation of the Earth when the mount is polar aligned and the motor drive is engaged This allows for a long expo sure through the camera without having the object or back ground stars blurred An illuminated reticle eyepiece will also be needed The T ring and camera adapter are not needed since the camera is exposing through its own lens Any cam era lens with a focal length between 35mm and 400mm is appropriate On the top of one of the tube rings is a piggyback camera adapter This is the black knob with the threaded shaft pro truding through it The tube ring with the piggyback adapter should be closest to the open end of the telescope tube Remove the tube rings from the equatorial mount and swap their position if necessary Now connect the camera to the piggyback adapter There should be a 1 4 20 mounting hole in the bottom of the camera s body Thread the protruding shaft of the piggyback adapter into the 1 4 20 mounting hole in the camera a few turns Position the camera so it is parallel with the telescope tube and turn the knurled black knob of the piggyback adapter counter clockwise until the camera is locked into position Aim the telescope at a deep sky object It should be a fairly large deep sky object as the camera lens will likely have a wide field of view Check to make sure that the object is also centered in the camera s viewfinder Turn the motor drive o
42. mirror is collimated The view through the collimation cap should resemble Figure 15e Re tighten the locking thumbscrews A simple star test will tell you whether the optics are accurate ly collimated Figure 15 To center the secondary mirror under the focuser hold the secondary mirror holder in place with one hand while adjusting the center bolt with a Phillips screwdriver Do not touch the mirror s surface Figure 16 Adjust the tilt of the secondary mirror by loosening or tightening the three alignment set screws with a 2mm hex key Figure 17 The three small thumbscrews that lock the primary mirror in place must first be loosened before any adjustments can be made Figure 18 The tilt of the primary mirror is adjusted by turning one or more of the three larger thumbscrews 14 Star Testing the Telescope When it is dark point the telescope at a bright star and accu rately center it in the eyepiece s field of view Slowly defocus the image with the focusing knob If the telescope is correctly collimated the expanding disk should be a perfect circle Figure 19 If the image is unsymmetrical the scope is out of collimation The dark shadow cast by the secondary mirror should appear in the very center of the out of focus circle like the hole in a doughnut If the hole appears off center the tel escope is out of collimation If you try the star test and the bright star you have selected is not accurately centered
43. n Now look into the telescope s eyepiece and center the bright est star within the field of view Remove the eyepiece and insert the illuminated reticle eyepiece into the focuser draw tube Turn the eyepiece s illuminator on dimly Recenter the bright star guide star on the crosshairs of the reticle eye piece Check again to make sure that the object to be pho tographed is still centered within the camera s field of view If it is not recenter it by repositioning the camera on the piggy back adapter or by moving the main telescope If you move the main telescope then you will need to recenter another guide star on the illuminated eyepiece s crosshairs Once the object is centered in the camera and a guide star is centered in the reticle eyepiece you re ready to shoot Deep sky objects are quite faint and typically require expo sures on the order of 10 minutes To hold the camera s shutter open this long you will need a lock shutter release cable Set the camera s shutter to the B bulb setting Depress the locking shutter release cable and lock it You are now expos ing your first deep sky object While exposing through the camera lens you will need to monitor the accuracy of the mount s tracking by looking through the illuminated reticle eyepiece in the main telescope If the guide star drifts from its initial position then use the hand controller at the 2x rate of the motor drive to move the g
44. n s brightest moon Titan VENUS At its brightest Venus is the most luminous object in the sky excluding the Sun and the Moon It is so bright that sometimes it is visible to the naked eye during full daylight Ironically Venus appears as a thin crescent not a full disk when at its peak brightness Because it is so close to the Sun it never wanders too far from the morning or evening horizon No surface markings can be seen on Venus which is always shrouded in dense clouds MARS The Red Planet makes its closest approach to Earth every two years During close approaches you ll see a red disk and may be able to see the polar ice cap To see surface detail on Mars you will need a high power eyepiece and very steady air D The Stars Stars will appear like twinkling points of light Even powerful telescopes cannot magnify stars to appear as more than a point of light You can however enjoy the different colors of the stars and locate many pretty double and multiple stars The famous Double Double in the constellation Lyra and the gorgeous two color double star Albireo in Cygnus are favorites Defocusing a star slightly can help bring out its color Deep Sky Objects Under dark skies you can observe a wealth of fascinating deep sky objects including gaseous nebulas open and glob ular star clusters and a variety of different types of galaxies Most deep sky objects are very faint so it is important that you find an obse
45. ne while tightening the other By doing this you will adjust the latitude of the mount Continue adjusting the mount until the pointer on the latitude scale is set at the lat itude of your observing site If you don t know your latitude consult a geographical atlas to find it For example if your latitude is 35 North set the pointer to 35 The latitude set ting should not have to be adjusted again unless you move to a different viewing location some distance away 3 Loosen the Dec lock lever and rotate the telescope s opti cal tube until it is parallel with the right ascension axis as it is in Figure 7 4 Move the tripod so the telescope tube and right ascension axis point roughly at Polaris If you cannot see Polaris directly from your observing site consult a compass and rotate the tripod so the telescope points north The equatorial mount is now polar aligned for casual observing More precise polar alignment is recommended for astrophotog raphy For this we recommend using the polar axis finder scope From this point on in your observing session you should not make any further adjustments to the latitude of the mount nor should you move the tripod Doing so will undo the polar align ment The telescope should be moved only about its R A and Dec axes Using the Polar Axis Finder Scope The Atlas EQ mount comes with a polar axis finder scope Figure 9 housed inside the right ascension axis of the mount When properly
46. object is measured by its visual magnitude the brighter an Figure 21 Starhopping is a good way to locate hard to find objects Refer to a star chart to map a route to the object that uses bright stars as guideposts Center the first star you ve chosen in the finder scope and telescope eyepiece 1 Now move the scope carefully in the direction of the next bright star 2 until it is centered Repeat 3 and 4 The last hop 5 should place the desired object in the eyepiece 17 object the lower its magnitude Choose an object with a visu al magnitude of 9 or lower Many beginners start with the Messier objects which represent some of the best and bright est deep sky objects first catalogued about 200 years ago by the French astronomer Charles Messier Determine in which constellation the object lies Now find the constellation in the sky If you do not recognize the constella tions on sight consult a planisphere The planisphere gives an all sky view and shows which constellations are visible on a given night at a given time Now look at your star chart and find the brightest star in the constellation that is near the object you are trying to find Using the finder scope point the telescope at this star and center it on the crosshairs Next look again at the star chart and find another suitably bright star near the bright star cur rently centered in the finder Keep in mind that the field of view of the finder scope is approx
47. ocked for now The telescope should now be able to rotate freely about the right ascension axis Rotate it until the counter weight shaft is parallel to the ground i e horizontal 2 Now loosen the counterweight lock knobs and slide the weights along the shaft until they exactly counterbalance the telescope Figure 5a That s the point at which the shaft remains horizontal even when you let go with both hands Figure 5b 3 Retighten the counterweight lock knobs The telescope is now balanced on the right ascension axis 4 To balance the telescope on the declination axis first tight en the R A lock lever with the counterweight shaft still in the horizontal position Figure 5a d Proper operation of the equatorial mount requires that the telescope tube be balanced on the R A and Dec axes a With the R A lock lever released slide the counterweights down the counterweight shaft until they just counterbalance the telescope tube b When you let go with both hands the tube should not drift up or down c With the Dec lock lever released loosen the tube ring lock clamps a few turns and slide the telescope forward or back in the tube rings d When the tube is balanced about the Dec axis it will not move when you let go a b c d Figure 4 The 2 focuser of the Atlas 8 EQ Focus lock thumbscrew Focus knobs 1 25 eyepiece adapter 2 eyepiece adapter Collimation screw pair 3 6 5 With
48. one hand on the telescope optical tube loosen the Dec lock lever The telescope should now be able to rotate freely about the declination axis 6 Loosen the knurled ring clamps on the tube rings a few turns until you can slide the telescope tube forward and back inside the rings this can be aided by using a slight twisting motion on the optical tube while you push or pull on it Figure 5c 7 Position the telescope in the tube rings so it remains hori zontal when you carefully let go with both hands This is the balance point for the optical tube with respect to the Dec axis Figure 5d 8 Retighten the knurled rings clamps The telescope is now balanced on both axes When you loosen the lock lever on one or both axes and manually point the telescope it should move without resistance and should not drift from where you point it 5 Using Your Telescope Focusing the Telescope With the 25mm eyepiece inserted in the focuser loosen the R A and Dec lock levers and move the telescope so the front open end is pointing in the general direction of an object at least 1 4 mile away Now with your fingers slowly rotate one of the focusing knobs until the object comes into sharp focus Go a little bit beyond sharp focus until the image just starts to blur again then reverse the rotation of the knob just to make sure you ve hit the exact focus point NOTE The image in the telescope will appear rotated 180 upside down and re
49. ot in azimuth or latitude altitude and b the counterweight and shaft will not always appear as it does in Figure 1 In fact it almost never will 11 Figure 13a d These illustrations show the telescope pointed in the four cardinal directions a north b south c east d west Note that the tripod and mount have not been moved only the telescope has been moved on the its R A and Dec axes a b c d 7 Collimating Aligning The Mirrors Collimating is the process of adjusting the mirrors so they are aligned with one another Your telescope s optics were aligned at the factory and should not need much adjustment unless the telescope is handled roughly Accurate mirror alignment is important to ensure the peak performance of your telescope so it should be checked regularly Collimating is relatively easy to do and can be done in daylight To check collimation remove the eyepiece and look down the focuser drawtube You should see the secondary mirror cen tered in the drawtube as well as the reflection of the primary mirror centered in the secondary mirror and the reflection of the secondary mirror and your eye centered in the reflection of the primary mirror as in Figure 14a If anything is off cen ter as in Figure 14b proceed with the following collimating procedure Note About the 2 Focuser The Atlas 8 EQ s 2 focuser can be collimated by 3 pairs of push pull screws located on the ring at the base of th
50. rving site well away from light pollution Take plenty of time to let your eyes adjust to the darkness Do not expect these subjects to appear like the photographs you see in books and magazines most will look like dim gray smudges But as you become more experienced and your observing skills get sharper you will be able to ferret out more and more subtle details and structure 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 object you wish to observe and then progressing to other stars clos er and closer to the object until it is in the field of view of the eyepiece It is a very intuitive technique that has been employed for hundreds of years by professional and amateur astronomers alike Keep in mind as with any new task that starhopping may seem challenging at first but will become easier over time and with practice To starhop only a minimal amount of additional equipment is necessary A star chart or atlas that shows stars to at least magnitude 5 is required Select one that shows the positions of many deep sky objects so you will have a lot of options to choose from If you do not know the positions of the constella tions in the night sky you will need to get a planisphere to identify them Start by choosing bright objects to view The brightness of an
51. s 8 EQ to make cooling the tube faster On the bottom of the mirror cell there are four holes M4x 7 thread where a fan can be mounted D Let Your Eyes Dark Adapt Do not expect to go from a lighted house into the darkness of the outdoors at night and immediately see faint nebulas galaxies and star clusters or even very many stars for that matter Your eyes take about 30 minutes to reach perhaps 80 of their full dark adapted sensitivity Many observers notice improvements after several hours of total darkness As your eyes become dark adapted more stars will glimmer into view and you will be able to see fainter details in objects you view in your telescope Exposing your eyes to very bright day light for extended periods of time can adversely affect your night vision for days So give yourself at least a little while to get used to the dark before you begin observing To see what you are doing in the darkness use a red filtered flashlight rather than a white light Red light does not spoil your eyes dark adaptation like white light does A flashlight with a red LED light is ideal or you can cover the front of a regular incandescent flashlight with red cellophane or paper Beware too that nearby porch and streetlights and automo bile headlights will spoil your night vision Eyepiece Selection By using eyepieces of varying focal lengths it is possible to attain many magnifications with the Atlas 8 EQ The telescope comes with two
52. s finder scope for the Atlas has a tiny star map printed on it that makes precise polar alignment Figure 9 The optional polar axis finder scope Eyepiece focus ring Alignment setscrew 3 Focus lock ring Objective lens Figure 8 To find Polaris in the night sky look north and find the Big Dipper Extend an imaginary line from the two Pointer Stars in the bowl of the Big Dipper Go about five times the distance between those stars and you ll reach Polaris which lies within 1 of the north celestial pole NCP Big Dipper in Ursa Major Little Dipper in Ursa Minor Cassiopeia N C P Pointer Stars Polaris 9 quick and easy To align the mount using the polar axis finder scope follow these instructions 1 Approximately polar align the mount as outlined in the pro cedure previously 2 Loosen the Dec lock lever and rotate the optical tube on the declination axis so that the tube is at a 90 to the right ascension axis Figure 10 Tighten the Dec lock lever 3 Remove the cap on the front opening of the equatorial mount Figure 7 Focus the polar finder by rotating the eyepiece Now sight Polaris in the polar axis finder scope If you have followed the approximate polar alignment pro cedure accurately Polaris will probably be within the field of view If not move the tripod left to right and adjust the latitude up and down until Polaris is somewhere within the field of view of the polar axis
53. uide star back to the center of the crosshairs Any drifting along the Dec axis is a result of improper polar alignment so if the guide star drifts greatly in Dec the mount may need to be polar aligned more accurately When the exposure is complete unlock the shutter release cable and close the camera s shutter Astrophotography can be enjoyable and rewarding as well as frustrating and time consuming Start slowly and consult out side resources such as books and magazines for more details about astrophotography Remember have fun 10 Care and Maintenance If you give your telescope reasonable care it will last a life time Store it in a clean dry dust free place safe from rapid changes in temperature and humidity Do not store the tele scope outdoors although storage in a garage or shed is OK Small components like eyepieces and other accessories should be kept in a protective box or storage case Keep the dust cover on the front of the telescope when not in use Your Atlas 8 EQ requires very little mechanical maintenance The optical tube is steel and has a smooth painted finish that is fairly scratch resistant If a scratch does appear on the tube it will not harm the telescope Smudges on the tube can be wiped off with a soft cloth and a household cleaner such as Windex or Formula 409 Cleaning Lenses Any quality optical lens cleaning tissue and optical lens clean ing fluid specifically designed for multi coated
54. versed left to right This is nor mal for astronomical scopes The finder scope view will also be rotated 180 see Figure 6 If you have trouble focusing rotate the focusing knob so the drawtube is in as far as it will go Now look through the eyepiece while slowly rotating the focusing knob in the opposite direction You should soon see the point at which focus is reached The black nylon thumbscrew on the top of the body of the focuser see Figure 4 will lock the focuser drawtube in place once the telescope is properly focused Before focusing remember to first loosen this thumbscrew Viewing with Eyeglasses If you wear eyeglasses you may able to keep them on while you observe if the eyepiece has enough eye relief to allow you to see the whole field of view You can try this by looking through the eyepiece first with your glasses on and then 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 observe with your glasses off by just re focusing the telescope the needed amount If you suffer from severe astigmatism however you may find images noticeably sharper with your glasses on Aligning the Finder Scope The Atlas 8 EQ Deluxe comes with a 6x30 achromatic finder scope Figure 3a The number 6 means six times magnifica tion and the 30 indicates a 30mm diameter front lens The finder scope makes it easier to locate the subject you want to observe in the t
55. wing of astronomical objects With its precision optics and its superb Atlas mount you ll be able to locate and enjoy hundreds of fascinating celestial denizens including the planets Moon and a variety of galaxies nebulas and star clusters These instructions will help you set up and properly use your telescope Please read them over thor oughly before getting started WARNING Never look directly at the Sun through your telescope or its finder scope even for an instant without a professionally made solar filter that completely covers the front of the instrument or permanent eye damage could result Young children should use this telescope only with adult supervision Figure 1b The Atlas 8 EQ mount Power cord jack Power indicator light Hand controller jack Right ascension setting circle Right ascension lock lever 4 3 Assembly Assembly should take no more than 30 minutes Refer to Figure 1 during assembly Assembling the telescope requires no tools other than the ones provided 1 Stand the tripod legs upright and spread the legs out as far as they will go Make certain that the leg lock levers are tightened Keep the tripod legs at their shortest fully retracted length for now 2 Place the base of the equatorial mount onto the tripod head Orient the equatorial mount so that the post on the tripod head lines up with the azimuth adjustment knobs on the equatorial mount Figure 2 You may need
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