Telescope in the sun all day?

Question

I brought my 10" dobsonian camping last weekend, and it sat in the sun all day covered by a black bedsheet, it got about 80 degrees farenheigt, I'm worried that I caused damage, maybe melted the coatings?

the day's high was 80 degrees F not the actual telescope, which I'm sure was much hotter, it felt somewhat hot to the touch.

Answer 1

I leave my 8" telescope covered every day and even in the summer the heat has not caused any problems. So yours should be ok.

Answer 2

Most telescopes will not be bothered by this level of heating at all. In some cases, a glued-on secondary mirror might come undone, but they usually use silicone and that will take the heat.

The telescope will need to cool down a bit to give good performance - in rapidly falling temperatures you will see blobby, boiling star images due to the heat coming off the mirror. For this reason, an aluminized tarp, or an aluminized mylar cover makes a better scope cover. You can buy specially made telescope covers, too. Never leave your dob uncovered in the sun - sunlight reflecting off the mirror can start fires or burn holes in your tube.

Answer 3

It should not have caused any damage to the telescope. They are actually fairly hearty.

However, when things heat up, they expand, and when they cool down, they contract (water being the exeption). Over time, this will cause the telescope to need to be collimated but this probably isn't something you have to worry about right now.

You should keep your telescope in a shaded, dry location when you aren't using it. Before you do use it, you should let it sit out for a while to "cool down", which basically means to let it reach equilibrium with the surrounding environment. This will help you get better views.

Answer 4

Telescopes were built to take heat like that so your's won't be ruined. One thing i learned when training to work with telescopes to become an astronomer is to put a white cotton bedsheet on it not a black one. black can draw in more heat and can in the long run bend your refracting mirrors in time. A Black cloth can make 80 degrees 5 times hotter so that's a melting point to coatings depending upon which material they were made.

better yet take your lens cap off for acooler telescope but when you put the blanket on and off don't pull ..that will cause fuzz to come off blanket and fall onto mirrors . just lift off and gently set it on .

We test telescopes for our customers and fix telescopes for people and tested that theory out.

Answer 5

Probably nothing to worry about. If you want to use it at night, just leave it outside until the ambient temperatures (Both outside and inside the 'scope are equalized.) That will prevent tube currents which can distort images.

Answer 6

With proper accessories, you can view the sun thru the optic system. How hot do you think that is?

Answer 7

your scope is going to be just fine...if the images seem a little distorted to you then you may have to recollimate the optics but other than that i dont think your scope has been damaged!!!!!!!