One Sky Manual
One Sky Manual
One Sky Manual
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AWB 1 30 NEWTONIAN
INSTRUCTION MANUAL
31100
The AWB 130 Newtonian is sold in the US exclusively by Astronomers Wrthout Borders to raise funds to support its astronomy
programs connecting people worldwide through a common interest in astronomy. Celestron imports the AWB 130 Newtonian for
Astronomers Without Borders as part of Celestron's commitment to supporting global astronomy programs. Astronomers
Without Borders is a US charitable non-profit organization (501 (c)(3)).
TELESCOPE ASSEMBLY . . . . . . . .3
OPERATING YOUR TELESCOPE . .4
Positioning the telescope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Using the Tension Control Knob . . . . . . . . . . .4
Focusing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Using the Red Dot Finder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... 4
Removing the telescope tube . . . . . .......... 4
Pointing the Dobsonian . . . . . . . ... 4
Calculating the magnification . . . . .4
Field of view . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
CAUTION!
NEVER USE YOUR TELESCOPE TO LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN. PERMANENT EYE DAMAGE WILL RESULT. USE A
PROPER SOLAR FILTER FOR VIEWING THE SUN. WHEN OBSERVING THE SUN, REMOVE YOUR FINDERSCOPE TO
PROTECT IT FROM EXPOSURE. NEVER USE AN EYEPIECE-TYPE SOLAR FILTER AND NEVER USE YOUR TELESCOPE
TO PROJECT SUNLIGHT ONTO ANOTHER SURFACE, THE INTERNAL HEAT BUILD-UP WILL DAMAGE THE TELESCOPE
OPTICAL ELEMENTS.
, - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Red Dot finder
r------------------- Eyepiece
Carrying Handle
All-Azimuth Base
2 I
TELESCOPE ASSEMBLY
1 . Remove the telescope and accessories from the pack- 6. Remove the dust cap before viewing.
age.
7. Position the telescope as in Fig. f with the tube
2. Locate the red dot finder. Slightly loosen the screws on horizontal. Hold the tube firmly and loosen the tension
the side of the finder. (Fig.a) control knob until there is no longer friction holding the
tube in place. If the telescope is not balanced the tube
Fig.a
will begin to move. To balance the telescope, loosen the
dovetail locking screw and slide the tube to a point where
the tube no longer moves on its own. Tighten the dovetail
locking screw to hold the tube in place. Do not over-tight-
Slightly loosen these screws en the screw. Tighten the tension control knob until the
tube requires a slight effort to move to provide a small
3. Locate the small red dot finderscope base near the front amount of friction to hold the telescope in place. Do not
opening of the tube. Slide the red dot finder onto the over-tighten the knob. The tube should still move smoothly
base and tighten the screws to secure it in place. Do not with very little effort.
over-tighten the screws. (Fig.b)
Fig.b Fig.e
Fig.d
I 3
OPERATING YOUR TELESCOPE
FOCUSING
Altitude
Slowly turn the focus wheel (Fig.g), one way or the other, Adjustment
until the image in the eyepiece is sharp. The image usually Control
has to be finely refocused over time, due to small variations
caused by temperature changes, flexures, etc. This often Aligning the Red Dot Finder
happens with short focal ratio telescopes, particularly when
they haven't yet reached outside temperature. Refocusing is Like all finderscopes, the Red Dot Finder must be properly
almost always necessary when you change an eyepiece or aligned with the main telescope before use. This is a simple
add or remove a Barlow lens. process using the azimuth and altitude control knobs.
4 I
REMOVING THE TELESCOPE TUBE
The telescope tube can be removed from the mount for Fig.i
storage. Hold the telescope tube in one hand while loosen-
ing the dovetail locking knob with the other. Carefully slide
the tube off the mount. The telescope tube can be installed
on any telescope mount with a dovetail mounting system.
You may also install a different short-tube telescope on this
portable table-top Dobson ian mount.
Fig.j Zenith
I
....
.... .... '
/ ' '
/
~
Rotate in Azimuth
Nadir
I 5
CALCULATING THE
MAGNIFICATION (POWER)
The magnification produced by a telescope is determined
by the focal length of the eyepiece that is used with it. To
determine a magnification for your telescope, divide its focal
length by the focal length of the eyepieces you are going to
use. For example, a 1 Omm focal length eyepiece will give
65X magnification with a 650mm focal length telescope.
FIELD OF VIEW
The amount of sky you can see through your telescope de-
pends on the design of the eyepiece. Your telescope comes
with a 25mm eyepiece that has a field of view of 1.9 degrees
and a 1 Omm eyepiece that has a field of view of 0. 7 degrees.
To put this into perspective, the whole moon is about 0.5 de-
grees in diameter. The 1 Omm eyepiece, with its 0. 7 degree
field of view would allow you to frame the whole face of the
moon in your view with a little room to spare. Remember, too
much magnification and too small a field of view can make
it very hard to find things. It is usually best to start at a lower
magnification with its wider field and then increase the mag-
nification when you have found what you are looking for. First
find the moon then look at the shadows in the craters!
6 I
OBSERVING THE SKY
I 7
PROPER CARE FOR YOUR TELESCOPE
COLLIMATION
Collimation is the process of aligning the mirrors of your tele- Fig.g
~
scope so that they work in concert with each other to deliver
properly focused light to your eyepiece. By observing out-
of-focus star images, you can test whether your telescope's
optics are aligned. Place a star in the centre of the field of
I
view and move the focuser so that the image is slightly out
Correctly aligned Needs collimation
of focus. If the seeing conditions are good, you will see a
central circle of light (the Airy disc) surrounded by a number
of diffraction rings. If the rings are symmetrical about the Airy Fig.h ~Focuser
disc, the telescope's optics are correctly collimated (Fig.g).
If you do not have a collimating tool, we suggest that you ~for
make a "collimating cap" out of a plastic 35mm film canister ;a:mlary mirror
8 I
Aligning the Primary Mirror
There are 3 large bolts and 3 small screws at the back of Fig.p
your telescope. The large bolts are the adjusting screws
and the small screws are the locking screws (Fig.p). Loosen
the large bolts by a few turns. Now run your hand around
the front of your telescope keeping your eye to the focuser, Adjusting screws
you will see the reflected image of your hand. The idea here
being to see which way the primary mirror is defected, you
Locking screws
do this by stopping at the point where the reflected image of
the secondary mirror is closest to the primary mirrors' edge
(Fig.q).
When you get to that point, stop and keep your hand there
while looking at the back end of your telescope, is there an Fig.q
adjusting screw there? If there is you will want to loosen it
(turn the screw to the left) to bring the mirror away from that Secondary mirror
point. If there isn't a adjusting screw there, then go across to
the other side and tighten the adjusting screw on the other
side. This will gradually bring the mirror into line until it looks
like Fig.r. (It helps to have a friend to help for primary mirror
collimation. Have your partner adjust the adjusting screws
according to your directions while you look in the focuser.)
After dark go out and point your telescope at Po!a:is. the
North Star. With an eyepiece in the focuser, take the image Primary mirror Stop and keep your
hand here
out of focus. You will see the same image only now, it will be
illuminated by starlight. If necessary, repeat the collimating
process only keep the star centered while tweaking the
mirror.
I 9
CAUTION!
NEVER USE YOUR TELESCOPE TO LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN. PERMANENT EYE DAMAGE WILL RESULT. USE A
PROPER SOLAR FILTER FOR VIEWING THE SUN. WHEN OBSERVING THE SUN, REMOVE YOUR FINDERSCOPE TO
PROTECT IT FROM EXPOSURE. NEVER USE AN EYEPIECE-TYPE SOLAR FILTER AND NEVER USE YOUR TELESCOPE
TO PROJECT SUNLIGHT ONTO ANOTHER SURFACE, THE INTERNAL HEAT BUILD-UP WILL DAMAGE THE TELESCOPE
OPTICAL ELEMENTS.