Lens and mirror cleaning advice

[Pete123]

Hi

Only just bought my first scope 

Its the older  celestron nexstar 8 gps (CF with starbright XLT coating ) 

Ive looked in to the end and have noticed the secondry mirror has somthing on it looks like dirt specs ( see pic )  , what i need to know is this wurth me removing it and what should i clean it with , iknow they have special coating and that i have to align everything after its just the cleaning part , or should i just leave it .

Iknow its steamed up it the black dots thats bothering me

Thanks 

[RT65CB-SWL]

I would not worry to much, but if you are paranoid about them then there are videos on youtube on cleaning SCT's. Don't use any canned compressed air as the propellant can leave some residue on the glass and mirror surfaces.

Alternatively, if you do not fancy doing it yourself then you could book an appointment with SCTelescopes --->http://sctelescopes.com/

Personally it takes a lot of patience to collimate any catadioptric 'scope.

[knobby]

Hi Pete, cleaning mirrors is something that only really needs doing if they're filthy, the dust is way out of the focal point so won't affect views. I'd only clean if I thought it was something that might damage the coatings .

Welcome to the forum.

[Carbon Brush]

Agreed. Leave unless really filthy or growing fungus.

[Pete123]

Ok thanks for that , was annoying me just knowing it had dust on it lol