Orion 9968 Astronomical Observing, Confused About Pointing the Telescope?, Observing Tips

a. b. c. d.

Figure 12a-d.This illustration show the telescope pointed in the four cardinal directions (a) north, (b) south, (c) east, (d) west. Note that the tripod and mount have been moved; only the telescope tube has been moved on the R.A. and Dec. axes.

The setting circles must 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 pointed 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 the 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 12 illustrates how the telescope will look when pointed at the four cardinal directions: north, south, east and west.

7. Astronomical Observing

For many users, the SkyView Pro 150mm 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 light‑ ing. 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

asite 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 bet‑ ter after midnight, when much of the heat absorbed by the Earth during the day has radiated off into space. Typically, seeing conditions will be 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. Magnitude is a measure of how bright a star is, the brighter a star is, the lower its magnitude will be. A good star to remem‑ ber for this is Megrez (mag. 3.4), which is the star in the “Big

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