Meade Instruments TerraStar 60 User Manual

Page 16

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 much it
magnifies objects. Your 25mm eyepiece
magnifies an object 28 times. Your 9mm
eyepiece magnifies objects 78 times.
But if you obtain other eyepieces, you can
calculate how much magnification they have
with your telescope. Just divide the focal
length of the telescope by the focal length of
the eyepiece.

Focal Length of the Telescope

Focal Length of the Eyepiece

Magnification

Look at the specifications. You will see that
the focal length of your scope is 700mm. Let’s
say that you have obtained a 13mm eyepiece.
You can tell that what the focal length of your
eyepiece is as it is always printed on the side
of an eyepiece. Divide: 700 ÷ 13, which

equals 53.8. Round this

off to the nearest

whole number and your new eyepiece
magnifies objects 54 times.

Its worth repeating: Keep in mind that a
bright, clear, but smaller image is more
interesting than a larger, dimmer, fuzzy one.
Using too high a power eyepiece is one of the
most common mistakes made by new
astronomers. So don’t think that higher
magnification is necessarily better—quite
often the best view is with lower
magnification value!

TAKING CARE OF YOUR TELESCOPE

Your telescope is a precision optical
instrument designed for a lifetime of
rewarding viewing. It will rarely, if ever,
require factory servicing or maintenance.
Follow these guidelines to keep your
telescope in the best condition:

• Avoid cleaning the telescope’s lenses. A

little dust on the front surface of the
telescope’s correcting lens will not cause

loss of image quality.

• When absolutely necessary, dust on the

front lens should be removed with very
gentle strokes of a camel hair brush or
blown off with an ear syringe (available at
most pharmacies).

• Fingerprints and organic materials on the

front lens may be removed with a solution
of 3 parts distilled water to 1 part
isopropyl alcohol. You may also add 1 drop
of biodegradable dishwashing soap per
pint of solution. Use soft, white facial
tissues and make short, 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.

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.

SURF THE WEB

•

The Meade 4M Community:
http://www.meade4m.org

•

Sky & Telescope

http://www.skyandtelescope.com

•

Astronomy

http://www.astronomy.com

•

Astronomy Picture of the Day:
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.goc/apod

•

Hubble Space Telescope Public Pictures:
http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/pictures.html

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