COLD WEATHER VIEWING TIPS



DRESS FOR THE OCCASION
This may sound pretty obvious, but remember you aren't going out for a walk or to shovel the driveway. Basically you will just be standing there in the cold, and without the heat generated by physical activity you will feel it a lot more. Dress for the occasion, and make sure you have warm boots, a hat, gloves or mitts, and whatever else the temperature warrants. A thermos full of hot chocolate is good if you plan on being out for a while.

SCOPE COOL DOWN TIME
If your telescope is warmer than the temperature outside, images might not focus properly. The heat radiating off the optical tube, as well as the mirrors and lenses, will create ripples in the air that will be magnified when you look through the eyepiece and blur everything if the difference in temperature is too great. If you have ever looked at road asphalt on a hot summer day and seen the "heat waves" distorting the air above it you know what I mean. The greater the temperature difference, or the larger the telescope, the longer it takes for the temperature to equalize.

DON"T BREATHE ON THE EYEPIECE
It's not like I expect you to breathe on the eyepiece and fog it up so you can wipe it like you would to clean a pair of glasses. All it takes is an ill-timed exhale as you approach the eyepiece, and it will either fog or frost up.

WATCH THE WATTERY EYES
In extreme cold your eyes can water and all it takes is one drop for the eyepiece to either fog or frost it up, whether it drips and lands on the eyepiece, or your eyeball gets too close and a drop touches the glass and gets sucked right into it by capillaric action.

USE A TELESCOPE COVER
Imagine how cold a telescope gets when it has been sitting outside in the winter for a while in the cold, dry air. When you bring it back into your warm car or the house, it is exposed to warm, relatively moist air. Within minutes your optical tube and mount will be covered with water that has condensed due to their cool temperature.This water will not only create spots on your mirrors or lense, but has the potential to create rust in spots that you can't see or wipe off (inside the mount), or harm any electric motors or circuitry. Bring a large garbage or yard waste bag, or any waterproof bag that will cover your scope and mount outside with you. Before bringing the scope in out of the cold, wrap the bag over it and seal it by taping around the outside of the bag over the tripod. This will prevent the moist air from coming in contact with the important parts of your telescope, and stop water droplets from forming.

CHOOSE YOUR LOCATION CAREFULLY
Warm mirrors or lenses aren't the only things that will create unsteady air in colder weather that will ruin your image quality. Heat from pavement that hasn't cooled down, clothes dryer air outlet pipes, or just looking over the roof of a house can do the same thing. My apartment balcony is great for summer viewing, but the heat coming from the building makes for some pretty lousy observing in the colder winter months.


-----------------------