What Do The Specifications Mean?; Astronomy Resources; Use The Specifications To Calculate The Magnification Of Your Eyepiece - Meade RB-60 Instruction Manual

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.
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 . . . . . . 60mm (2.4")
Focal ratio. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . f/11.6
Mounting type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Altazimuth
Looking at or near the Sun will cause irreversible damage to your eye. Do not point this telescope at or near the Sun. Do not look through the telescope as it is moving.

What do the specifications mean?

Optical tube focal length is simply a
measurement of the length of the optical
tube. In other words, this is the distance
light travels in the tele-scope before being
brought to focus in you eyepiece. Your tube is
700mm long.
Objective lens diameter is how big the
lens is on your scope. Telescopes are
always described by how large their
objective lens is. Your telescope is 60mm
or 2.4 inches. Other telescopes are 90mm,
8 inches, 16 inches, or even 3 feet in
diameter. The Hubble Telescope's objective
lens has a diameter of 2.4 meters (that's
7.8 feet across!).
The focal ratio helps determine how fast the
photographic speed of a telescope is. The
lower the focal ratio number, the faster the
exposure. f/5 is faster than f/10. The faster
the ratio, the faster exposure time is needed
when a camera is hooked up to the tele-
scope. Your telescope has slower focal ratio
at f/11.6. Sometimes, astronomers use focal
reducers to make slow exposure telescopes
have faster focal ratios.
Altaz mounting simply means your
telescope moves up and down (altitude
or "alt"), and side to side, (azimuth or
"az"). Other mounting configurations
are available for other telescopes, such as
equatorial mounting.
USE THE SPECIFICATIONS TO CALCULATE
THE MAGNIFICATION OF YOUR EYEPIECE
The power of a telescope is how much it
magnifies objects. Your 25mm eyepiece
magnifies an object 28 times. Your 9mm
eyepiece magnifies objects 78 times.

ASTRONOMY RESOURCES

• The Meade 4M Community
6001 Oak Canyon, Irvine, CA 92618
• Astronomical League
Executive Secretary
5675 Real del Norte, Las Cruces, NM 88012
• The Astronomical Society of the Pacific
390 Ashton Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94112
• The Planetary Society
65 North Catalina Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91106
• International Dark-Sky Association, Inc.
3225 N. First Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719-2103
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