Lining UP with the Celestial Pole

Meade114EQASTR 3/28/07 9:33 AM Page 9

Fig. 7

Little Dipper

Polaris

Big Dipper

Cassiopeia

24 primary lines of R.A., located at 15- degree intervals along the celestial equator. Objects located further and further East of the zero R.A. grid line (0hr 0min 0sec) carry higher R.A. coordinates.

•Declination (Dec.): This celestial version of latitude is measured in degrees, arc- minutes, and arc-seconds (e.g., 15° 27' 33"). Dec. locations North of the celestial equator are indicated with a plus (+) sign (e.g., the Dec. of the North celestial pole is +90°). Any point on the celestial equator (such as thee constellations of Orion, Virgo, and Aquarius) is said to have a Declination of zero, shown as 0° 0' 0". All celestial objects therefore may be located

with their celestial coordinates of Right Ascension and Declination.

Objects in the sky appear to revolve around the celestial pole. (Actually, celestial objects are essentially "fixed" and their apparent motion is caused by Earth's rotation). During any 24 hour period, stars make one complete revolution about the pole, circling with the pole at the center. By lining up the telescope's polar axis with the North Celestial Pole (or for observers located in Earth's Southern Hemisphere with the South Celestial Pole), astronomical objects may be followed, or "tracked," by moving the telescope about one axis, the polar axis.

If the telescope is reasonably well aligned with the pole very little use of the telescope's Declination flexible cable control is necessary. Virtually all of the required telescope tracking will be in Right Ascension. For the purposes of casual visual telescopic observations, lining up the telescope's polar axis to within a degree or two of the pole is more than sufficient: with

this level of pointing accuracy, the telescope can track accurately by

slowly turning the telescope's R.A. 7 flexible cable control and keep objects

in the telescopic field of view for perhaps 20 to 30 minutes.

POLAR ALIGNMENT OF THE EQUATORIAL MOUNT

To line up the Polaris 114 EQ-AR with the pole, follow this procedure:

1.Release the Azimuth lock (11) of the Azimuth base, so that the entire telescope-

TOO MUCH POWER?

Can you ever have too 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 which the telescope’s aperture and atmospheric conditions cannot reasonably support. Keep in mind that a smaller, but bright and well-resolved image is far superior to one that is larger, but dim and poorly resolved. Powers above 400x should be employed only under the steadiest atmospheric conditions.

Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.