(12-15-2015, 10:14 PM)C_Davidson Wrote: Does your name "stargazer" rightly mean you are an astronomer?
Amateur only, since a child. I can actually still remember the first time I saw the stars, I was a babe in arms and the adults were pointing up (perfect black crystal night). I was looking at their hands at first. Then I saw the stars, wow! Standing on the door stoop facing west. Weird that I can remember that, being in someone's arms.
Got my first Gilbert 3 inch reflecting telescope on a tripod when I was maybe 6yr old. Hard to use. Saved and got a Criterion clock drive 6" on an equatorial, with rotating tube, rack and pinion focus, small sight scope, setting circles and 5 eyepieces when 11 or 12 yrs (took a long time to save up $). That was a super scope back then and I would run star parties at the grammar school and junior high. I still use it. I wanted my parents to sell the television and get the scope, but my Dad very wisely said if I saved half, he'd pay half. Teaching responsibility. When the time came he took the whole family to where they built them in Hartford, CT and there I met the builders and saw the possibilities of much larger scopes.....LUST!!
Took me a long time to get a 20" f 4.3 starstructure scope with a Vaughn Parsons mirror, I love it. Last I knew these mirrors were not attainable for us plebeians, only to NASA and the government, I had to track one down in Florida. So I consider it irreplaceable.
Scratching, just remember any tiny particles will scratch. The deep absorbent cotton tends to lift them. The cotton fibers will blow off when dry. You will need to blow dust and rinse before using microfiber, which doesn't leave fibers but doesn't have much depth to hold particles away from the surface.