Meade DS-2102AT-TC, DS-2090AT-TC instruction manual Event Menu, Glossary Menu, Utilities Menu

WARNING! Never use a Meade

Telescope to look at the Sun! Looking at or near the Sun will cause instant and irreversible damage to your eye. Eye damage is often painless, so there is no warning to the observer that dam- age has occurred until it is too late. Do not point the tele- scope or its viewfind- er at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope or its viewfinder as it is moving. Children should always have adult supervision while observing.

Event Menu

The Event menu provides access to dates and times of astronomical events. The Event data- base includes:

Sunrise and Sunset calculates the time that the Sun rises or sets on the current date. Find rise and set times for other dates by entering a new date into the “Setup: Date” menu. See DATE, page 11.

Moonrise and Moonset calculates the time that the Moon rises or sets on the current date. Find rise and set times for other dates by entering a new date into the “Setup: Date” menu. See DATE, page 11.

Moon Phases displays the date and time of the next Full, New, 1st Quarter, and 3rd Quarter Moon.

Meteor Showers provides information on upcoming meteor showers, such as the Perseids, the Leonids, etc. Also lists the dates of the showers and when they reach maximum.

NOTE: Meteor showers cover large areas of the sky and are usually best observed with the naked eye.

Solar Eclipse lists upcoming Solar Eclipses, including the date and type (total, annular, or par- tial) of eclipse, and the location and time of the first and last contacts of the Moon's shadow. Use the Scroll Up and Down keys to display the available data. Remember, never use a tele- scope to look at the Sun! See “WARNING!” to the left.

Lunar Eclipse lists upcoming Lunar Eclipses, including the date and type (total, partial, penumbral) of eclipse. Use the Scroll Up and Down keys to display the available data.

Min. (Minimum) of Algol is the minimum brightness of the dramatic eclipsing binary star sys- tem, Algol. It is relatively close at a distance of 100 light years. Every 2.8 days during a 10-hour period, Algol undergoes a major change in apparent magnitude as one of the two stars pass- es behind the other. The combined magnitude of the two stars thus dips from +2.1 to a mini- mum of +3.4 halfway through the eclipse as the second star is hidden. AutoStar calculates min- imum magnitude time at mid-eclipse.

Autumn and Vernal Equinox calculates the time and date of the fall or spring equinox of the current year.

Winter and Summer Solstice calculates the time and date of the winter or summer solstice of the current year.

Glossary Menu

The Glossary menu provides an alphabetical listing of definitions and descriptions for common astronomical terms and AutoStar functions. Access directly through the Glossary menu or through hypertext words embedded in AutoStar. A hypertext word is any word in [brackets], usually found when using the AutoStar Help function or when reading a scrolling message such as a description of a planet or star. Press ENTER whenever a hypertext word is on screen and AutoStar goes to the glossary entry for that word.

To access directly from the Glossary menu, use the Scroll keys to scroll through the alphabet. Press ENTER on the desired letter. Scroll to the desired entry and then press ENTER to read the description.

Utilities Menu

The Utilities menu provides access to several extra features within AutoStar, including a count- down timer and an alarm. The Utilities functions include:

Timer selects a countdown timer. This feature is useful for functions such as astrophotography and tracking satellites. To use the Timer, press ENTER, then choose “Set” or “Start/Stop."

NSet: Enter the time to be counted down, in hours, minutes, and seconds, then press ENTER.

NStart/Stop: Activates the timer set previously. Use the Scroll keys to toggle between ON and OFF. When ON is displayed, press ENTER to activate the timer. When the timer runs out, four beeps sound and the timer is deactivated.

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