How to Use the Telescope at a Wander

Picture this—you're at a Wander roasting s'mores and toasting wine around the fire pit with your loved ones under a starry evening. Sounds perfect, doesn't it?

But we want to take the experience up a notch by offering a unique amenity that's available at each Wander house: a telescope.

All Wander homes are equipped with the Celestron StarSense EXPLORER LT 114AZ telescope. Now, you can go stargazing from the comfort of your Wander home, and here's how to use it.

For a quick overview of how to use the telescope, check out this video. For more detailed written instructions, follow the steps below.

Please take note that the telescope we have at Wander is a Newtonian reflector telescope, meaning that images of terrestrial objects will appear upside-down. This is perfectly normal, and you may read more here.

Step 1

To move the mount from left to right or vice-versa, loosen the azimuth tension knob located on the yoke mount between two of the tripod legs.

Hold the tripod leg with one hand and grab the telescope tube focuser and move it left or right as desired. The amount of tension you feel when moving the telescope can be adjusted by tightening or loosening the knob to a level that is comfortable for you.

Step 2

To move the telescope up and down, hold the telescope's focuser in one hand and loosen the knob on the slow-motion rod guide. The telescope can now be moved up or down as desired. When you are close to your target, tighten the knob to secure the telescope in place.

Fine adjustment in the up-and-down direction can be done using the altitude slow-motion rod. Keep the rod guide knob locked and rotate the black handle on the slow-motion rod. This allows you to move the telescope in small increments to help center objects or follow celestial objects in the night sky.

Step 3

The telescope should not require realignment unless it is bumped or dropped.

In case it is not aligned, start by pointing your telescope at a very distant object. It’s best to choose an object that’s at least a quarter-mile away. We recommend a streetlight, car license plate, stop sign, or the top of a tree. Center the object in your telescope's eyepiece.

If the image is blurry, gently turn the focus knobs on either side of the telescope until it comes into sharp focus. Note: the image in your telescope may appear inverted. This is perfectly normal in an astronomical telescope.

Step 4

Once the object is centered in your 25 mm eyepiece, look through the finderscope and locate the red dot.

Without moving the telescope, use the two adjustment knobs to move the finder around until the red dot appears over the same object you are observing in the telescope's 25 mm eyepiece.

Your finderscope should be aligned and you should be ready to go stargazing!