Choosing An Eyepiece - Meade Advanced Coma-Free f/8 LX600 with StarLock Instruction Manual

Connection" port on the back of the StarLock
unit, and the six-pin into the "StarLock" port
on the fork arm.
11. Attach the DEC jumper cable. LX600 features
split fork arms. In order to make electric
connection between the two portions you must
install the jumper cables on the left and right
sides. .

Choosing an Eyepiece

A telescope's eyepiece magnifi es the image formed by the
telescope's main optics. Each eyepiece has a focal length,
expressed in millimeters, or "mm".
The smaller the focal length, the
higher the magnifi cation. For
example: An eyepiece with a
focal length of 9mm has a higher
magnifi cation than an eyepiece
with a focal length of 26mm.
Your telescope comes supplied
with a 26mm Plössl eyepiece
which gives a wide, comfortable
fi eld of view with high
image resolution.
Low power eyepieces offer a wide fi eld of view, bright, high-
contrast images, and eye relief during long observing sessions.
To fi nd an object with a telescope, always start with a lower
power eyepiece such as the 26mm Plössl. When the object is
located and centered in the eyepiece, you may wish to switch to a
higher power eyepiece to enlarge the image as much as practical
for prevailing seeing conditions. For information about optional
eyepieces for the your telescope, see OPTIONAL ACCESSORIES,
page 44.
The power, or magnifi cation of a telescope is determined by the
focal length of the telescope and the focal length of the eyepiece
being used (an eyepiece's focal length is printed on the side of
the eyepiece). To calculate eyepiece power, divide the telescope's
focal length by the eyepiece's focal length.
For example: A 26mm eyepiece is supplied with LX600 ACF
models. The focal length of the 14" f/8 LX600 ACF is 2845mm
(see Specifi cations, pages 49 and 50).
Eyepiece Power = Telescope focal length ÷ Eyepiece focal length
Eyepiece Power = 2845mm ÷ 26mm
Eyepiece Power = 109
The eyepiece power, or magnifi cation is therefore 109x.
Note: For a list of magnifi cation ratings of the eyepieces
Series 4000 26mm Super
Plössl eyepiece
Too Much Power?
Can you ever have too much power? If the
type of power you're referring to is eyepiece
magnifi cation, yes, you can! The most
common mistake of the beginning observer
is to "overpower" a telescope by using high
magnifi cations which the telescope's aperture
and atmospheric conditions cannot reasonably
support. Keep in mind that a smaller, but bright
and well-resolved image is far superior to one
that is larger, but dim and poorly resolved.
Powers above 400X should be employed only
under the steadiest atmospheric conditions.
Jupiter; examples of the right amount of magnifi cation
(left) and too much magnifi cation (right).
AutoStar II can calculate the best eyepiece for
you to use. Try out the "Eyepiece Calc" feature in
the Utilities menu.
Most observers should have three or four
additional eyepieces to achieve the full range
of reasonable magnifi cations possible with
the LX600 ACF telescopes. See OPTIONAL
ACCESSORIES, page 44.
available for the LX600 ACF telescopes, see OPTIONAL
ACCESSORIES, page 44.
Note: Seeing conditions vary widely from night-to-night and
site-to-site. Turbulence in the air, even on an apparently
clear night, can distort images. If an image appears fuzzy
and ill-defi ned, back off to a lower power eyepiece for a
more well-resolved image (see above example of Jupiter).
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