Meade Instruments Infinity 50AZ Refractor - Manual (Page 7)

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Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversable damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope
at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.
6. Avoid setting up the telescope inside a room and observing through a closed window pane. Images may appear
blurred or distorted due to temperature differences between inside and outside air. Also, it is a good idea
to allow your telescope a chance to reach the ambient (surrounding) outside temperature before starting an
observing session.
7. We repeat the warning stated at the outset of this manual:
NEVER POINT THE TELESCOPE DIRECTLY AT OR NEAR THE SUN AT ANY TIME!
OBSERVING THE SUN, EVEN FOR THE SMALLEST FRACTION OF A SECOND, WILL RESULT
IN INSTANT AND IRREVERSIBLE EYE DAMAGE, AS WELL AS PHYSICAL DAMAGE TO THE
TELESCOPE ITSELF.
8. Planets and other objects viewed low on the horizon often lack sharpness — the same object, when observed
higher in the sky, will appear sharper and have greater contrast. Turbulent air in the atmosphere can cause
images to “shimmer” in the eyepiece. Try reducing power (change your eyepiece) until the image steadies. Keep
in mind that a bright, clear, but smaller image is more interesting than a larger, dimmer, fuzzy one.
9. Astronomical software or a good star atlas will assist you in locating many interesting celestial objects. These
objects include:
• The Moon, covered with craters, mountain ranges, and fault lines. The Moon is best observed during its crescent
or half phase when Sunlight strikes the Moon’s surface at an angle. It casts shadows and adds a sense of depth
to the view. No shadows are seen during a full Moon, causing the bright Moon to appear flat and uninteresting.
• Cloud belts across the surface of the planet Jupiter.
• The 4 major moons of Jupiter, visible in a straight line around the planet, changing position each night.
• Saturn and its famous ring system.
• Deep-Space: Nebulae, galaxies, multiple star systems, star clusters — hundreds of such objects are visible
through the Meade Infinity 50.
• Terrestrial objects: Your Meade telescope may also be used for high-resolution land viewing. Important Note:
Using that the diagonal mirror results in an image which is reversed left-for-right, but which is correctly oriented
up-and-down. For a fully corrected image, use the included 1.5X erecting eyepiece.
To use the 1.5X erecting eyepiece, remove the diagonal mirror and place the 1.5X erecting eyepiece directly into
the eyepiece holder (17, Fig 1) and secure with its thumbscrew. Next attach the included .965" to 1.25" adapter
to the erecting eyepiece and secure with the thumbscrew. Lastly, attach the H20 eyepiece and secure. Do not
use the diagonal mirror (15, Fig 1) and 1.5X erecting eyepiece together or the image will not fully corrected.
Terrestrial observations should almost always be made using the 20mm low-power eyepiece for bright, sharp
images. Observing horizontally through the Earth’s atmosphere distorts images in higher-power eyepieces (such
as 12mm).
CALCULATING POWER
The power, or magnification, at which a telescope is operating is determined by two factors: the focal length of the
telescope’s main (objective) lens and the focal length of the eyepiece being used.
The focal length of the Meade Infinity 50's objective lens is 600mm. To figure out the power you are using, divide the
the focal length of the objective lens by the focal length of the eyepiece (shown on the eyepiece). For example, if you
are using the H 20mm eyepiece with the Meade Infinity 50, the resulting power will be:
Power = 600mm ÷ 20mm = 30X.
Similarly, if you are using the H 12mm eyepiece, the resulting power will be:
600mm ÷ 12mm = 50X.
Note: The letter “H” refers to the “Huygens” optical design which yields well-corrected images with refracting
telescopes.
With the 2X Barlow lens, an eyepiece’s power is multiplied 2 times. For example, the H 20mm (30X) eyepiece,
when used in conjunction with the 2x Barlow lens, produces a magnification of 60X. The H 12mm (50X) eyepiece
produces a magnification of 100X when used with the Barlow lens.