One of the challenges associated with operating a telescope in an area which is both incredibly dry and desert-like (under the normal baking sun), but also with the potential to be very damp (when the site is inside a cloud) is that there is a combination of dust and condensation, which covers the correction plate of the telescope in a thick layer of dirt. This needs to be cleaned off regularly.
This is a task I was given. I was a little worried about the responsibility, knowing that if I did it wrong I could end up scratching the optics, but after a couple of hours very gentle cleaning it all turned out fine.
The extent of the dust problem is probably best demonstrated by pictures.
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Hover over the image to see how it looked after cleaning
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