Aim the telescope at a deep-sky object. It should be a fairly large deep-sky object, as the camera lens will likely have a wide field of view. Check to make sure that the object is also centered in the camera’s viewfinder. Turn the motor drive on. Now, look into the telescope’s eyepiece and center the bright- est star within the field of view. Remove the eyepiece and insert the illuminated reticle eyepiece into the focuser drawtube. Turn the eyepiece’s illuminator on (dimly!). Recenter the bright star (guide star) on the crosshairs of the reticle eyepiece. Check again to make sure that the object to be photographed is still centered within the camera’s field of view. If it is not, recenter it by repositioning the camera on the piggyback adapter, or by moving the main telescope. If you move the main telescope, then you will need to recenter another guide star on the illu- minated eyepiece’s crosshairs. Once the object is centered in the camera and a guide star is centered in the reticle eye- piece, you’re ready to shoot.
Deep-sky objects are quite faint, and typically require expo- sures on the order of 10 minutes. To hold the camera’s shutter open this long, you will need a lock shutter release cable. Set the camera’s shutter to the “B” (bulb) setting. Depress the locking shutter release cable and lock it.You are now exposing your first deep-sky object.
While exposing through the camera lens, you will need to mon- itor the accuracy of the mount’s tracking by looking through the illuminated reticle eyepiece in the main telescope. If the guide star drifts from its initial position, then use the hand con- troller of the motor drive to “move” the guide star back to the center of the crosshairs. Any drifting along the Dec. axis is a result of improper polar alignment, so if the guide star drifts greatly in Dec., the mount may need to be polar aligned more accurately.
When the exposure is complete, unlock the shutter release cable and close the camera’s shutter.
Astrophotography can be enjoyable and rewarding, as well as frustrating and time-consuming. Start slowly and consult outside resources, such as books and magazines, for more details about astrophotography. Remember….have fun!
10. Care and Maintenance
If you give your telescope reasonable care, it will last a lifetime. Store it in a clean, dry, dust-free place, safe from rapid chang- es in temperature and humidity. Do not store the telescope outdoors, although storage in a garage or shed is OK. Small components like eyepieces and other accessories should be kept in a protective box or storage case. Keep the dust cover on the front of the telescope when not in use.
Your SkyView Pro 8 EQ requires very little mechanical main- tenance. The optical tube is steel and has a smooth painted finish that is fairly scratch-resistant. If a scratch does appear on the tube, it will not harm the telescope. Smudges on the tube can be wiped off with a soft cloth and a household clean- er such as Windex or Formula 409.
Cleaning Lenses
Any quality optical lens cleaning tissue and optical lens clean- ing fluid specifically designed for multi-coated optics can be used to clean the exposed lenses of your eyepieces or find- er scope. Never use regular glass cleaner or cleaning fluid designed for eyeglasses. Before cleaning with fluid and tissue, however, blow any loose particles off the lens with a blower bulb or compressed air. Then apply some cleaning fluid to a tissue, never directly on the optics. Wipe the lens gently in a circular motion, then remove any excess fluid with a fresh lens tissue. Oily fingerprints and smudges may be removed using this method. Use caution; rubbing too hard may scratch the lens. On larger lenses, clean only a small area at a time, using a fresh lens tissue on each area. Never reuse tissues.
Cleaning Mirrors
You should not have to clean the telescope’s mirrors very often; normally once every year or so. Covering the telescope with the dust cover when it is not in use will prevent dust from accumulating on the mirrors. Improper cleaning can scratch mirror coatings, so the fewer times you have to clean the mir- rors, the better. Small specks of dust or flecks of paint have virtually no effect on the visual performance of the telescope.
The large primary mirror and the elliptical secondary mirror of your telescope are front-surface aluminized and over-coated with hard silicon dioxide, which prevents the aluminum from oxidizing. These coatings normally last through many years of use before requiring re-coating (which is easily done).
To clean the secondary mirror, first remove it from the telescope. Do this by holding the secondary mirror holder sta- tionary while turning the center Phillips head screw. Be careful, there is a spring between the secondary mirror holder and the Philips head screw. Be sure that the spring or the second- ary holder will not fall into the optical tube and hit the primary mirror. Handle the mirror by its holder; do not touch the mirror surface. Then follow the same procedure described below for cleaning the primary mirror. You do not need to remove the secondary mirror from its holder when cleaning.
To clean the primary mirror, carefully remove the mirror cell from the telescope. For the SkyView Pro 8 EQ, this means you must loosen the six screws on the side of the tube near the primary mirror. You do not need to remove the collimation screws on the bottom of the mirror cell. Remove the mirror cell from the tube. You will notice the primary mirror is held down with three clips held by two screws each. Loosen the screws and remove the clips.
You may now remove the mirror from the mirror cell. Do not touch the surface of the mirror with your fingers. Lift the mirror carefully by the edges. Set the mirror on a clean soft towel. Fill a clean sink free of abrasive cleanser, with room-tempera- ture water, a few drops of liquid dishwashing detergent, and if possible, a capfull of 100% isopropyl alcohol. Submerge the mirror (aluminized face up) in the water and let it soak for a few minutes (or hours if it’s a very dirty mirror). Wipe the mir- ror under water with clean cotton balls, using extremely light pressure and stroking in straight line across the mirror. Use one ball for each wipe across the mirror. Then rinse the mirror
