Cleaning with CO2?

[Mike W]

Just a thought, but has anyone tried to clean their primary with co2, i was thinking fire extinguishers here, but more to the point do you think it would work? I see that some of the major observatory's use a similar idea but could the idea be adapted for the amature scopes.

[acey]

Does blowing on an eyepiece count?

For primaries I think water and a bit of alcohol is good enough. Once your mirror gets beyond a metre in diameter then it's maybe time to think of other methods.

[FraserClarke]

CO2 'snow' cleaning is becoming very popular with professional observatories now as you say. I'm not sure of the technical details though I'm afraid. I do understand though that it is good at *keeping* mirrors clean, rather than cleaning dirty mirrors -- if you see what I mean? Good at removing recently settled dust -- not good at removing dust which is 'stuck' on after a dewing event for example... It has to be done regularly (weekly?) I think.

[acey]

Info here: Faqs

A starter unit costs around $2000 so I'll stick with a bucket of water for now.