Protecting a 'scope from ice

[AstroMum]

I've been mucking about with my 'scope for about three and a half hours this evening and it's so cold that ice has formed over everything.

I've now finished up and taken my kit into an unheated room. Is there anything extra I need to do to take care of it? Do I let it dry off by itself, or should I be more proactive in some way. I've left all the lens and eyepiece caps off for now.

Sorry for the daft questions, just want to make sure I don't damage it.

[Citizen]

Was thinking the same myself. Ice had formed on my dew shield by the time I took it in. I took it into a warm room though, no choice, but left all the caps off everything whilst the condensation disappeared.

I assume these scopes are built to survive drastic changes from -2 to +20 in an instance?

[JamesF]

Just let it dry by itself, with the objective lens (the opposite end to the eyepiece) pointing downwards so water doesn't run onto the lens. It'll be fine.

We've not had so many cold nights this winter, but last winter I used to bring my scope in completely encrusted with ice some nights. It's not a big problem.

James

[AstroMum]

Cheers James! Have got the 'scope sitting horizontally across a couple of dining chairs. Will elevate the EP end slightly.

[John]

These things are pretty robust really. My 120mm refractor has been either dew or frost covered a few times but it all clears overnight and everything looks normal in the morning.

As an aside, it's worth keeping the eyepieces slightly above outside temp when using them, eg: in a pocket or a case of some sort. This reduces the chances of them misting up when you use them - when they get really cold the heat from your eye can cause this and it's very frustrating.

[Caldwell 14]

I have had mine covered with ice (not the objective) and its fine. Wipe everything down with a towel on the outside and wait till the dew on lens evaporates before capping everything off. I hope you are enjoying you new scope, what did you view first. After all your efforts I notice there is an Evo going for 150 quid on Ebay at the moment.

[steelyglint]

yeah gotta say last nite it hit minus 8 and i had ice building up by 8.30 on everything.....im with john on this keeping ya ep's in your pocket helps although be carful not to breath on them when you get them out for use.....and keep the covers on em too....happy times

[AstroMum]

Thanks for the tip John!

I have had mine covered with ice (not the objective) and its fine. Wipe everything down with a towel on the outside and wait till the dew on lens evaporates before capping everything off. I hope you are enjoying you new scope, what did you view first. After all your efforts I notice there is an Evo going for 150 quid on Ebay at the moment.

I saw the one on eBay, unfortunately it's collection only so wasn't really an option.

First thing I looked at was Jupiter and saw four moons very clearly. Had a bit of a fight with the GOTO (took three attempts to successfully align) but got there in the end and finished up with a look at the Orion nebula and the moon.

[Caldwell 14]

Great stuff. I was out at the rugby last night (Sale 15-Worcster 12 ) So did not get out til after midinght, and it was....very cold. Jupiter was long gone and the moon was high so I did have a few disapointing veiws of the Double Cluster, M35, 36, 37 (As one would expect, but I had to look) M44 was its usual bright and busy self. Saturn and Mars were just fab last night in these parts even in my modest scope. I hope it stays free of cloud long enough to get a good view of Uranus tonight as its very near to Venus for the next few nights and quite easy to find.

[Caldwell 14]

Sorry, what am I saying....that is of course Neptune...I had a very late night!

[AstroMum]

I'll forgive you the tiredness.

Glad you got to see some good sights last night. I would have loved to have seen Saturn, but had lost all sensation in my fingers and toes by about 11:30 and was longing for a nice cup of tea in bed. If I didn't have a toddler to take care of in the morning, I would have set the alarm and gone back out later.