Photonic Mirror Cleaning

[astronut (John)]

I came across this product on the "Cloudy Nights" forum recently.
There is one thing we all have in common, we own equipment with either/or mirrors and lenses.
I've just had a go at cleaning my 2 year old 12" mirror, with limited success.
Yes.... I took all the written and verbal advice around.
This product works so well that members of M.A.S. will be buying a bulk quantity!!
This will bring the price of each mirror cleaning to approx $30-$35.
Expensive, you say. Just check out the video first!!

http://cloudynights.blip.tv/#900248

www.photoniccleaning.com

[Lester]

Very impressive.

[monoxide]

nice, ive seen this used to clean CCD's but didn't know it was good for mirrors too

[GrahamL]

The solvents in the solution does most of the work ..imo !.
http://www.photoniccleaning.com/wp_p...2008ver1.2.pdf
these combinations have been around for a while I think and are great cleaning solutions by the looks
$35 per mirrror?? ..say what ?? ..Do you have a name attached to the company selling this product ?
>To me <this stuff reeks like snake oil in that its a great cleaner but the price you pay ?..seems a lot

[Doomsayer]

The product naming reminds me of that famous? article on "photonic impaction" that was getting around in the mid 90's as I recall - more of an april fool's joke involvng a "light pump" to help clean up photons that allegedly can build up in your optical system. I think it originated from a serious photographic publication.
guy

[Gendo (Justin)]

Well, CCDs can actually build up higher energy particle deposits as I understand it (trapped in a thin water vaper/hydrocarbon slush on the CCD), and slowly become less efficient with an ever noisier look to their pictures. Seems to me that this is common under very strong light sources (like NASA's SOHO spacecraft that images the Sun through special filters). JPL/NASA periodically use what they term CCD Bakeout to "clean" the CCD of randomn trapped particles on/in the CDD's "pixel" buckets. The idea is to gradually warm up the CCD and cause these particles to evaporate off of the CCD surface/pixel buckets.

Of course, most consumer grade CCDs have a small piece of glass/plastic sealed over the CCD, so the problem isn't nearly as severe as on a high end open surfaced space telescope CCD.