LOCAL CONDITIONS AND TARGET SELECTION
1. Unless you are planning to look at a bright object (m_V < 2), you will probably have to wait until an hour or more after sunset for the sky to become sufficiently dark.

2. Even well after sundown, the sky brightness is quite high, due to light pollution from nearby streetlights and security lights, and the surrounding megopolis. Point sources dimmer than 10th magnitude are probably invisible, and extended objects will have an even lower (brighter) magnitude limit.

3. If you're looking for ideas for things to observe, Burnham's Celestial Atlas, which should be on the bookshelf in the C-14 dome, lists many multiple stars, nebulae, and other astronomical showpieces, and Sky & Telescope Magazine is also a good resource for targets. In addition, RDRO will gradually compile a list of good targets.

SETUP
1. Follow the instructions in C-10 Telescope Setup to properly open the dome and align the telescope.

2. Wait for night to fall fully before trying for any dim objects. Also, give your eyes at least 15 minutes to fully dark-adjust after you leave the brightly-lit interior of Downs.

EYEPIECE SELECTION
1. The eyepiece case contains a few different eyepieces, currently 25 mm and 15 mm. We'll try to find a nice big 40mm eyepiece to put up here. Choose an eyepiece appropriate to the object you want to look at. Longer focal lengths (40 mm) will give you a wider field of view; shorter focal lengths (15 mm) will result in a smaller FOV at a higher magnification. With the poor seeing, the 15 mm eyepiece will probably just give you an enlarged view of a fuzzy object.

POINTING
1. When moving the telescope over large angles, loosen both RA and dec brakes, grab the blue Y-yoke or the rails on top and bottom of the main scope tube, and push or pull. Do not use the eyepiece diagonal or the finderscope as a handle.

2. If you can locate your target object with the naked eye, align the scope the the object by sighting along the rails on the main tube.

3. If you have RA and dec coordinates for the object (and if you calibrated the setting circles as described in the Setup document), then you can simply move the scope to those coordinates. Beware of confusing north (+) and south (-) declinations.

4. The target should now be in the finderscope. Move it to the crosshair center with gentle tugs on the yoke and main scope tube. Lock the dec and RA brakes. The fine-adjust knobs can be used for the precision alignment.

5. The target should now be visible in the main scope eyepiece. Center it with the knobs, and make any fine focus adjustments necessary.

6. Marvel at the splendors of the universe.