Congratulations on your purchase of an Orion telescope. Your new Observer II 70mm Altazimuth Refractor
is a terric starter instrument for exploring the exotic wonders of the night sky. Designed to be compact
and easy to use, it will provide many hours of enjoyment for the whole family.
If you have never owned a telescope before, we would like to welcome you to amateur astronomy. Take
some time to familiarize yourself with the night sky. Learn to recognize the patterns of stars in the major
constellations. With a little practice, a little patience, and a reasonably dark sky away from city lights, you’ll
nd your telescope to be a never-ending source of wonder, exploration, and relaxation.
These instructions will help you set up, properly use, and care for your telescope. Please read them over
thoroughly before getting started.
Table of Contents
1. Parts List .................................2
2. Assembly .................................4
3. Preparing the Telescope for Operation ...........5
WARNING: Never look directly at the Sun through
your telescope—even for an instant—without a
professionally made solar lter that completely
covers the front of the instrument, or permanent eye
damage could result. Young children should use this
telescope only with adult supervision.
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G
B
P
A
E
N
L
K
Figure 1. The parts of the Observer II 70 Altaz telescope.
M
C
H
F
O
D
I
J
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2. Assembly
1. Attach the three aluminum tripod legs (A) to the yoke
mount (B) (Figure 3a) with the three hinged leg braces facing inward. Three hex-head bolts (C) each about 3" long,
with 5/8" washers (C) and wing nuts (shown in Figure 1
attached to the bolts), are provided for this purpose. Note
that the bolts should be inserted from the side of the leg
that has the hex-shaped hole, so that the bolt head seats
in the hex-shaped hole (Figure 3b). The washer then the
wing nut are placed on the opposite side on the exposed
end of the bolt.
2. Attach a leg lock thumbscrew (D) to each leg as shown
(Figure 4). Extend the sliding inner portion of the adjustable-height tripod leg to the desired length for all three
legs. Lock in place by tightening the leg lock thumbscrews.
Do not over-tighten the leg lock thumbscrews or you
may damage the collar they are attached to.
3. Now stand the tripod upright, spreading the legs evenly
apart so the accessory tray can be positioned to attach to
the three leg braces.
4. Attach the accessory tray (E) to the leg brace supports
(Figure 5) with the three short screws (F), small (3/8”)
washers, and small wing nuts provided (washers and
wing hunts shown attached to the screws in gure 1).
Place a washer on the screw. Then place the accessory
tray on top of one of the leg braces so that the mounting
screw passes through the hole at one of the corners of
the accessory tray, and through the slot in the leg brace.
Then place another small washer on the screw and thread
on and tighten the wing nut. You may nd it helpful to use
the supplied screwdriver tool (O) to hold the screw heads
while tightening the wingnuts. Repeat this procedure until
the tray is attached to all three leg braces.
The tripod and yoke mount are now fully assembled (Figure
6). Next you will install the telescope tube on the altazimuth
yoke mount.
5. With the optical tube (G) oriented relative to the yoke
mount (B) as shown in Figure 7, line up the holes in the
attachment plates on the side of the optical tube with the
holes in the ends of the yoke mount (7a). Then secure
the optical tube to the mount by inserting a yoke knob (H)
through the hole on each side of the yoke and thread them
into the attachment plates on the optical tube (7b). They
should be reasonably tight but still allow movement of the
telescope up and down with gentle force.
6. Insert the altitude micro-motion rod (I) through the hole in
the metal receptacle on the yoke mount (Figure 8a). You
may have to unthread the altitude lock knob a few turns to
provide clearance for the rod). Then attach the other end
of the rod to the metal anchor cylinder using the anchor
screw (J) provided (Figure 8b). Use the supplied screwdriver tool (O) to tighten the screw.
Finally, you will install a few accessories, then you’ll be ready
to observe!
7. To attach the red dot nder scope (K) to the optical tube,
orient the nder scope as shown in Figure 9 and slide the
bracket foot into the nder scope base until it clicks. (To
remove the nder scope, press the small tab at the back of
the base and slide the bracket out.)
8. Insert the star diagonal (L) into the focuser drawtube and
tighten the thumbscrew on the drawtube collar (Figure
10). Then insert the 25mm eyepiece (M) into the diagonal
Altitude
G
K
J
M
H
B
I
L
E
N
D
Figure 2. The Observer II 70 Altazimuth Refractor telescope fully
assembled, with key parts identied.
Wingnut
Washer
Figure 3. a)
Attach the three tripod legs to the mount platform,
b) making sure the bolt’s hex-shaped head seats in the hex-shaped
recess of the tripod leg.
Azimuth
A
4
Accessory tray
Screw head
Washer
Washer
Wing nut
Leg
Figure 4.
shown, being careful not to overtighten.
The telescope is now completely assembled! Before it can be
effectively used, however, there are a couple of things to do to
prepare the telescope for operation.
Thread a leg lock thumbscrew onto each tripod leg as
and secure it by lightly tightening the thumbscrew on the
diagonal.
3. Preparing the Telescope
for Operation
Aligning and Using the Red Dot Finder Scope
The included red dot nder scope (Figure 11) makes pointing
your telescope almost as easy as pointing your nger! It’s a nonmagnifying aiming device that superimposes a tiny LED red dot
on the sky, showing exactly where the telescope is pointed. It
permits easy object targeting prior to observation in the higherpower main telescope.
Before you can use the red dot nder scope, you must remove
the small plastic tab sticking out from the battery compartment
(Figure 11). Doing so will allow the pre-installed 3V CR-2032
button cell battery to make contact with the nder scope’s electronic circuitry to power the nder’s red LED illuminator. The tab
can then be discarded.
To use the red dot nder scope properly, it must be aligned with
the main telescope. This is easiest to do during daylight hours,
before observing at night. Follow this procedure:
1. First, remove the dust cap (P) from the front of the telescope.
2. Then, with the 25mm eyepiece already in the focuser from
step 8 above, point the telescope at a well-dened land
target (e.g., the top of a telephone pole) that’s at least a
quarter mile away. When pointing the telescope, be sure to
loosen the azimuth lock knob and micro-motion lock knob
(for coarse movement in altitude) to allow the telescope to
rotate freely about both axes.
3. Center the target in the eyepiece
Figure 5. Attach the accessory tray to each of the tripod three
leg brace supports using the provided hardware.
Note: The image in the telescope will appear mirror reversed,
i.e., reversed left to right. This is normal for refractor telescopes used for astronomical observing with a standard star
diagonal. (For terrestrial observing we recommend using an
optional “correct image” diagonal, which will serve up a correctly oriented view.)
Figure 6. The assembled altazimuth mount and tripod.
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Attachment plate
a
b
Figure 7. a) Place the optical tube in the yoke mount, lining up
the holes in the tube’s attachment plates with those in the yoke
mount. b) Thread the yoke knob into the threaded hole in the
attachment plates.
4. Now that a distant target is centered in the main telescope’s eyepiece, turn on the red dot nder scope by sliding the power switch to ON (refer to Figure 11). The “1”
position provides dim illumination while the “2” position
provides brighter illumination. Typically the dimmer setting
is used under dark skies and the brighter setting is used
under light-polluted skies or in daylight. Position your eye
at a comfortable distance from the rear of the unit. Look
through the rear of the nder scope with both eyes open
to see the illuminated red dot. The target object should
appear in the eld of view somewhere near the red dot.
5. You’ll want to center the target object on the red dot. To do
so, without moving the telescope, use the nder scope’s
vertical and horizontal adjustment knobs (shown in Figure
11) to position the red dot on the object.
Metal
receptacle
6. When the red dot is centered on the distant object, check
to make sure the object is still centered in the telescope’s
eyepiece. If it isn’t, re-center it then adjust the finder
scope’s alignment again. When the object is centered in
the telescope eyepiece and on the nder scope’s red dot,
the nder scope is properly aligned with the telescope.
The red dot nder scope’s alignment should be checked
before every observing session.
At the end of your observing session, be sure to slide the power
switch on the red dot nder scope to OFF to preserve battery life.
Understanding the “Altazimuth” Mount
The Observer II 70mm Altazimuth refractor features an “altazimuth” mount, which permits motion along two perpendicular
axes: altitude (up/down) and azimuth (left/right) (see Figure 2).
This makes pointing the telescope easy and intuitive. To move
the telescope in the azimuth direction, loosen the azimuth lock
knob, take hold of the telescope and gently rotate it to the desired
position. Then re-tighten the azimuth lock knob. To move the telescope in the altitude direction, loosen the altitude lock knob then
move the tube up or down to the desired position. Then retighten
the altitude lock knob. If the telescope moves too freely in the
in the altitude direction, then tighten up the yoke knobs a bit.
Of course, you can move the telescope in altitude and azimuth
simultaneously by loosening both of the lock knobs.
Because making ne-adjustments in the altitude of the telescope
can be difficult, the Observer II 70mm Altazimuth refractor comes
equipped with an altitude micro-motion rod and thumbwheel
(Figure 12). After making coarse altitude adjustments by moving
the tube by hand, you can then move the telescope incrementally by turning the micro-motion rod’s thumbwheel (the altitude
lock knob must be tightened for this). The telescope will move a
very small amount either up or down, depending on which direction you turn the thumbwheel. Fine motion can be helpful when
centering an object in the eyepiece.
Altitude
lock
knob
a
Anchor
cylinder
Screw
b
Figure 8. a) Insert the micro-motion rod through the hole in the
metal receptacle on the yoke mount. b) Attach the other end of
the rod to the anchor cylinder on the optical tube.
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4. Astronomical Observing
For many, this will be your rst foray into the exciting world of
amateur astronomy. The following information and observing
tips will help get you started.
Finder Scope
Base
Bracket
foot
Figure 9. Insert the red dot nder scope’s bracket into the base
near the focuser as shown.
Eyepiece
Yoke knob
Focuser
drawtube
Thumbscrew
Star diagonal
Figure 10.
the thumbscrew on the drawtube collar, then install the eyepiece in
the diagonal.
Secure the star diagonal in the focuser drawtube with
Thumbscrew
Focus wheel
Power switch
Plastic
tab
Opposite side
Vertical knob
Horizontal knob
Figure 11. The red dot nder scope has vertical and (inset)
horizontal adjustment knobs for aligning it with the telescope.
Choosing an Observing Site
When selecting a location for observing, get as far away as possible from direct articial light such as street lights, porch lights,
and automobile headlights. The glare from these lights will greatly impair your dark-adapted night vision. Set up on a grass or
dirt surface, not asphalt, because asphalt radiates more heat.
Heat disturbs the surrounding air and degrades the images seen
through the telescope. Avoid viewing over rooftops and chimneys,
as they often have warm air currents rising from them. Similarly,
avoid observing from indoors through an open (or closed) window, because the temperature difference between the indoor
and outdoor air will cause image blurring and distortion.
If at all possible, escape the light-polluted city sky and head for
darker country skies. You’ll be amazed at how many more stars
and deep-sky objects are visible in a dark sky!
“Seeing” and Transparency
Atmospheric conditions vary signicantly from night to night.
“Seeing” refers to the steadiness of the Earth’s atmosphere at
Altitude lock
knob
Micro-motion rod
Thumbwheel
Figure 12. The micro-motion rod and thumbwheel allow ne
altitude pointing control.
a given time. In conditions of poor seeing, atmospheric turbulence causes objects viewed through the telescope to “boil.”
If you look up at the sky and stars are twinkling noticeably,
the seeing is poor and you will be limited to viewing at lower
magnications. At higher magnications, images will not focus
clearly. Fine details on the planets and Moon will likely not be
visible.
In conditions of good seeing, star twinkling is minimal and
images appear steady in the eyepiece. Seeing is best overhead, worst at the horizon. Also, seeing generally gets better
after midnight, when much of the heat absorbed by the Earth
during the day has radiated off into space.
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. Transparency is
judged by the magnitude of the faintest stars you can see with
the unaided eye (5th or 6th magnitude is desirable).
Cooling the Telescope
All optical instruments need time to reach “thermal equilibrium.” The bigger the instrument and the larger the temperature
change, the more time is needed. Allow at least 30 minutes for
your telescope to acclimate to the temperature outdoors before
you start observing with it.
Let Your Eyes Dark-Adapt
Don’t expect to go from a lighted house into the darkness of the
outdoors at night and immediately see faint nebulas, galaxies,
and star clusters—or even very many stars, for that matter. Your
eyes take about 30 minutes to reach perhaps 80% of their full
dark-adapted sensitivity. As your eyes become dark-adapted,
more stars will glimmer into view and you’ll be able to see fainter
details in objects you view in your telescope.
To see what you’re doing in the darkness, use a red-ltered ashlight rather than a white light. Red light does not spoil your eyes’
dark adaptation like white light does. A ashlight with a red LED
light is ideal. Beware, too, that nearby porch, streetlights, and car
headlights will ruin your night vision.
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Eyepiece Selection
Magnication, or power, is determined by the focal length of
the telescope and the focal length of the eyepiece being used.
Therefore, by using eyepieces of different focal lengths, the
resultant magnication can be varied. It is quite common for an
observer to own ve or more eyepieces to access a wide range
of magnications. This allows the observer to choose the best
eyepiece to use depending on the object being viewed and
viewing conditions. Your Observer II 70mm Altazimuth refractor
comes with 25mm and 10mm Kellner eyepieces, which will sufce nicely to begin with. You can purchase additional eyepieces
later if you wish to have more magnication options.
Magnication is calculated as follows:
Telescope Focal Length (mm)
= Magnication
Eyepiece Focal Length (mm)
For example, the Observer II 70mm Altazimuth has a focal length
of 700mm, which when used with the supplied 25mm eyepiece
yields:
700 mm
= 28x
25 mm
The magnication provided by the 10mm eyepiece is:
700 mm
= 70x
10 mm
The maximum attainable magnication for a telescope is directly
related to how much light it can gather. The larger the aperture,
the more magnication is possible. In general, a gure of 50x per
inch of aperture is the maximum attainable for most telescopes.
Going beyond that will yield simply blurry, unsatisfactory views.
Your Observer II 70mm Altazimuth has an aperture of 70mm,
or 2.8 inches, so the maximum magnication would be about
140x (2.8 x 50). This level of magnication assumes you have
ideal atmospheric conditions for observing (which is seldom the
case).
Figure 13. The Kellner eyepieces have barrels threaded to
accept optional Orion 1.25" lters. A Moon lter is useful for cutting
glare and revealing more detail on the lunar surface.
Keep in mind that as you increase magnication, the brightness
of the object viewed will decrease; this is an inherent principle
of the laws of physics and cannot be avoided. If magnication is
doubled, an image appears four times dimmer. If magnication is
tripled, image brightness is reduced by a factor of nine!
So start by using the 25mm eyepiece, then try switching to the
10mm eyepiece later if you want to boost the magnication.
Focusing the Telescope
To focus the telescope, turn the focus wheels (Figure 10)
forward or back until you see your target object (e.g., stars,
the Moon, etc.) in the eyepiece. Then make ner adjustments
until the image is sharp. If you’re having trouble achieving initial focus, rack the focuser drawtube all the way in using the
focus wheels, then while looking into the eyepiece slowly turn
the focus wheels so that the drawtube extends outward. Keep
going until you see your target object come into focus. Note
that when you change eyepieces you may have to adjust the
focus a bit to get a sharp image with the newly inserted eyepiece.
What to Expect
So what will you see with your telescope? You should be able to
see bands on Jupiter, the rings of Saturn, craters on the Moon,
the waxing and waning of Venus, and many bright deep-sky
objects. Do not expect to see color as you do in NASA photos,
since those are taken with long-exposure cameras and have
“false color” added. Our eyes are not sensitive enough to see
color in deep-sky objects except in a few of the brightest ones.
Objects to Observe
Now that you are all set up and ready to go, one critical decision
must be made: what to look at?
A. The Moon
With its rocky surface, the Moon is one of the easiest and most
interesting objects to view with your telescope. Lunar craters,
maria, and even mountain ranges can all be clearly seen from
a distance of 238,000 miles away! With its ever-changing phases, you’ll get a new view of the Moon every night. The best time
to observe our one and only natural satellite is during a partial
phase, that is, when the Moon is not full. During partial phases,
shadows are cast on the surface, which reveal more detail, especially right along the border between the dark and light portions
of the disk (called the “terminator”). A full Moon is too bright and
devoid of surface shadows to yield a pleasing view. Make sure
to observe the Moon when it is well above the horizon to get the
sharpest images.
Use an optional Moon lter to dim the Moon when it is very bright.
It simply threads onto the bottom of the eyepieces (you must rst
remove the eyepiece from the focuser to attach a lter). You’ll nd
that the Moon lter improves viewing comfort, and helps to bring
out subtle features on the lunar surface.
B. The Planets
The planets don’t stay put like the stars, so to nd them you
should refer to the monthly star charts at OrionTelescopes.
com, or to charts published monthly in Astronomy, Sky &
Telescope, or other astronomy magazines. Venus, Mars,
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Jupiter, and Saturn are the brightest objects in the sky after the
Sun and the Moon. Other planets may be visible but will likely
appear star-like. Because planets are quite small in apparent
size, optional higher-power eyepieces or a Barlow lens are recommended and often needed for detailed observations.
B. The Sun
You can change your nighttime telescope into a daytime Sun
viewer by installing an optional full-aperture solar lter over the
front opening of the telescope. The primary attraction is sunspots, which change shape, appearance, and location daily.
Sunspots are directly related to magnetic activity in the Sun.
Many observers like to make drawings of sunspots to monitor
how the Sun is changing from day to day.
Important Note: Do not look at the Sun with any optical
instrument without a professionally made solar lter, or permanent eye damage could result.
D. The Stars
Stars will appear like twinkling points of light. Even powerful
telescopes cannot magnify stars to appear as more than a
point of light. You can, however, enjoy the different colors of
the stars and locate many pretty double and multiple stars. The
famous “Double-Double” in the constellation Lyra and the gorgeous two-color double star Albireo in Cygnus are favorites.
Defocusing a star slightly can help bring out its color.
E. Deep-Sky Objects
Under dark skies, you can observe a wealth of fascinating
deep-sky objects, including gaseous nebulas, open and globular star clusters, and different types of galaxies. Most deep-sky
objects are very faint, so it is important you nd an observing
site well away from light pollution.
To nd deep-sky objects with your telescope, you rst 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. Once you have identied a few constellations,
a good star chart, atlas, or astronomy app will come in handy
for helping locate interesting deep-sky objects to view within
the constellations.
Do not expect these objects to appear like the photographs
you see in books and on the internet; most will look like dim
gray smudges. Our eyes are not sensitive enough to see color
in deep-sky objects except in a few of the brightest ones. But
as you become more experienced and your observing skills
get sharper, you will be able to ferret out more and more subtle
details and structure.
5. Worthwhile Optional
Accessories
• Moon Filter – A 1.25" Moon lter will cut down the strong
glare of sunlight reected from the Moon, making Moon
viewing more comfortable and revealing more surface
detail. The lter threads into the bottom of the Kellner eyepieces that came with your telescope (Figure 13).
• Barlow Lens – A 2x Barlow lens doubles the magnify-
ing power of any eyepiece it’s used with, giving you a big
power boost to get in closer to your target object. You just
insert it between the diagonal and the eyepiece.
• Correct-Image Diagonal – Also called an “erect-image”
diagonal, this accessory will provide a correctly oriented
view through the telescope, which is recommended for
daytime terrestrial viewing.
• Planisphere – A nifty “star wheel” that shows what stars
and constellations are visible in the sky at any time of any
night. Just set the date and time see a mini representation
of your local night sky. Great for identifying what you see
and planning an evening’s observing session.
• Star Map – More detailed than a planisphere, a star map is
essential for locating interesting celestial objects to observe
with your telescope. Nowadays many mobile astronomy
apps feature customizable star maps that you can access
on your smartphone or tablet while you’re at the telescope.
6. Telescope Care and
Maintenance
If you give your telescope reasonable care, it will last a lifetime.
Store it in a clean, dry, dust-free place, safe from rapid changes
in temperature and humidity. Do not store the telescope outdoors,
although storage in a garage or shed is OK. Small components
like eyepieces and other accessories should be kept in a protective box or storage case. Keep the dust cover on the front of the
telescope when it is not in use.
Your refractor telescope requires very little mechanical maintenance. The optical tube has a smooth painted nish that is fairly
scratch-resistant. If a scratch does appear on the tube, it will not
harm the telescope. If you wish, you may apply some auto touchup paint to the scratch. Smudges on the tube can be wiped off
with a soft cloth and household cleaning uid.
Cleaning Optics
Any quality optical lens cleaning tissue and optical lens cleaning uid specically designed for multi-coated optics can be used
to clean the lenses of your telescope and eyepieces. Never use
regular glass cleaner or cleaning uid designed for eyeglasses.
Before cleaning, remove any loose particles or dust from the lens
with a blower bulb or soft brush. Then apply some cleaning uid
to a tissue, never directly on the optics. Wipe the lens gently in a
circular motion, then remove any excess uid with a fresh lens
tissue. Oily ngerprints and smudges may be removed using this
method. Use caution; rubbing too hard may scratch the lens. On
larger lenses, clean only a small area at a time, using a fresh lens
tissue on each area. Never reuse tissues.
When bringing the telescope inside after an evening’s viewing it
is normal for moisture to accumulate on the lenses due to the
change in temperature. We suggest leaving the telescope and
eyepieces uncovered overnight to allow the condensation to
evaporate.
This Orion product is warranted against defects in materials or workmanship for a period of one year from the date
of purchase. This warranty is for the benet 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. Proof of purchase (such as a copy of the original receipt) is required. This
This warranty does not apply if, in Orion’s judgment, the instrument has been abused, mishandled, or modied, nor
does it apply to normal wear and tear. This warranty gives you specic legal rights. It is not intended to remove or
restrict your other legal rights under applicable local consumer law; your state or national statutory consumer rights
For further warranty information, please visit www.OrionTelescopes.com/warranty.
Corporate Offices: 89 Hangar Way, Watsonville CA 95076 - USA