Scopes wrapped in aluminum/polyethylene layer for thermal management

[NenoVento]

Hi all,

After doing some reading on thermal acclimation issues that happen on closed tubes such as MCTs and SCTs, I decided to wrap my Mak 180 (which I intend to use in El Teide National Park during planetary season, if COVID-19 restrictions allow) with 5mm aluminum/polyethylene layer, despite the fact that I'm not particularly good at doing this kind of stuff. Here you have the results:

Important notice: do not try to remove the dovetail from the Sky-Watcher maks, the screws have locknuts on the inside. I didn't think about looking for them beforehand and finished up having to remove the corrector plate in order to put the nut back in place. Amazingly, this didn't have any effect on the tube's collimation, as far as I can see (I did check by using an  artificial star). Anyhow, I've got so happy with the results, that I decided to do the same with my CPC 800 XLT (which I don't intend to move from my little observatory, but hoping it may gain some advantages when doing Sun observing/imaging):

Regards,

NV