background image

Spend se

ve

ral nights observing the Moon.

Some nights, the Moon is so bright that it

mak

es other objects in the sky difficult t

o

see. These ar

e nights that ar

e e
xc

ell
ent f

o

r

lunar observ

ation.

Observ

e the Solar Sys

tem

:  Aft

er observing

the Moon, y

ou ar

e r
eady t

o

 s

tep up t

o

 the

ne
xt l
e

vel of observ

ation, the planets. Ther

e

ar

e f
our planets that y

ou c

an easil

y observ

e

in y

our t

e

lesc
ope:  V

enus, Mar

s, Jupit

er and

Saturn.

Nine planets (maybe mor

e!) tr

av
el in a f

airl

y

cir
cular patt

ern ar

ound our Sun. Any sys

te

m

of planets orbiting one or mor

e s
tar
s is

c

all
ed a solar sys

tem. Our Sun, by the way,

is a singl

e, y

ell
o

w

 dwarf s

tar

. It is av

er
age as

far as s

tar
s go and is a middl

e aged s

tar

.

Be
yond the planets ar

e cl

ouds of c

omets, icy

planet

oids and other debris l

eft o

ver fr

om

the birth of our sun. Rec

entl

y as

tr

onomer

s

hav

e f
ound lar

ge objects in this ar

ea and

the

y may incr

ease the number of planets in

our solar sys

tem.

The f

our planets cl

oses

t t
o

 the Sun ar

e r
ocky

and ar

e c
all
ed the inner planets. Mer

cury,

V

enus, Earth and Mar

s c
omprise the inner

planets. V

enus and Mar

s c
an be easil

y seen

in y

our t

e

lesc
ope.

V

enus is seen bef

or

e dawn or aft

er sunset,

bec

ause it is cl

ose t

o

 the Sun. Y

ou c

a

n

observ

e V
enus going thr

ough cr

esc

ent

phases. But y

ou c

annot see any surf

ac
e

det

ail on V

enus bec

ause it has a v

ery thick

atmospher

e of gas.

When Mar

s is cl

ose t

o

 the Earth, y

ou c

an see

some det

ails on Mar

s, and sometimes e

ven

Mar

s’

 polar c

aps. But quit

e oft

en, Mar

s is

further away and jus

t appear

s as a r

ed dot

with some dark lines cris

scr
os
sing it.

Jupit

er, Saturn, Ur

anus, Neptune and Plut

o

c

omprise the out

er planets. These planets,

e

xc

ept f

or Plut

o, ar

e made mos

tl

y of gases

and ar

e sometimes c

all
ed gas giants. If the

y

had gr

o

wn much bigger, the

y may hav

e

bec

ome s

tar
s. Plut

o is made mos

tl

y of ic

e.

Jupit

er is quit

e int

er

es
ting t

o

 observ

e. Y

o

u

c

an see bands acr

os
s the f

a

c

e

 of Jupit

er

. The

mor

e time y

ou spend observing these bands,

the mor

e det

ail y

ou will be abl

e t
o

 see.

One of the mos

t f

ascinating sights of

Jupit

er ar

e its moons. The f

our

lar
ges

t moons ar

e c
all
ed the Galil

ean

moons, aft

er the as

tr

onomer Galil

eo,

who observ

ed them f

or the fir

s

t time.

If y
ou’v

e ne

ver wat

ched the Galil

ean moons

in y

our t

e

lesc
ope bef

or

e, y

ou’r

e mis

sing a

real tr

eat! Each night, the moons appear in

diff

er

ent positions ar

ound the Jo

vian sky

.

This is sometimes c

all
ed the Galil

ean danc

e.

On any giv

en night, y

ou might be abl

e t
o

 see

the shadow of a moon on the f

a

c

e

 of Jupit

er,

see one moon eclipse another or e

ven see a

moon emer

ge fr

om behind Jupit

er’
s giant

disk. Dr

awing the positions of the moons

each night is an e

xc

ell
ent e

xer

cise f

or no

vic
e

as
tr

onomer

s.

7

40-04135 8 Page Manual Template  6/29/05  10:54 AM  Page 9

Summary of Contents for TELESTAR 60AZ-A2

Page 1: ...TELESTAR INSTRUCTION MANUAL 60mm 2 4 Altazimuth Refracting Telescope 60AZ A2 www meade com 40 04135 8 Page Manual Template 6 29 05 10 54 AM Page 1...

Page 2: ...40 04135 8 Page Manual Template 6 29 05 10 54 AM Page 2...

Page 3: ...s 1 2 long with nuts The tube has a focal length of 700mm and its objective lens has a diameter of 60mm The lens diameter is one of the most important pieces of information about the telescope The siz...

Page 4: ...2 Accessory tray mounting bolt hole see Inset A 13 Diagonal mirror 14 Objective lens cell 15 Focuser drawtube and thumbscrews 16 Altitude rod slow motion fine adjustment control 17 Altitude rod 18 Alt...

Page 5: ...lock thumbscrew to relock the leg lock d Repeat for the other two legs ATTACH THE ACCESSORY TRAY The tray helps stabilize the tripod and is also a convenient holder of eyepieces and other Meade access...

Page 6: ...4 Thread a lock knob 5 through each of the holes in the forks of the mount and tighten to a firm feel ATTACH THE VIEWFINDER An eyepiece 1 has a narrow field of view A viewfinder 2 has a wider field of...

Page 7: ...PERVISION WHILE OBSERVING THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE We have one very important rule that you should always follow when using your telescope Have Fun Have a good time when you re observing You may not kn...

Page 8: ...o much power If the type of power you re referring to is eyepiece magnification yes you can The most common mistake of the beginning observer is to overpower a telescope by using high magnifications w...

Page 9: ...t see any surface detail on Venus because it has a very thick atmosphere of gas When Mars is close to the Earth you can see some details on Mars and sometimes even Mars polar caps But quite often Mars...

Page 10: ...and Neptune also have faint rings Optional color filters help bring out detail and contrast of the planets Meade offers a line of inexpensive color filters What s Next Beyond the Solar System Once yo...

Page 11: ...pass to make a circle or trace around the lid of a jar Draw what you see in your eyepiece inside the circle The best exercise for drawing is to observe the moons of Jupiter every night or so Try to ma...

Page 12: ...ailable in books in magazines on the internet and on CD Roms Meade offers Autostar Suite software Contact your local Meade dealer or Meade s Customer Service department for more information Astronomy...

Page 13: ...Dress Warm Even on summer nights the air can feel cool or cold as the night wears on It is important to dress warm or to have a sweater jacket gloves etc nearby Know your observing site If possible k...

Page 14: ...az Other mounting configurations are available for other telescopes such as equatorial mounting USE THE SPECIFICATIONS TO CALCULATE THE MAGNIFICATION OF YOUR EYEPIECE The power of a telescope is how...

Page 15: ...gentle strokes Change tissues often CAUTION Do not use scented or lotioned tissues or damage could result to the optics DO NOT use a commercial photographic lens cleaner OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES 928 45 E...

Page 16: ...de products purchased outside North America are not included in this warranty but are covered under separate warranties issued by Meade international distributors RGA Number Required Prior to the retu...

Page 17: ...E DATE TIME OBSERVED CONSTELLATION EYEPIECE SIZE SEEING CONDITIONS EXCELLENT GOOD POOR NOTES DRAWING OF IMAGE SAVE ORIGINAL BE SURE TO MAKE COPIES OBSERVATION LOG 40 04135 8 Page Manual Template 6 29...

Page 18: ...BSERVER OBJECT NAME DATE TIME OBSERVED CONSTELLATION EYEPIECE SIZE SEEING CONDITIONS EXCELLENT GOOD POOR NOTES DRAWING OF IMAGE OBSERVATION LOG 40 04135 8 Page Manual Template 6 29 05 10 55 AM Page 18...

Page 19: ...40 04135 8 Page Manual Template 6 29 05 10 55 AM Page 19...

Page 20: ...www meade com Meade Instruments Corporation 6001 Oak Canyon Irvine California 92618 1 800 626 3233 40 04135 8 Page Manual Template 6 29 05 10 55 AM Page 20...

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