Storage in a room with rapidly changing temperatures

[trants1]

Hello again!

Having ordered a 200P skyliner at the beginning of the month, and being told it won't arrive until the end of the month; I've realized that the initially far off arrival date is rapidly approaching.

So, time to clear out space for its touch down. I was thinking of putting it in a sort of "lean-to" with a perspex roof. The problem is, when sunny this room gets incredibly warm, and when it hits night the temperature drops significantly.

Will these temperature changes and direct sunlight effect the telescope?

Thanks,

Chris

[umadog]

Telescopes are fairly robust, so you should be ok. You will want to watch the wooden portions in case they warp (it's probably going to be laminated chip-board). You will also want to make sure that the mirror isn't dewing over when the temperature rises rises in the early morning.

What can happen, you see, is that the mirror temperature drops during the night. The mirror is a heavy piece of glass so it takes a while to warm up again in the morning. This means that there may be a period of time when the air is substantially warmer than the mirror. Condensation can then form on the mirror. If you're not there early in the morning you may never see it as it will evaporate again once the mirror warms. If it dews often enough, though, it will damage the coating.

Just keep an eye on it and all should be well.