Celestron PowerSeeker 50 - Telescope Manual

Introduction

Congratulations on your purchase and welcome to the Celestron world of amateur astronomy.

The PowerSeeker is a classical, two element refracting telescope that comes on an altazimuth mount. This section instructs you on the proper assembly and use of your PowerSeeker telescope, which is shipped in one box, containing all the parts you need to assemble it. Unpack and lay out all of the parts in a large, clear area where you'll have room to work. Keeping track of the parts, use the list below and the telescope diagram to confirm you have, and can identify each part.

Some of the terms and parts described in these instructions may be new to you, so a few commonly used terms you'll want to be familiar with are defined below.

Altazimuth mount - the simplest type of mount, with two motions: altitude (up and down) and azimuth (side-toside). "Mount" refers to the part of the telescope that support the tube, which carries all the telescope's optics. Altitude lock - allows the telescope tube to be locked into place once a focused image has been set up, by tightening the two screws on the outside of the altazimuth mount.

Focal length - the distance from the optical center of the lens to the point where the incoming light rays converge, creating a clear, focused image.

Objective lens - the front lens of the telescope. It gathers incoming light to create a sharply focused image. Refracting telescope - a long, thin tube where light passes in a straight line from the front objective lens directly to the eyepiece at the opposite end of the tube.

First, you need to take the time to familiarize yourself with the parts of your PowerSeeker telescope, then assemble it, following the easy instructions provided. Next, read over the operating instructions and become familiar with how your telescope works, to prepare for hours of viewing enjoyment.

READ THIS SECTION BEFORE USING YOUR TELESCOPE

Your PowerSeeker telescope is designed to give you hours of fun and rewarding observing. However, there are a few things to be aware of before using your telescope that will ensure your safety and protect your equipment.

NEVER LOOK DIRECTLY AT THE SUN WITH THE NAKED EYE OR WITH A TELESCOPE. NEVER POINT YOUR TELESCOPE AT THE SUN UNLESS YOU'RE USING THE PROPER SOLAR FILTER. PERMANENT AND IRREVERSIBLE EYE DAMAGE MAY RESULT.

NEVER USE YOUR TELESCOPE TO PROJECT AN IMAGE OF THE SUN ONTO ANY SURFACE, OR USE AN EYEPIECE SOLAR FILTER OR A HERSCHEL WEDGE. INTERNAL HEAT BUILD-UP CAN DAMAGE THE TELESCOPE AND/OR ANY ACCESSORIES THAT MAY BE ATTACHED TO IT.

NEVER LEAVE YOUR TELESCOPE UNSUPERVISED, ESPECIALLY WHEN CHILDREN ARE PRESENT. THIS ALSO HOLDS TRUE FOR ADULTS WHO MAY NOT BE FAMILIAR WITH THE CORRECT OPERATING PROCEDURES FOR YOUR TELESCOPE.

ALWAYS COVER THE FINDERSCOPE WHEN USING YOUR TELESCOPE WITH THE CORRECT SOLAR FILTER. ALTHOUGH SMALL IN APERTURE, THIS INSTRUMENT HAS ENOUGH LIGHT GATHERING POWER TO CAUSE PERMANENT AND IRREVERSIBLE EYE DAMAGE. THE IMAGE PROJECTED BY THE FINDERSCOPE IS HOT ENOUGH TO BURN SKIN OR CLOTHING.

Part names

1. Objective Lens
2. Telescope Mounting Plate
3. Altitude locking screw
4. Tripod Head
5. Tripod legs with a collapsible center leg brace
6. Focus Knob
7. 90° diagonal.96"
8. Eyepiece.96"
9. Finderscope Bracket
10. 5x24 Finderscope
11. Telescope Optical Tube

Assembling Your Telescope

To set up the tripod, locate the tripod legs (5) and the telescope optical tube (11).

Remove the tripod from the box and spread the legs apart until the center leg brace is fully extended.

1. Extend the inner portion of each of the three tripod legs to the desired height. Tighten the thumb screw on the side of each tripod leg to secure them in place. See Figure 1
   
2. After all the screws have been hand-tightened, you are ready to attach the telescope tube to the mount. Remove the altitude locking screw (3) from the tripod head (4).
3. Place the telescope tube on the altazimuth mount so that the hole in the mounting platform (2) lines up with the holes in the tripod head (4).
4. Insert the altitude locking screw (3) through the tripod head (4) and mounting platform (2) and tighten the retaining nut to the other side of the screw.

Attaching the Accessories

Your telescope comes with the following optical accessories:

• Star Diagonal.96"
• 20mm eyepieces.96"
• 12mm eyepieces.96"
• 4mm eyepiece.96 "
• 3x Barlow Lens.96"

1. Remove the caps from the focuser and the diagonal.
2. Insert the chrome end of the diagonal into the focuser (Figure 3) and lock into place by tightening the thumb screws on the focuser.
   
3. Remove caps from the eyepiece and place it into the diagonal (Figure 4). Lock it into place with the thumb screw.
   
4. Your telescope also comes with a 3x Barlow lens which triples the magnifying power of each eyepiece (see Magnification section of the manual). To use the barlow lens, remove the diagonal and insert the barlow lens directly into the focuser. Then start by using the low power eyepiece such as the 20mm, and insert it either directly into the barlow lens or into the diagonal. See Figure 5.
   

Attaching the Finderscope

1. Remove the two small, silver thumbscrews located at the back of the telescope tube. See Figure 2.
   
2. Place the finderscope bracket over the two holes in the telescope tube, lining up the holes on the finderscope bracket with those in the telescope tube.
3. Insert the thumbscrews through the finderscope bracket and thread them into the telescope tube.

Aligning the Finderscope

1. Locate a distant daytime object and center it in a low power eyepiece in the main telescope.
2. Look through the finderscope and take notice of the position of the same object.
3. Without moving the main telescope, turn the adjustment thumb screws located around the finderscope bracket until the crosshairs of the finder are centered on the alignment object.

Finding Objects

1. Loosen the altitude locking screw (3) on the base of tripod head (4), then move the telescope in the desired direction.
2. Look through the finderscope and pan the telescope until the object appears in the field of view. Once it's in the field, tighten the altitude and azimuth locks.

Focusing

1. Once you have found an object in the telescope, turn the focusing knob (6) until the image is sharp.
2. To focus on an object that is nearer than your current target, turn the focusing knob toward the eyepiece (i.e., so that the focusing tube moves away from the front of the telescope). For more distant objects, turn the focusing knob in the opposite direction.
3. To achieve a truly sharp focus, never look through glass windows or across objects that produce heat waves, such as asphalt parking lots.

Image Orientation

1. When observing with a diagonal, the image will be right side up, but reversed from left to right.
2. When observing straight through, with the eyepiece inserted directly into the telescope, the image will be inverted. Also, the image in the finderscope is inverted.

Magnification

The magnification (or power) of a telescope varies depending upon the focal length of the eyepiece being used and the focal length of the telescope.
The PowerSeeker 50 telescope has a focal length of 600mm and comes with a 20mm 1¼" eyepiece. To calculate magnification, use the following formula, in which FL = focal length:

Therefore, if you use the 20mm eyepiece your magnification is 600/20 = 30x. The same formula can be applied to any Important! of your eyepieces.

Magnification through any telescope has its limits. These limits are determined by the laws of optics and the nature of the human eye. Most of your viewing will be done in the range of 30x to 100x. Higher powers are used mainly for lunar and sometimes planetary observing where you can greatly enlarge the image and the atmospheric conditions are near perfect. The images at extremely high powers magnify the image, but remember that the contrast will be very low due to the high magnification. For the brightest images with the most contrast, start by using the lower power eyepiece with a smaller image scale.

The following magnification levels can be achieved when using the standard eyepiece in conjunction with the 3x Barlow lens:

TELESCOPE MAINTENANCE

With proper care, your telescope should rarely need any maintenance work. To maintain your telescope in the best possible condition, observe the follow suggestions:

1. When your telescope isn't in use, replace all lens covers to keep dust and contaminants off the optical surfaces.
2. A small amount of dust on any optical surface isn't a problem and doesn't need to be removed. If the dust builds up, then use a can of compressed air and a camels hair brush to remove the dust. To remove fingerprints or other contaminants, use an optical cleaning kit or the Celestron Lens Pen (#93575).
3. If the inside of the objective lens needs cleaning, it should be done by a professional. Either have your instrument serviced by a telescope repair facility or return it to the factory for servicing.

SPECIFICATIONS

NOTE: Specifications are subject to change without notice.

Documents / Resources

Download manual

Here you can download full pdf version of manual, it may contain additional safety instructions, warranty information, FCC rules, etc.

Download Celestron PowerSeeker 50 - Telescope Manual