Telescope owners?

[HeatherJay]

My hubby recently met the very sweet older man who owns the observatory nearby, and he gave my hubby a 12 inch Dobsonian telescope. But it's been sitting for awhile, and though it's been covered with plastic, the lens really needs to be cleaned. Anyone have any idea how to do that?

 

[Deamiter]

I tried to reply last night, but my computer crashed and I went to sleep.

Basically, you don't need to clean the lens. You are MUCH more likely to do damage than to actually make the lens better. Especially since you've got a large scope that's limited by the atmosphere rather than by your optics, you will only see a marginal increase in contrast (if that).

You should simply clean it off with canned air (available at any camera or computer store) and though the dust will bother you, it won't noticably degrade the optics.

If you're REALLY bent on cleaning it off, you could then try the softest fan paintbrush you can find. Usually squirrel hair (often labeled camel hair) or badger or ox hair is softest. Use very short and VERY light strokes and LEAVE anything that doesn't come off immediately -- don't go over the same spot twice. Remember that the slightest pressure could grind the dust into the lens and leave scratches that make the lens worse than if you'd just left the dust!

Finally, if you're really determined to get it totally clean, you can use special lens-cleaning solution with special lens-cleaning cloths (again, telescope or camera shops will sell them). However, even though it'll look cleanest using this method, you're almost guarenteed to do damage to the lens. If you're really careful, it will probably turn out all right.

However, unless you're aiming for high-resolution astrophotographs, you'd do well to consider just blowing it off. I can almost guarentee you won't notice the difference through the eyepiece, though it might drive you nuts if you look at the lens in strong light.

 

[HeatherJay]

Thanks, I'll let my hubby know that. We haven't got it out to look through it yet. It's so heavy and hard to manage as far as transporting it from place to place. Also, we haven't had very many clear nights. Hopefully soon, though.

 

[Locrian]

Definately second what Deamiter said: I have a newtonian and you should be mighty careful of the mirror. 12" is a big scope. If you haven't spent much time looking through telescopes, you are likely to see some really great things.

 

[Illuminatus]

He gave you a 12 inch Dob? "very sweet" sounds like an understatement. I second the compressed air comment, but if you can, don't blow it straight at the mirror, try to blast it from an angle. If stuff looks fuzzy or bad, even if you go through the full range of the focuser, it probably needs to be collimated, the gentleman who gave you the scope should be able to do it. And I'd get it out as soon as you can, Jupiter and Saturn are high and amazing at this time of year. Especially Saturn, with the angle it's at, you can see the rings with just a pair of binoculars.

 

[HeatherJay]

He gave you a 12 inch Dob? "very sweet" sounds like an understatement. I second the compressed air comment, but if you can, don't blow it straight at the mirror, try to blast it from an angle. If stuff looks fuzzy or bad, even if you go through the full range of the focuser, it probably needs to be collimated, the gentleman who gave you the scope should be able to do it. And I'd get it out as soon as you can, Jupiter and Saturn are high and amazing at this time of year. Especially Saturn, with the angle it's at, you can see the rings with just a pair of binoculars.

Yes, the man is in his 70's and has been fascinated with astronomy since his teens. He built the observatory and stocked it with all kinds of cool equipment, but there seems to be very little interest in it in this area. Other than a college class meeting there occassionally, he's almost always alone. He said he would LOVE it if people would use it for what he built it for, research and observation, but it just hasn't happened.

He was very excited to be introduced to my hubby, and they had scheduled a time to meet and do some viewing, but the clouds rolled in and prevented that. But they sat and talked for quite a while. He said he was getting too old to transport it and move it around, and because of that no one had used it in a while. My husband is a pretty big, strong guy and even he had a bit of trouble moving it, so I understand that. But he said that he just wanted it to be used, and that my hubby could have it.

You know how older people sometimes are...they have all this knowledge to share, and so many times all they want is someone to share it with.

 

[Locrian]

You get to look through the telescopes and make someone else happy at the same time. What a fantastic deal!

 

[Yamialpha]

What power is your telescope?

 

[HeatherJay]

We have 70mm refractor and then the 12in Dobsonian (reflector, I think??) that my hubby was given. They're both Orions.

 

[Yamialpha]

Do you have a barlow lens for the refractor? What can you see with it?

 

[HeatherJay]

Do you have a barlow lens for the refractor? What can you see with it?

Yeah, actually that's one of the things I bought my hubby for his birthday...he's got a 2x barlow lens. I also got him a solar filter and another lens that he really wanted, but I don't remember the specs on that one.

He hasn't really had the time lately (or the clear skies) to do much serious star gazing. He's checked out Saturn and the moon with it, but other than that, he hasn't done much in the last month or two.