Orion 9825 User Manual

and less sharp (this is a fundamental law of optics). The
steadiness of the air (the “seeing”) can also limit how much
magnification an image can tolerate.

Always start viewing with your lowest-power (longest focal
length) eyepiece in the telescope. It’s best to begin observing
with the lowest-power eyepiece, because it will typically pro-
vide the widest true field of view, which will make finding and
centering objects much easier After you have located and
centered an object, you can try switching to a higher-power
eyepiece to ferret out more detail, if atmospheric conditions
permit. If the image you see is not crisp and steady, reduce
the magnification by switching to a longer focal length eye-
piece. As a general rule, a small but well-resolved image will
show more detail and provide a more enjoyable view than a
dim and fuzzy, overmagnified image.

For land viewing, it’s best to stick with low power eyepieces
that yield a magnification under 100x. At higher powers,
images rapidly lose sharpness and clarity due to “heat waves”
caused by Sun-heated air.

Remember to aim well clear of the Sun, unless the front of the
telescope is fitted with a professionally made solar filter and
the finder scope is covered with foil or some other completely
opaque material.

The Apex telescopes are capable of focusing on objects that
are quite close, so you can view fine details of objects that are
nearby. Try focusing on a flower or insect at close distance to
enter a normally unseen microscopic world. Check the speci-
fications at the end of this manual for the closest focusing
distance for each of the Apex models.

When choosing a location for nighttime stargazing, make it as
far away from city lights as possible. Light-polluted skies
greatly reduce what can be seen with the telescope. Also,
give your eyes at least 20 minutes to dark-adapt to the night
sky. You’ll be surprised at how many more stars you will see!
Use a red flashlight, to see what you’re doing at the tele-

scope, or to read star charts. Red light will not spoil your dark-
adapted night vision as readily as white light will.

To find celestial objects with your telescope, you first need to
become reasonably familiar with the night sky. Unless you
know how to recognize the constellation Orion, for instance,
you won’t have much luck locating the Orion Nebula. A simple
planisphere, or star wheel, can be a valuable tool for learning
the constellations and seeing which ones are visible in the sky
on a given night. A good star chart or atlas, like the Orion
DeepMap 600, can come in handy for helping locate interest-
ing objects among the dizzying multitude of stars overhead.
Except for the Moon and the brighter planets, it is pretty time-
consuming and frustrating to hunt for objects randomly,
without knowing where to look. It is best to have specific tar-
gets in mind before you begin looking through the eyepiece.

The Moon, with its rocky, cratered surface, is one of the easi-
est and most interesting subjects to observe with your
telescope. The myriad craters, rilles, and jagged mountain for-
mations offer endless fascination. The best time to observe the
Moon is during a partial phase, that is, when the Moon is not
full. During partial phases, shadows cast by crater walls and
mountain peaks along the border between the dark and light
portions of the lunar disk highlight the surface relief. A full
Moon is too bright and devoid of surface shadows to yield a
pleasing view. Try using a Moon filter to dim the Moon when it
is too bright; it simply threads onto the bottom of the eyepiece.

The planets don’t stay put like stars do (planets don’t have
fixed R.A. and Dec. coordinates), so you will have to refer to
Sky Calendar at our website, www.telescope.com, or to
charts published monthly in Astronomy, Sky & Telescope, or
other astronomy references to locate them. Venus, Mars,
Jupiter, and Saturn are the brightest objects in the sky after
the Sun and the Moon. All four of these planets are not nor-
mally visible in the sky at one time, but chances are one or
two of them will be.

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. If atmospheric conditions
are good, you may be able to resolve thin cloud bands on the
planet’s disk.

SATURN The ringed planet is a breathtaking sight when it is
well positioned. The tilt angle of the rings varies over a period
of many years; sometimes they are seen edge-on, while at
other times they are broadside and look like giant “ears” on
each side of Saturn’s disk. A steady atmosphere (good see-
ing) is necessary for a good view.You may probably see a tiny,
bright “star” close by; that’s Saturn’s brightest moon, Titan.

VENUS At its brightest, Venus is the most luminous object in
the sky, excluding the Sun and the Moon. It is so bright that
sometimes it is visible to the naked eye during full daylight!
Ironically, Venus appears as a thin crescent, not a full disk,
when at its peak brightness. Because it is so close to the Sun,
it never wanders too far from the morning or evening horizon.

Focus

lock ring

Alignment 

thumb screws

Spring-loaded

tensioner

Eyepiece

Objective lens