Mirror Cleaning

[SkyGuy228]

When should I clean my mirrors? I seem to have a very very very thin transparent layer of dust on my primary mirror of my XT-10 dob. Should I clean it or is it fine? I still do want the sharpest images possible.

[xtreemchaos]

hi mate, if you can see your face in it let it be.all the best charl.

[ronin]

Most will say a fine layer is fine, however the final choice/decision is yours.

That really is the bottom line.

If you decide to clean it then make sure you read up as much as possible first, equally make sure you understand the "hazards" with cleaning. That aluminium coating is reactive and if the protective coating is not perfect then corrosion is accelerated.

I suppose the choices amount to little and often - in effect you clean it off before anything gets bad, or you leave it until it has to be cleaned in which case there is more there to get off and some may have stuck.

Is it dust?

If pollen then maybe get it off as pollen decomposes.

As best I can tell you are damned if you do and damned if you don't. Both approaches have potential problems.

[LukeSkywatcher]

Can you take an image of it to show us?. Try it with and without a flash on the camera. I doubt its ANYTHING to worry about.