Star Points for July, 2004; by Curtis Roelle Tune Up Your Telescope Do you own a telescope? If so, maybe you got it for your birthday or as a holiday present. Perhaps you bought it for yourself, from a store or by mail order, either on a whim or after careful deliberation. How many times have you used your telescope? Do you use it regularly? If you have had your telescope for six months or more and can count the number of times it has been used on one hand maybe there is something wrong that can be fixed. A local group of astronomers might be able to help you. Read on to find out when and where help will soon be available. There is a host of reasons why telescopes fall into disuse. Maybe the owner bought a new one and the old one gets used less often. Or setting it up might be such a hassle that it's just not worth it. Maybe it simply doesn't work right or is too hard to use and figure out. Perhaps it doesn't produce results that meet the expectations you set after seeing the pictures on the box. You know, the ones taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope? The problems telescope owners have with their equipment usually fall into two categories: user-related and mechanical-related. The former includes such things as difficulties in setting up or using the telescope and its related equipment. Problems like these can be overcome through education coupled with experience. Reading the manual thoroughly or talking with more experienced telescope owners are two ways to start overcoming user issues. Polar mountings make it easier for a telescope to track celestial objects rising and setting with the earth's daily rotation. If the telescope is not set up correctly it will not track properly. Computer controlled telescopes have increased in popularity in recent years. Although a computer assisted telescope finds objects with the push of a button, setting them up and getting them initialized and oriented can be a chore. The user needs to set the computer's internal clock and key in the telescope's terrestrial position. This is necessary so that when the telescope is instructed to point at an object its computer can determine if the object is above the horizon and therefore visible. For a price, telescopes equipped with Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) receivers can do this automatically. But even if a computer controlled telescope has a GPS interface the telescope will need to be manually oriented by pointing it to at least two known bright stars every time the telescope is set up to observe. Thus, an observer must be familiar with the stars the telescope needs as well as where to locate them in the night sky above. In addition to education, experience is a key element for overcoming user problems. Experience is never achieved by using a telescope still in its box. A telescope with a hardware problem might have a serious mechanical flaw that prevents it from working properly. For instance, a protruding part might block the telescope and prevent it from turning freely on its axis. A solution might be obtained by asking a knowledgeable person for their opinion. A simple modification to the original design could be all it needs. More commonly, hardware problems are solved by making adjustments the telescope was designed to accommodate. For instance some telescopes are equipped with "finder scopes" mounted on the side. They often have cross hairs in the eyepiece and are used to zero in on objects much like the scope on a rifle. However, if the optical axis of the finder is not parallel with the optical axis of the main telescope, the finder will not work well when trying to locate celestial objects. Although the solution is a simple adjustment, the telescope owner may not be aware of it. If the telescope cannot focus on a distant object then perhaps its internal optics are out of alignment. In that case the optics may need to be collimated. The collimation process is typically required more for reflecting than for refracting telescopes. Once the owner knows how to perform this procedure they can repeat it whenever necessary at future observing sessions. A Telescope Owners Workshop is being conducted by the Westminster Astronomical Society Inc. (WASI) at the regular July meeting at the Bear Branch Nature Center (BBNC). WASI members will be on hand to help telescope owners by answering questions about their instruments and to assist in making adjustments. If your telescope needs a free tune up or you have questions about its operation, just bring (1) your telescope, (2) its accessories including the mounting, and (3) all documentation and manuals that came with it to BBNC on Wednesday, July 14. Initially, leave your telescope in the car and meet in the auditorium at 07:30 p.m. EDT. If you have questions, e-mail me at StarPointsUSA@yahoo.com or check the WASI web page at http://www.westminsterastro.org/ for other contact information.