0/15/08 3:23 PM Page 1 www.meade.com Telestar RB-70.qxd TELESTAR INSTRUCTION MANUAL 70mm | 2.
Telestar RB-70.
Telestar RB-70.qxd 10/15/08 3:23 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-70.qxd 10/15/08 3:23 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-70.qxd 10/15/08 3:23 PM Page 5 Fig. 2 ASSEMBLE YOUR TRIPOD ATTACH THE RED DOT VIEWFINDER 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. An eyepiece (1) has a narrow field of 3 view. A viewfinder (2) has a wider field of view, which makes it easier to locate objects. The red dot viewfinder has a red dot to make it easier to line up more precisely with a target. 1.
Telestar RB-70.qxd 4 10/15/08 3:23 PM Page 6 2.Tighten the drawtube thumbscrew to hold the diagonal mirror securely. 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-70.qxd 10/15/08 3:23 PM Page 7 SUN WARNING 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-70.qxd 6 10/15/08 3:23 PM Page 8 object to observe the first time you go out at night. Pick a night when the Moon is a 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.
Telestar RB-70.qxd 10/15/08 3:23 PM Page 9 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. One of the most fascinating sights of Jupiter are its moons.
Telestar RB-70.qxd 8 10/15/08 3:23 PM Page 10 What’s Next? Beyond the Solar System: Once you have observed our 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-70.qxd 10/15/08 3:23 PM Page 11 will see that the moons are in a different position every night. As you get better at drawing, try more challenging sights, like a crater system on the moon or even a nebula. Go your library or check out the internet for more information about astronomy.
Telestar RB-70.qxd 10/15/08 3:23 PM Page 12 Place the object to be viewed at the edge of the field and, without 10 touching the telescope, watch it drift through the field to the other side before repositioning the telescope so that the object to be viewed is again placed at the edge of the field, ready to be further observed. Vibrations: Avoid touching the eyepiece while observing through the telescope. Vibrations resulting from such contact will cause the image to move.
Telestar RB-70.qxd 10/15/08 3:23 PM Page 13 Surf the Web and visit your local library: The internet contains a huge amount of astronomical information, both for children and adults. Check out astronomy books from your library. Look for star charts—these are available on a monthly basis in Astronomy and Sky and Telescope magazines. HAVE A GOOD TIME, ASTRONOMY IS FUN! SPECIFICATIONS Optical tube focal length . . . . . . . . . 700mm Objective lens diameter . . . . . 70mm (2.75") Focal ratio . . . . . . . .
Telestar RB-70.qxd 10/15/08 3:23 PM Page 14 Look at the specifications. You will see that the focal length of your 12 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.
Telestar RB-70.qxd 10/15/08 3:23 PM Page 15 telescope tube, resulting in a more comfortable observing position in most cases. Additional Eyepieces (1.25" barrel diameter): For higher or lower magnifications with the telescopes that accommodate 1.25" eyepieces, Meade Series 4000 Super Plössl eyepieces, available in a wide variety of sizes, provide a high level of image resolution and color correction at an economical price. Contact your Meade Dealer or see the Meade catalog for more information.
Telestar RB-70.qxd 10/15/08 3:23 PM Page 16 MEADE CONSUMER SOLUTIONS you have a question concerning 14 Ifyour telescope, 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.
Telestar RB-70.
Telestar RB-70.
Telestar RB-70.
3:23 PM Page 20 www.meade.com 10/15/08 1-800 626-3233 Telestar RB-70.
