Galaxy trio in Virgo

[bluemax]

Andy,

I have run out of ways to describe how wonderful your work is! Just thank you very much for sharing these fine images. Question, this may have been asked before but, how do you keep the scope glass clean from dust, etc.....is there some sort of robotic cover?
We're in the middle of a house move so no astronomy for a while but, these images help keep my interest up for sure. Thanks again.

[AndyG]

Thanks, Frank! I hope the house move is going well.

Question, this may have been asked before but, how do you keep the scope glass clean from dust, etc.....is there some sort of robotic cover?

Dust is definitely an issue, though I'm not sure yet how big a problem it is going to be. The roll-off roof is effectively the dust cover. We made the building as air-tight as we could to keep out wind-blown dust and the scopes are parked horizontally keeping the optics vertical, but dust will still be a problem and I'm sure I'll need to clean the optics each time I visit the site.

There are robotic dust covers you can buy (or build), but I did not like the idea of having a big flap up to catch the wind when the cover is open. Next time I go to the site I'll need to evaluate how much of a problem it is and see if I need to do anything about it.

[mrgizmo65]

Hi Frank I agree with you I'm out of words so all I can say is inspiring.

[NGC7000]

Wow. Just came across this one, Andy. Spectacular. I see the streams!

Tom

[mrgizmo65]

Andy your first comment was Back log of materials, gee, you make it sound like it's work!