Does this need cleaning? Photos attached

[tooth_dr]

Popped the dust cap earlier off today. I knew it was a bit dusty, but spotted a few animal hairs in there now too. Is it time to clean?

 

[Alien 13]

Looks like there is some life growing on the mirrors, I would clean but I used to wash my Newt mirror at least once a month..

Alan

[tooth_dr]

1 minute ago, Alien 13 said:

Looks like there is some life growing on the mirrors, I would clean but I used to wash my Newt mirror at least once a month..

Alan

Thanks Alan. Im sure I've had it about 10 years, and was in storage for 6-7 years unused which can't have helped. 

[Frank the Troll]

Personally, I would want to clean it, that's just a tad more than a light dusting

 

[alacant]

Hi. Have a look at this thread. HTH.

[Daniel-K]

oh yes give that sucker a brilo bath.

[Beulah]

Those white patches is dry residue from when the cold mirror collects condensate from the moist air. I stored my telescope outside for a few years (in a waterproof shed!) and it used to 'fog up' very often. You'd probably have to factor in spider poo, cobwebs, as well as dust and other detrius...

I guess you'd want to give it a clean anyway but it will still perform well, even when it looks that dirty.

[tooth_dr]

Ok thanks everyone! I guess in my eyes it looks dirty enough to clean, but how much it's affecting imaging I don't know. I don't do any visual stuff with this scope, it's used for deep sky and planetary imaging. 

 

Im just worried about not getting it refitted/adjusted when it goes in again.  I can collimate a scope but is there other problems to consider when removing it completely?

[Alien 13]

2 minutes ago, tooth_dr said:

Ok thanks everyone! I guess in my eyes it looks dirty enough to clean, but how much it's affecting imaging I don't know. I don't do any visual stuff with this scope, it's used for deep sky and planetary imaging. 

 

Im just worried about not getting it refitted/adjusted when it goes in again.  I can collimate a scope but is there other problems to consider when removing it completely?

From the pictures it looks like the scope could do with some flocking too so it would be a good time to do both..

Alan

[tooth_dr]

32 minutes ago, Alien 13 said:

From the pictures it looks like the scope could do with some flocking too so it would be a good time to do both..

Alan

I'll have to look into that, does it look shiny inside? My dob is partially flocked opposite the eyepiece. 

[RichM63]

4 hours ago, tooth_dr said:

Popped the dust cap earlier off today. I knew it was a bit dusty, but spotted a few animal hairs in there now too. Is it time to clean?

 

Not bad for a cell phone shot of a wide field reflected Milky Way just by looking down the tube!

You've got stars, planets, nebulae, DSO's and the odd comet all in one low resolution image.

Kudos, Rich.

[tooth_dr]

Jokers 

[Ben the Ignorant]

Your mirror needs an emergency cleanup; looks like fungi are growing on residue, and their waste slowly corrodes the coatings if you give it enough time. What you call animal hair is really threads of fungi cells spreading wherever they hope to find something to feed from. This "hair" does affect imaging by diffusing (as well as absorbing a little) light; after the cleaning you'll see tighter halos around your stars.

[tooth_dr]

19 minutes ago, Ben the Ignorant said:

Your mirror needs an emergency cleanup; looks like fungi are growing on residue, and their waste slowly corrodes the coatings if you give it enough time. What you call animal hair is really threads of fungi cells spreading wherever they hope to find something to feed from. This "hair" does affect imaging by diffusing (as well as absorbing a little) light; after the cleaning you'll see tighter halos around your stars.

Thanks Ben, I agree with the fungi bit. However it is actual ginger cat hair sitting on the mirror. I have a ginger cat and somehow he's managed to get hair in there ??

[Peter Drew]

Even I would give this a clean if it is to be used for imaging!.   

[Peter Drew]

I would brush the cat as well. 

[tooth_dr]

Culprit

[Waldemar]

Are you sure that is a cat?? How did that one get on the wall?

Anyway, I would clean those optics, but be very careful, scratches are more visible then dust or spots. Scratches scatter the light.

This is a nice manual: 

Cleaning solution.docx

[Louis D]

Upon rereading the title, I couldn't help but chuckle thinking of the age old question "Does this look infected to you?".  This is sort of the astro equivalent.

[Mognet]

On 9/30/2017 at 21:06, tooth_dr said:

I have a ginger cat and somehow he's managed to get hair in there ??

Having had a ginger cat, I've learnt that they can do this kind of thing just by being in the same room. Seems that the slightest draft will pick their hair when they shed and deposit in on everything

[tooth_dr]

Almost a year on and at a loose end I screwed the bottom six screws off my scope and the mirror and holder just popped off. I gave it a quick rinse over and it’s looking better!

 

[Waldemar]

makes quite a difference, I would say ...

[tooth_dr]

7 minutes ago, Waldemar said:

makes quite a difference, I would say ...

Cheers!  I'm tempted to sell my 300 and just keep this 250.  The 300 is just so big to use on the EQ mount, the 250 is so much smaller. 

[Waldemar]

Your 300 gathers 44% more light than your 250, though... Kind of depends on your mount as well how easy it is to use that big one
Probably quite heavy to get it mounted...

[tooth_dr]

18 minutes ago, Waldemar said:

Your 300 gathers 44% more light than your 250, though... Kind of depends on your mount as well how easy it is to use that big one
Probably quite heavy to get it mounted...

It's awkward to get it on, but seems ok once on, certainly at the limit.  Think I'll give it another year!