Two very quick questions about assembly

[KonusKing]

Hello stargazers, I recently was given a 114mm/900mm Newtonian, and I am very satisfied with it. I just have two quick questions about its assembly:

1) I attached my finder scope using the two bolts on my main telescope's tube, but the mount for the finder scope came with a small rubber band around it, shown in the picture below. Does anyone know what this little rubber band is for?

2) My Newtonian has a small circular piece of black paper behind its primary mirror, shown in the center of the picture below. The telescope also came with a whole stack of papers the same size that were just loose in the box. What are these small circular papers for? Should I leave the one behind the primary mirror that is currently there? Is there any reason to keep the other pieces of paper that are the same size?

Thanks for the help!

[Franklin]

Yes, the rubber band goes around the finderscope tube, about in the middle. You then pull the finderscope back, before tightening the thumbscrews at the rear, to hold the finderscope. There is a ringed groove at the front of the bracket that the rubber ring fits into. It's to help hold the finder steady.

The mirror is adjustable (if it works, don't touch it) the black papers are just spacers if needed after adjustments.

Edited December 15, 2021 by Franklin

[vlaiv]

12 minutes ago, KonusKing said:

1) I attached my finder scope using the two bolts on my main telescope's tube, but the mount for the finder scope came with a small rubber band around it, shown in the picture below. Does anyone know what this little rubber band is for?

It is O ring that is supposed to go on finder before it is inserted into its rings

There is a groove on body of the finder - and that O ring helps it sit inside its rings more tightly.

14 minutes ago, KonusKing said:

2) My Newtonian has a small circular piece of black paper behind its primary mirror, shown in the center of the picture below. The telescope also came with a whole stack of papers the same size that were just loose in the box. What are these small circular papers for? Should I leave the one behind the primary mirror that is currently there? Is there any reason to keep the other pieces of paper that are the same size?

Back of the scope is open so it lets the air in and help bring telescope mirror to ambient temperature more quickly. This helps with cooling, but causes issues with light leak.

I guess black paper is inserted to block the light while still letting the scope cool easier.

Some people use shower cap on the back of the scope to prevent light leaks like this:

This can easily be fitted once scope is cooled properly.

[KonusKing]

Great, thank you both, @vlaiv and @Franklin, I put the o-ring in place and the finder scope sits much more snugly now! And that's good to know about the extra papers, I actually realized now that I took the extra little circular papers out to the bin this morning with the rest of the packaging, and I'm glad to know I haven't made a catastrophic mistake. 😅