INSTRUCTION MANUAL Orion Skywatcher 90mm EQ ® ™ #9024 Equatorial Refracting Telescope Customer Support (800) 676-1343 E-mail: support@telescope.com Corporate Offices (831) 763-7000 Providing Exceptional Consumer Optical Products Since 1975 P.O. Box 1815, Santa Cruz, CA 95061 IN 112 Rev.
Piggy back camera adapter Tube mounting rings Finder scope bracket Finder scope Tube ring mounting plate Alignment screws (3) Dec. lock knob Dec. setting circle Eyepiece R.A. lock knob Star diagonal R.A. slow-motion control Counterweight locking thumbscrew Counterweight Focus knob Dec. slow-motion control R.A.
Congratulations on your purchase of a quality Orion telescope. Your new Skywatcher 90mm EQ Refractor is designed for high-resolution viewing of astronomical objects. With its precision optics and equatorial mount, you’ll be able to locate and enjoy hundreds of fascinating celestial denizens, including the planets, Moon, and a variety of deep-sky galaxies, nebulas, and star clusters. If you have never owned a telescope before, we would like to welcome you to amateur astronomy.
finder scope or eyepieces with your fingers. The optical surfaces have delicate coatings on them that can easily be damaged if touched inappropriately. NEVER remove any lens assembly from its housing for any reason, or the product warranty and return policy will be void. 1. Lay the equatorial mount on its side. Attach the tripod legs, one at a time, to the mount by sliding the bolts installed in the tops of the tripod legs into the slots at the base of the mount and tightening the wingnuts finger-tight.
rotate freely about the R.A. axis. Rotate it until the counterweight shaft is parallel to the ground (i.e., horizontal). scope. Make sure the knurled lock nut on each alignment screw is loosened before making any adjustments. 2. Now loosen the counterweight locking thumbscrew and slide the weight along the shaft until it exactly counterbalances the telescope. (Figure 2a) That’s the point at which the shaft remains horizontal even when you let go with both hands (Figure 2b).
scale is set at the latitude of your observing site. If you don’t know your latitude, consult a geographical atlas to find it. For example, if your latitude is 35° North, set the pointer to +35. Then retighten the latitude locking t-bolt. The latitude setting should not have to be adjusted again unless you move to a different viewing location some distance away. 3. Loosen the Dec. lock knob and rotate the telescope optical tube until it is parallel with the R.A. axis. The pointer on the Dec.
Figure 1 the telescope is pointed north as it would be during polar alignment. The counterweight shaft is oriented downward. But it will not look like that when the telescope is pointed in other directions. Let’s say you want to view an object that is directly overhead, at the zenith. How do you do it? One thing you DO NOT do is make any adjustment to the latitude adjusting t-bolt. That will undo the mount’s polar alignment.
For example, the Skywatcher 90 EQ, which has a focal length of 910mm, used in combination with a 25mm eyepiece, yields a power of Avoid looking over buildings, pavement, or any other source of heat, as they will cause “heat wave” disturbances that will distort the image you see through the telescope. 910 ÷ 25 = 36x. Especially important for observing faint objects is good “transparency”—air free of moisture, smoke, and dust. All tend to scatter light, which reduces an object’s brightness.
published monthly in Astronomy, Sky & Telescope, or other astronomy magazines to locate them. Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn are the brightest objects in the sky after the Sun and the Moon. Not all four of these planets are normally visible at any one time. JUPITER The largest planet, Jupiter, is a great subject to observe. You can see the disk of the giant planet and watch the ever-changing positions of its four largest moons, Io, Callisto, Europa, and Ganymede.
the planet to be photographed and the ISO of the film being used. “Piggybacking” Photography The Moon and planets are interesting targets for the budding astrophotographer, but what’s next? Literally thousands of deep-sky objects can be captured on film with a type of astrophotography called “piggybacking.” The basic idea is that a camera with its own camera lens attached rides on top of the main telescope.
ing optical surfaces with your fingers, as skin oil may etch optical coatings. To remove fingerprints or smudges from a lens, use photographic-type lens cleaning fluid and lint-free optical lens cleaning tissue. Do not use household cleaners or eyeglasstype cleaning cloth or wipes, as they often contain undesirable additives like silicone, which don’t work well on precision optics.
Figure 2a. Balancing the telescope with respect to the R.A. axis by sliding the counterweight along its shaft. Figure 2b. Telescope is now balanced on the R.A. axis. That is, when hands are released, counterweight shaft remains horizontal. Figure 2c. Preparing the telescope to be balanced on the Dec. axis by first releasing the Dec. lock knob. Figure 2d. Balancing the telescope with respect to the Dec. axis. As shown here, the telescope is out of balance (tilting). Figure 2e.
DE Declination (Dec.) setting circle IS ON AX SI EN XIS T C AS NA TIO INA CL R.A. lock knob GH RI Right ascension (R.A.) setting circle Declination (Dec.) slow motion control Right ascension (R.A.) slow motion control Latitude adjustment t-bolt Latitude locking t-bolt Azimuth adjustment knob Latitude scale Figure 3. The equatorial mount. Little Dipper (in Ursa Minor) Big Dipper N.C.P. (in Ursa Major) Polaris Cassiopeia rs r Sta te Poin Figure 4.
Figure 5a. Telescope pointing south. Note that in all these illustrations, the mount and tripod remain stationary; only the R.A. and Dec. axes are moved. Figure 5b. Telescope pointing north. Figure 5c. Telescope pointing east. Figure 5d. Telescope pointing west.
One-Year Limited Warranty This Orion Skywatcher 90 EQ is warranted against defects in materials or workmanship for a period of one year from the date of purchase. This warranty is for the benefit of the original retail purchaser only. During this warranty period Orion Telescopes & Binoculars will repair or replace, at Orion’s option, any warranted instrument that proves to be defective, provided it is returned postage paid to: Orion Warranty Repair, 89 Hangar Way, Watsonville, CA 95076.
Improved Finder Scope Bracket Addendum to the Instructions #9024, 9025, 9086 During recent production of our Skywatcher 90 EQ (#9024), Explorer 90 AZ (#9025), and ShortTube 80 (#9086) telescopes, we developed an improved design for the finder scope bracket. The new design makes aiming the finder scope much easier, since it requires adjustment to only two alignment screws instead of three. As a result of this improvement, there are some discrepancies with the provided instruction manuals.
