GeoSafari Vega 600 User manual

EI-5248
Ages 8+
Grades 3+
®

CAUTION:
Never look directly at the sun, with or without your telescope. Never
aim your telescope at the sun, or anywhere near the sun. Instant
and irreversible eye damage can occur, including blindness.
Do not let children use the telescope without adult supervision any
time the sun is above the horizon.

1
Introduction ........................................................................ 2
Getting Started.................................................................... 2
Let’s Look at Your Vega 600 .............................................. 3
Assembly Diagram .............................................................. 4
Assembling Your Telescope ................................................ 5
The Finder Scope ................................................................ 7
Installing Your Find r Scop .......................................... 7
Aligning Your Find r Scop ..........................................
Using Your Telescope ..........................................................
Choosing an Ey pi c for Vi wing................................ 9
Using Your T l scop for T rr strial Vi wing .............. 10
Tips for T l scop Us .................................................... 10
Frequently Asked Questions .............................................. 11
Observing the Night Sky .................................................... 12
Plan ts ............................................................................ 12
Stars ................................................................................ 12
Th Moon ........................................................................ 12
Learning More About Astronomy...................................... 14
Caring for Your Telescope .................................................. 14
Storag ............................................................................ 14
Optics .............................................................................. 15
Table of Contents

2
Introduction
Your V ga 600 is a r fractor t l scop . R fractors w r th first typ s
of t l scop s inv nt d. A r fractor t l scop coll cts light through a
larg obj ctiv l ns and dir cts it through th t l scop to th y pi c
for magnification. Your t l scop will nabl you to s many int r sting
obj cts in th night sky as w ll as giving you an up-clos vi w of
r markabl things h r on arth, from animals and landforms to
sporting v nts. Th information in this guid will h lp you g t th
most from your t l scop .
Getting Started
R mov all of th compon nts from th box. Using th list and pictur
b low, id ntify ach of th parts of your t l scop . It is r comm nd d
that you k p your t l scop box for long-t rm storag , or should you
v r n d to r turn th t l scop for s rvic .
Component parts:
A. Optical tub with rack and pinion focus r (pr -ass mbl d)
B. Tripod with altazimuth mount
C. Find r scop with brack t
D. Diagonal mirror
E. 20mm y pi c
F. 9mm y pi c
G. 2X r cting y pi c
A
B
CD
E
F
G

3
1. Optical tube: Holds and prot cts th t l scop ’s main, or
obj ctiv , l ns.
2. Objective lens: Gath rs light from a distant obj ct and brings that
light, or imag , to a point or focus.
3. Dust cap: Prot cts th obj ctiv l ns from scratch s and dirt.
4. Dew shield: Pr v nts d w from forming on th l ns at night and
acts as a sunshad to r duc r fl ctions during th day.
5. Finder scope: A low-pow r d t l scop that you align to th main
t l scop to mak it asi r to locat distant obj cts.
6. Eyepiece: Brings th imag from th t l scop ’s obj ctiv l ns to
your y . Your t l scop com s with a low-pow r y pi c and a
high-pow r on , too.
7. Diagonal mirror: Ori nts th imag from your t l scop so that it is
right-sid up. It also mak s it mor comfortabl to look at stars high
in th sky without b nding down low.
8. Focus knob: Turn th focus knob to mak imag s cl ar r.
9. Altazimuth mount: Holds th optical tub and allows you to adjust
your vi w up and down (altitud ) and sid -to-sid (azimuth).
10. Tripod: Supports th optical tub and mount. Latching adjust rs allow
you to chang th h ight of th tripod and lock it into plac for
comfortabl vi wing.
Let’s Look at Your Vega 600
Familiariz yours lf with th parts of your t l scop and th ir purpos .
10
1
3
4
5
6
7
9
2(inside)
Azimuth
control
Altitude
control

4
Asse bly Diagra
C
B
A
E
DF
G
I
J
K
L
H
A. Optical tub
B. Obj ctiv l ns (insid )
C. Dust cap
D. D w shi ld
E. Find r scop
F. Ey pi c
G. Diagonal mirror
H. Focus r/Focus knob
I. Altitud lock bolt
and nut
J. Azimuth lock scr w
K. Tripod h ight
adjust rs
L. Tripod l gs

5
Asse bling Your Telescope
Us th diagram on pag 4 and th dir ctions b low to ass mbl
your t l scop .
1. G ntly pull th aluminum tripod l gs (L) apart as far as th y will go
until th c nt r l g brac s sit flat, in a horizontal position. (S
Figur 1.)
2. Unlatch th tripod h ight adjust rs (K). Ext nd th l gs of your
t l scop until it is at a comfortabl h ight. Latch th tripod h ight
adjust rs to lock th l gs in plac .
3. R mov th altitud lock bolt and nut compon nt (I) from th plastic
“tongu ” locat d at th top of th tripod.
4. Th und rsid of th optical tub (A) has two prongs with a hol in
ach. Plac th s prongs ov r th tongu . Lin up th hol s on th
prongs with hol s in th tongu . (S Figur 2.)
Figur 1
Figur 2

6
5. On of th prongs has a cutout that is th xact siz and shap as th
altitud lock nut. Plac th nut in this cutout and hold it in plac . Ins rt
th altitud lock bolt from th oth r sid and turn it clockwis to scr w
it into th nut. Tight n it nough so that you can mov th optical
tub up or down and it will stay point d at th angl you want. (You
should b abl to aim th optical tub almost v rtically. If not, you
must r mov th optical tub and r v rs its position in th tongu .
(S Figur 2.)
6. Find th azimuth lock scr w (J) and tight n it, if n c ssary, by turning
it clockwis . Th scr w, wh n fully tight n d, will lock your t l scop ’s
horizontal mov m nt.
7. R mov th prot ctiv plastic cap ov r th t l scop ’s focus r (H) by
loos ning th two small scr ws. R mov th black plastic cap from
th diagonal mirror (G) and ins rt th mirror into th focusing tub .
S cur th mirror in plac by tight ning th two small scr ws. (S
Figur 3.)
8. Loos n th prot ctiv plastic cap from th diagonal mirror by
loos ning th singl scr w. Locat th 20mm y pi c , ins rt it into
th diagonal mirror, and tight n th scr w. (S Figur 3.)
9. Follow th dir ctions on pag 7 to install and align your
t l scop ’s find r scop (E) before using your t l scop .
Figur 3

7
The Finder Scope
Th find r scop is a small t l scop that sits on your optical tub . It
magnifi s obj cts fiv tim s and has a light coll cting obj ctiv l ns that
is 24mm in diam t r. Th vi wing fi ld of th find r scop is much wid r
than that of your t l scop so it is asi r to locat a particular obj ct
with th find r scop . Always use your finder scope to locate the object
you want to view first. The finder scope should be aligned with the
main optical tube before you begin using the telescope. By prop rly
aligning your find r scop with your t l scop , it will b asi r for you
to pr cis ly aim your t l scop at obj cts you want to study.
Installing Your Finder Scope
1. Your find r scop com s alr ady
install d in its mounting brack t. This
brack t attach s to your optical
tub with th two larg chrom d
bolts locat d n ar th t l scop ’s
focus r (H). (If th find r scop tub
is wrapp d in plastic, loos n th thr
positioning scr ws on th brack t
until you can slid th find r scop
out. R mov th plastic and r ins rt
th find r scop in th sam dir ction that it was position d b for .
Tight n th thr positioning scr ws. (S Figur 4.)
2. R mov only th top nut from ach
of th bolts and s t th m asid .
3. Position th find r scop and brack t
so that th two slots in th brack t
slip ov r th two upright bolts and
th larg r l ns of th find r scop
fac s in th dir ction of th larg
l ns at th front of your t l scop .
(S Figur 5.)
4. Thr ad th two nuts back ov r th
two bolts. Tight n th m firmly, but
do not ov r tight n th m as you may crack th brack t.
Note: Wh n you look through th find r scop , you will s an
upsid -down and backwards (l ft/right r v rs d) imag . This is
normal for all astronomical t l scop s.
Figur 4
Figur 5

Aligning Your Finder Scope
To work ff ctiv ly, your find r scop must b align d with your t l scop .
This is most asily don during th daytim with your low pow r (20mm)
y pi c in plac .
1. R mov th black plastic dust cap (C) from th obj ctiv l ns (B) at
th front of th t l scop and look through your t l scop to locat
an asily r cognizabl obj ct as far away as you can—at l ast 300 f t
away. Loos n th altitud and azimuth controls. Adjust th optical
tub until this obj ct is in th c nt r of th vi wing fi ld. Us th
focusing knob to mak th imag sharp.
2. Tight n th altitud lock bolt (I) and th azimuth lock scr w (J) so that
th t l scop is lock d in position.
3. Look through th find r scop . If th obj ct is not visibl or c nt r d
in th find r scop , r l as on of th thr positioning scr ws
holding th find r scop and car fully r position it until th obj ct
is c nt r d within th v rtical and horizontal lin s, call d “crosshairs.“
4. Occasionally ch ck th vi w through th t l scop to mak sur it
hasn’t mov d. Wh n th obj ct is c nt r d in both th find r scop
and th t l scop , tight n th positioning scr ws firmly holding th
find r scop in plac .
5. You may n d to r p at this proc dur to nsur a p rf ct alignm nt.
Wh n succ ssfully compl t d, th find r scop and th t l scop will
“s ” th sam vi w, nabling you to locat and study obj cts quickly
and asily.
Using Your Telescope
1. For b st r sults, tak your t l scop outsid . Do not aim it through a
window. If th window is clos d, th window glass will introduc
r fl ctions and distortions. If th window is op n, th moving air
curr nts of diff r nt t mp ratur s will caus distortions.
2. L t your t l scop adjust to th outsid t mp ratur . Your t l scop
will p rform much b tt r if th l ns s and th air insid th tub ar
all th sam t mp ratur as th outsid air. In xtr m t mp ratur s,
it may tak up to 30 minut s to acclimat your t l scop .