3
Get Alt-Az ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 29
Goto Alt-Az..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 29
Hibernate ......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 29
Turn On/Off GPS ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 29
TELESCOPE BASICS ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 31
Image Orientation ...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 31
Focusing..................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 32
Aligning the Finderscope .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 32
Calculating Magnification ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 32
Determining Field of View........................................................................................................................................................................................ 33
General Observing Hints ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 33
ASTRONOMY BASICS.............................................................................................................................................................................................. 34
The Celestial Coordinate System .............................................................................................................................................................................. 34
Motion of the Stars .................................................................................................................................................................................................... 35
Finding the North Celestial Pole ............................................................................................................................................................................... 37
Declination Drift Method of Polar Alignment .......................................................................................................................................................... 38
CELESTIAL OBSERVING........................................................................................................................................................................................ 39
Observing the Moon .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 39
Lunar Observing Hints .............................................................................................................................................................................................. 39
Observing the Planets ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 39
Observing the Sun ..................................................................................................................................................................................................... 39
Solar Observing Hints ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 40
Observing Deep Sky Objects .................................................................................................................................................................................... 40
Seeing Conditions...................................................................................................................................................................................................... 40
Transparency ............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 40
Sky Illumination ........................................................................................................................................................................................................ 40
Seeing ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 40
ASTROPHOTOGRAPHY .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 42
Short Exposure Prime Focus Photography ............................................................................................................................................................... 42
Eyepiece Projection ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 43
Long Exposure Prime Focus Photography................................................................................................................................................................ 44
Terrestrial Photography ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 46
Metering..................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 46
Reducing Vibration ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 46
CCD Imaging............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 46
Auto Guiding ............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 47
TELESCOPE MAINTENANCE ................................................................................................................................................................................ 48
Care and Cleaning of the Optics ............................................................................................................................................................................... 48
Collimation ................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 48
OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES
.................................................................................................................................................................................... 50
APPENDIX A – TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
............................................................................................................................................. 53
APPENDIX B – GLOSSARY OF TERMS
.............................................................................................................................................................. 54
APPENDIX C – LONGITUDES AND LATITUDES .............................................................................................................................................. 57
APPENDIX D – RS-232 CONNECTION.................................................................................................................................................................. 62
APPENDIX E – TIME ZONE MAP .......................................................................................................................................................................... 64
SKY MAPS ................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 66
