firstly, let me say that this, whatever is going on, it is not affecting performance (at least, as far as I can tell) I only want an explanation for this phenomenon, so I can fix the root problem, so it doesn't get worse Look at the image below  the haziness in the top section is just a reflection from the flashlight I was pointing at it; the green color is just an optical coating from the factory but look at all the specks; you can see them better near the center for reference, this is dust, and everything similar sized:  all those other hundreds or thousands of tinier specks and stuff are not dust and wont come off even if I touch them (lightly anyway), and it wasn't like this when I got the scope from the retailer, just a few months ago, it was perfectly clear. I have been having a dew heater strap running, but I'm not sure it's powerful enough; it's getting power from my ASIair. I'm blaming the fog; a couple times the fog came without my knowledge and maybe the glass was exposed too long and I'm guessing some sort of fungi or film has formed. interesting thing is, I think a similar thing happened to my old coma corrector; I know it was exposed to fog once or twice very heavily, then I later saw that it had a similar speckled appearance, like tiny crystals maybe? I could take more photos or explain further if something is not clear
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Inside or outside the lens ?
Inside, it can be a kind of mold.
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For reference I power dew heaters through my Asiair as well. On my 100mm refractor I have two, on my 8" SCT I have a dew heater ring around the front glass. Neither have ever gotten wet when sitting outside in humid conditions.
I think the real problem is if you bring it in/out with high variations of temperature. If it fogs up inside dust and specks will kind of cement themselves on the elements and become hard to clean.
Fungus normally have very distinguished patterns and takes a little while to show up (in my experience at least).
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Distilled water and cotton pads.
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If it fogs up inside dust and specks will kind of cement themselves on the elements and become hard to clean. Agreed, I have a camera lens which looks just the same. If moisture gets inside the lens, the dust will start sticking to the back and in between the glass elements.
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If it's on the outside, then it's the result of dew. The condensation forms and coalesces all the minute particles on the surface into the droplet, which then dries and leaves the spots that can't be brushed off. The ASIAIR is fairly limited in its power output. What I do is wrap the lens hood and dew heater with insulating wrap(forget what it's called, silvered plastic wrap on the outside and inside with bubble wrap between the layers). That way, it traps more of the heat, and the low power from the ASIAIR is sufficient.
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I’ve had similar but not as bad occurrences with my refractors. Definitely with a flashlight, you can make anything look scary on a lens.
In my area, it’s pollen. Much finer and stickier than dust. It sticks with and without dew. It does clean off with lens cleaner and kimwipes. Sometimes a little distillled water works better than the lens cleaner though, depending on what makes it soluble.
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I’ve had similar but not as bad occurrences with my refractors. Definitely with a flashlight, you can make anything look scary on a lens. LOL! Trying to get a photo of optics is also problematic (like when you are selling a scope). It always seems to wind up either looking better or worse than it actually is!  |
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thanks everybody for the tips: the photo I took looks dramatically worse than what I see with my own eyes  it still doesn't look good though but I have good news: I rubbed a tiny spot with a cotton swab (with some pressure) and I saw the spot cleared up completely so the specks are outside the lensI guess I need to buy some cotton balls to clean it with the distilled water; maybe I'm gonna need to clean the stuff off once in a while (if it builds up again)
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thanks everybody for the tips:
the photo I took looks dramatically worse than what I see with my own eyes
it still doesn't look good though
but I have good news:
I rubbed a tiny spot with a cotton swab (with some pressure) and I saw the spot cleared up completely
so the specks are outside the lens
I guess I need to buy some cotton balls to clean it with the distilled water; maybe I'm gonna need to clean the stuff off once in a while (if it builds up again) Clean it with a mixture of 99% pure isopropyl alcohol and distilled water. Mix 4 parts water with one part alcohol in a clean spray bottle. Cotton is not very absorbent so I recommend using Kleenex brand tissue. Just be sure to get pure tissue--nothing with lotion or anything else like scent mixed tin. Have a pressurized blower can on hand to blow off any remaining lint after you dry the surface. It should come out looking like brand new. John
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John Hayes:
thanks everybody for the tips:
the photo I took looks dramatically worse than what I see with my own eyes
it still doesn't look good though
but I have good news:
I rubbed a tiny spot with a cotton swab (with some pressure) and I saw the spot cleared up completely
so the specks are outside the lens
I guess I need to buy some cotton balls to clean it with the distilled water; maybe I'm gonna need to clean the stuff off once in a while (if it builds up again)
Clean it with a mixture of 99% pure isopropyl alcohol and distilled water. Mix 4 parts water with one part alcohol in a clean spray bottle. Cotton is not very absorbent so I recommend using Kleenex brand tissue. Just be sure to get pure tissue--nothing with lotion or anything else like scent mixed tin. Have a pressurized blower can on hand to blow off any remaining lint after you dry the surface. It should come out looking like brand new.
John will follow your instructions! thank you! EDIT: my Kleenex is scented. I have some CVS sterile gauze pads, can I use those? if not, that's alright, I can buy some unscented Kleenex.
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update:
I used the gauze pad to wet the glass a little with distilled water; I saw the gauze pad was marking the glass with some tiny colorful translucent streaks (not a good sign I think?), so I then used a microfiber cloth, and I started rubbing the glass, lightly, in small circles, and…
the glass looks brand new; it's perfectly clean now
so thanks everybody, problem solved; I'll wrap the lens head in aluminum foil to see if that allows the glass to retain warmth better, and I'll hope this wont happen again, but if it does, then I know I need to use a microfiber cloth to clean the glass.
EDIT: I forgot to say, I didn't use alcohol because I was afraid to do so :p
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I strongly agree with apennine104 when they said this is pollen. I live outside of Atlanta, GA in the US and pollen is present most of the year so I've become well acquainted with how it sticks to both lenses and mirrors. For mirrors I use distilled water with a touch of detergent. For lenses I use lens cleaning solution on Pecpads, with cotton to finish.
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Ken Rockelein:
I strongly agree with apennine104 when they said this is pollen. I live outside of Atlanta, GA in the US and pollen is present most of the year so I've become well acquainted with how it sticks to both lenses and mirrors. For mirrors I use distilled water with a touch of detergent. For lenses I use lens cleaning solution on Pecpads, with cotton to finish. pollen would make more sense than dried dew droplets, since the stuff didn't really cement itself onto the glass it just wiped off with distilled water and microfiber cloth I saw something about the stuff that might give a clue as to what it was: when I rubbed the glass (with no water) with the cotton swab, I saw some of the white stuff get smudged a little, like it was a slightly sticky substance; that's pollen, right?
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I would say yes. Biologically, pollen is made to be sticky so that it sticks to the stigma of a flower. And to the stupid irritating pollen, the entire world is a stigma!! I wonder if there’s a life lesson in there somewhere…  |
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Ken Rockelein:
I would say yes. Biologically, pollen is made to be sticky so that it sticks to the stigma of a flower. And to the stupid irritating pollen, the entire world is a stigma!! yeah, that makes sense; I think mystery solved. Ken Rockelein:
I wonder if there’s a life lesson in there somewhere… I'll think about it thank you, CS
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