Orion starBlast 4.5 EQ - Manual (Page 13)

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B. The Planets
The planets don’t stay put like the stars, so to find them you
should refer to Sky Calendar at OrionTelescopes.com, or to
charts published monthly in Astronomy, Sky & Telescope, or
other astronomy magazines. Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn
are the brightest objects in the sky after the Sun and the Moon.
Other planets may be visible but will likely appear star-like.
Because planets are quite small in apparent size, optional high-
er-power eyepieces are recommended and often needed for
detailed observations.
B. The Sun
You can change your nighttime telescope into a daytime Sun
viewer by installing an optional full-aperture solar filter over the
front opening of the StarBlast 4.5 EQ. The primary attraction is
sunspots, which change shape, appearance, and location daily.
Sunspots are directly related to magnetic activity in the Sun.
Many observers like to make drawings of sunspots to monitor
how the Sun is changing from day to day.
Important Note: Do not look at the Sun with any optical
instrument without a professionally made solar filter, or
permanent eye damage could result.
D. The Stars
Stars will appear like twinkling points of light. Even powerful tele-
scopes cannot magnify stars to appear as more than a point of
light. You can, however, enjoy the different colors of the stars
and locate many pretty double and multiple stars. The famous
“Double-Double” in the constellation Lyra and the gorgeous two-
color double star Albireo in Cygnus are favorites. Defocusing a
star slightly can help bring out its color.
E. Deep-Sky Objects
Under dark skies, you can observe a wealth of fascinating deep-
sky objects, including gaseous nebulas, open and globular star
clusters, and a variety of different types of galaxies. Most deep-
sky objects are very faint, so it is important you find an observing
site well away from light pollution.
To find deep-sky objects with your telescope, you first need to
become reasonably familiar with the night sky. Unless you know
how to recognize the constellation Orion, for instance, you won’t
have much luck locating the Orion Nebula. A simple planisphere,
or star wheel, can be a valuable tool for learning the constella-
tions and seeing which ones are visible in the sky on a given
night. Once you have identified a few constellations, a good star
chart or atlas will come in handy for helping locate interesting
deep-sky objects to view within the constellations.
Do not expect these objects to appear like the photographs you
see in books and magazines; most will look like dim gray smudg-
es. Our eyes are not sensitive enough to see color in deep-sky
objects except in a few of the brightest ones. But as you become
more experienced and your observing skills get sharper, you will
be able to ferret out more and more subtle details and structure.
8. care and Maintenance
If you give your telescope reasonable care, it will last a lifetime.
Store it in a clean, dry, dust-free place, safe from rapid changes
in temperature and humidity. Do not store the telescope out-
doors, although storage in a garage or shed is OK. Small com-
ponents like eyepieces and other accessories should be kept
in a protective box or storage case. Keep the dust cover on the
front of the telescope when it is not in use.
Your StarBlast 4.5 EQ requires very little mechanical mainte-
nance. The optical tube has a smooth painted finish that is fairly
scratch-resistant. If a scratch does appear on the tube, it will not
harm the telescope. If you wish, you may apply some auto touch-
up paint to the scratch. Smudges on the tube can be wiped off
with a soft cloth and household cleaning fluid.
cleaning Eyepieces
Any quality optical lens cleaning tissue and optical lens cleaning
fluid specifically designed for multi-coated optics can be used
to clean the exposed lenses of your eyepieces and reflex sight.
Never use regular glass cleaner or cleaning fluid designed for
eyeglasses
Before cleaning with fluid and tissue, blow any loose particles off
the lens with a blower bulb or compressed air. Then apply some
cleaning fluid to a tissue, never directly on the optics. Wipe the
lens gently in a circular motion, then remove any excess fluid
with a fresh lens tissue. Oily fingerprints and smudges may be
removed using this method. Use caution; rubbing too hard may
scratch the lens.
cleaning Mirrors
You should not have to clean the telescope’s mirrors very often;
normally once every year or so is fine. Covering the front open-
ing of the telescope with the dust cover when it is not in use will
prevent dust from accumulating on the mirrors. Improper clean-
ing can scratch the mirror coatings, so the fewer times you have
to clean the mirrors, the better. Small specks of dust or flecks of
paint have virtually no effect on the visual performance of the
telescope.
The large primary mirror and the elliptical secondary mirror of
your telescope are front-surface aluminized and over-coated
with hard silicon dioxide, which prevents the aluminum from oxi-
dizing. These coatings normally last through many years of use
before requiring re-coating (which is easily done).
To clean the secondary mirror, first remove it from the tele-
scope. Do this by keeping the secondary mirror holder station-
ary while completely unthreading the Phillips-head screw in the
center hub of the spider vane assembly (see Figure 10). Do not
touch the mirror surface when doing this. Be careful, there is
a spring between the secondary mirror holder and the Phillips
head screw; be sure it does not fall into the optical tube and onto
the primary mirror. Once the Phillips-head screw is unthreaded,
the secondary mirror and its holder can be removed from the
telescope. Then follow the same procedure described below for
cleaning the primary mirror. The secondary mirror does not need
to be removed from its holder for cleaning.
To clean the primary mirror, first carefully remove the mirror cell
from the telescope. For the StarBlast 4.5 EQ, you must com-
pletely unthread the three screws on the exterior perimeter of the
mirror cell (Figure 15). Then pull the cell away from the tube. You
will notice the primary mirror is held in the mirror cell with three