Everything was quite wet when I packed up. A frost had formed as the air
cooled, my truck took a long while to defrost before I could head home.
(I had left the doors open with the radio on.) I have a feeling that
this will be a constant battle for me. Thanks for the advice.

Larry G wrote:
On Tue, 23 Nov 2004 23:49:53 -0500, david johanson
wrote:

Had a nice outing with my little, new-to-me Celestron C90. Nice views
of Saturn around 9:15 or so, fighting the moonshine. Spent a long
while with a 15mm and 9mm eyepieces and had 15 or 20 seconds of
spectacular viewing with the 6mm. Enjoyed the moon for a long while,
even took a couple of pictures with an ancient Canon FTb and some B+W
film that my son was using in his photography class. He'll be
surprized when he develops them! Lots of fun until a coyote howled
nearby and I decided to pack it in.(I was about a 1/4 mile off the
road in a clearcut-thanks for the 4-wheel drive!)

Anyway, I live in Midcoast Maine and it was about 28 degrees when I
packed up and headed home.
My question: Should I do anything special to the scope and eyepieces
when I bring them into the house? I have the scope with the diagonal
in facing down and the lens cover off but a dust cover over the whole
scope. The eyepieces are uncapped and under a loose cover to keep dust
away...
How dangerous is moisture/condensation to all of this?

Never really crossed my mind until I walked into the house.


Moisture can be a problem on a few fronts:
1. It collects dust onto the optical surfaces
2. It can promote mold and mildew
3. It may affect the longevity of optical coatings

Few of these problems are likely to occur over-night, but
some simple precautions will help avoid them altogether.
Place the eyepieces in air-tight containers and cover the
end and holes of the optical tube assembly, before coming
indoors. Warm moist air may condense on the outside, but
the cooler air will warm up, lowering the humidity and reducing
the chance of condensation on optical surfaces.

Cheers,
Larry G.