0/15/08 3:26 PM Page 1 www.meade.com Telestar RB-60.qxd MEADE INSTRUCTION MANUAL 60mm | 2.
Telestar RB-60.qxd 10/15/08 3:26 PM Page 2 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 damage has occurred until it is too late. Do not point the telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope or SmartFinder™ as it is moving. Children should always have adult supervision while observing.
Telestar RB-60.qxd 10/15/08 3:26 PM Page 3 INTRODUCTION Your telescope is an excellent beginner’s instrument, and is designed to observe objects in the sky and also on land. It can be your personal window on the universe or allows you to intimately study the behavior of nesting birds on a distant hillside. The telescope is shipped with the following parts: • Optical tube • Aluminum tripod with an accessory tray • Two 1.25" eyepieces: MA25mm (28X), MH9mm (78X) • 2x 1.
Telestar RB-60.qxd 10/15/08 3:26 PM FIGURE 1 2 1. Eyepiece 2. Red dot viewfinder (see Inset A) 3. Red dot viewfinder alignment screws (see Inset A) 4. Optical tube assembly 5. Vertical locking lever 6. Horizontal lock knob 7. Tripod legs 8. Leg brace supports (See Inset C) 9. Leg brace (See Inset C) 10. Mount base attachment 11. Optical tube lock knobs 12. Horizontal slow motion controll (See Inset B) 13. Diagonal mirror 14. Objective lens cell 15. Focuser drawtube 16.
Telestar RB-60.qxd 10/15/08 3:26 PM Page 5 ASSEMBLE YOUR TRIPOD The tripod is the basic support for your telescope. Its height may be adjusted so that you can view comfortably. Note: Number in brackets, e.g., (3), refer to Fig. 1. 1. Spread the legs out evenly apart. 2. Set the height of your tripod unlock the leg lock (20). 3. Slide leg (19) in or out to the desired length Inset B 4. Tighten the leg lock (20) to relock the leg lock. 5. Repeat for the other two legs.
Telestar RB-60.qxd 10/15/08 3:26 PM Page 6 2. Tighten the drawtube thumbscrew to hold the diagonal mirror securely. 4 3. Slide the MA 25mm eyepiece (1) into diagonal mirror (13). 4. Tighten the diagonal mirror thumbscrew (26) to hold the eyepiece securely. ALIGN THE RED DOT VIEWFINDER Perform the first part of this procedure during the daytime and the last step at night. 1. Point the telescope at an easy-to-find land object such as the top of a telephone pole or a distant mountain or tower.
Telestar RB-60.qxd 10/15/08 3:26 PM Page 7 library and read some books about the stars and planets. Read about astronomers of old. Many of them had telescope no bigger than the one you are using right now. Galileo, who is one of the first astronomers to use a telescope, discovered four of the moons of Jupiter with a telescope about the same size as yours (and his didn’t even focus very well!). OBSERVING Observe during the daytime: Try out your telescope during the daytime at first.
Telestar RB-60.qxd 6 10/15/08 3:26 PM Page 8 crescent. No shadows are seen during a full Moon, making it appear flat and uninteresting. Look for different features on the Moon. The most obvious features are craters. In fact you can see craters within craters. Some craters have bright lines about them. These are called rays and are the result of material thrown out of the crater when it was struck by a colliding object.
Telestar RB-60.qxd 10/15/08 3:26 PM Page 9 Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto comprise the outer planets. These planets, except for Pluto, are made mostly of gases and are sometimes called gas giants. If they had grown much bigger, they may have become stars. Pluto is made mostly of ice. Fig. 5 Jupiter is quite interesting to observe. You can see bands across the face of Jupiter. The more time you spend observing these bands, the more detail you will be able to see.
Telestar RB-60.qxd 10/15/08 3:26 PM Page 10 What’s Next? Beyond the Solar System: Once you have observed our 8 own system of planets, it’s time to really travel far from home and look at stars and other objects. You can observe thousands of stars with your telescope. At first, you may think stars are just pinpoints of light and aren’t very interesting. But look again. There is much information that is revealed in stars. The first thing you will notice is that not all stars are the same colors.
Telestar RB-60.qxd 10/15/08 3:26 PM Page 11 Use a compass to make a circle, or trace around the lid of a jar. Draw what you see in your eyepiece inside the circle. The best exercise for drawing is to observe the moons of Jupiter every night or so. Try to make Jupiter and the moons approximately the same size as they look in your eyepiece. You will see that the moons are in a different position every night.
Telestar RB-60.qxd 10/15/08 3:26 PM Page 12 objects centered in the field, simply move the telescope on one or both of 10 its axes—vertically and/or horizontally as needed—try using the telescopes coarse and fine adjustment controls. At higher powers, astronomical objects will seem to move through the field of view of the eyepiece more rapidly.
Telestar RB-60.qxd 10/15/08 3:26 PM Page 13 obstacles. Is it a location where wild animals, such as skunks, snakes, etc., may appear? Are there viewing obstructions such as tall trees, street lights, headlights and so forth? The best locations are dark locations, the darker the better. Deep space objects are easiest to see under dark skies. But it is still possible to observe even in a city.
Telestar RB-60.qxd 10/15/08 3:26 PM Page 14 But if you obtain other eyepieces, you can calculate how much magnification 12 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.
Telestar RB-60.qxd 10/15/08 3:26 PM Page 15 • 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.
Telestar RB-60.qxd 10/15/08 3:26 PM Page 16 MEADE CONSUMER SOLUTIONS you have a question concerning your 14 Iftelescope, call Meade Instruments Consumer Solutions Department at (800) 626-3233. Consumer Solutions Departmant hours are 8:00AM to 5:00PM, Pacific Time, Monday through Friday.
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3:27 PM Page 24 www.meade.com 10/15/08 1-800 626-3233 Telestar RB-60.
