[Chaos-l] Telescope intro and cleaning ideas (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Ned Light]

Hi Miles,

I would not use compressed air.  For one thing, your compressor and line are
likely not really clean of oils and moisture.  You also run the risk of
driving a larger particle into the mirror and scratching it.  You might try
lightly vacuuming it.  Do not touch the vacuum to the mirror at all, but lay
it along the side and rotate the mirror slowly.  In the end, you will likely
have to gently wash it in the sink or a bucket.  Sky and Telescope has a
good article on how to do it here

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/howto/diy/3437191.html

<http://www.skyandtelescope.com/howto/diy/3437191.html>The mirror cleaning
part is on page 3.  The author is a little over the top on protecting the
mirror, but better safe than sorry.  There are also excellent articles on
the site about observing with your telescope.

Ned



On Wed, Jun 9, 2010 at 11:57 AM, Travis, Miles (Cont, ARL/ADO) <
Miles.travis at us.army.mil> wrote:

> It is an older model reflector -- Meade telestar ds-114. I googled it, but
> did not find much that seemed to be informative.
>
> I assume I need to clean the mirror. It has just been sitting in basement
> with construction dust settling on it for several months. Maybe using
> compressed air would do the trick, but I didn't want to try something that
> might foul it up without knowing.
>
> Miles
>
> ------------------------------
>  *From*: Tony Rice <rtphokie at gmail.com>
> *To*: Travis, Miles (Cont, ARL/ADO)
> *Cc*: CHAOS <chaos-l at rtpnet.org>
> *Sent*: Wed Jun 09 11:19:07 2010
> *Subject*: Re: [Chaos-l] Telescope intro and cleaning ideas (UNCLASSIFIED)
>
>
> Is is a reflector or refractor type telescope?  Will you be cleaning
> mirrors or optics?  Do you know the make and/or model?
>
> -Tony
>
> On Wed, Jun 9, 2010 at 10:49 AM, Travis, Miles (Cont, ARL/ADO) <
> Miles.travis at us.army.mil> wrote:
>
>> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
>> Caveats: NONE
>>
>> Hey guys,
>>
>> I've been receiving your emails for a while, but had not yet invested in a
>> telescope and I can't make it to the Tuesday night meetings, so I've never
>> officially joined the group. But now I'm looking for some pointers.
>>
>> Recently I was at a friend's house in the VA mountains and he was showing
>> me
>> some work he's done in the basement of his house. He had a telescope
>> (covered in the dust from his renovation) sitting in the corner. I asked
>> him
>> about it and he just gave it to me.... said he never had time for it. He
>> had
>> misplaced the eye pieces, but I am headed back to the mountains to get
>> them
>> next weekend, and I'd like to try out my new scope while I'm up there.
>>
>> So... I was wondering if anyone had pointers on cleaning a horribly dusty
>> telescope, and if anyone has time between now and the 16th to give me an
>> intro to using it? I really know nothing about telescopes, but I'm a quick
>> learner.
>>
>> The best way to reach me off-list is at miles.e.travis at gmail.com.
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>> Miles Travis
>> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
>> Caveats: NONE
>>
>>
>>
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>>
>>
>
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