Light leakage

[ThomasBR]

I recently read an article (cant find the link, sorry) on flocking and sources of stray light entering telescopes. One thing I noticed was the risk of light leaking in from behind the primary mirror of refelctors. As I a an Skywatcher 200p reflector I set out to check if I had that problem - I have a street light blasting photons into my garden so there are plenty of light to go around.

I took the scope into my kitchen and took the attached pictures with/without a black cloth bag covering the mirror end of the scope. There are clearly a lot of light leaking in from behind the primary. Next time I go out for observation/imaging I'll remeber my black bag. Maybe this explains the wierd gradients I get into my photos (I cant remove them using flats).

Kind regards

Thomas