A good cover must be waterproof and impermeable. Even if you will keep the telescope indoors, there are always the occasional drops flying through the window or worse, unidentified moisture or leaks. As mentioned above, I personally own the largest version of this cover and use it for my Celestron Advanced VX 9.25″ SCT. It’s been great. The outer polyester cover is the highest quality acrylic coated weave. This American made material offers exceptional resistance to mildew and UV as well as superior strength and abrasion resistance. Less than 1% shrinkage or stretch assures continuous proper fit. The water resistant capabilities of this material are outstanding...tested and shown to not allow moisture penetration from a spray test at 40 PSI, 1/2 inch concentrated stream. TGN8: For GEM mounted scopes up to 46" long and 13" diameter, 57" major height - LXD55/75 SN10, SN8 with Dew Shield These superior quality telescope covers by Telegizmos are the best covers on the market that you can buy. They are designed for severe weather protection and provide years and years of protection even when left out all the time.

The advantage of bags and cases is they take less space and reduce the risk of someone or something accidentally pushing it and potentially breaking something. The specifications should tell you the maximum length the cover fits and then you only need to match it to the length of the tube of your telescope. Orion's telescope and astrophotography accessories will enhance your telescope enjoyment without breaking the bank. Expand your viewing experience with accessories ranging from moon filters to power-boosting Barlow lenses to advanced computerized telescope mounts. Capture breathtaking photos with our affordable astrophotography cameras. And when you're stargazing, Orion's telescope cases and covers, observing gear, red LED flashlights, astronomy books and star charts will make your observing sessions more convenient, comfortable and meaningful. TeleGizmos standard Solar Scope Covers - These are designed for temporary short term telescope protection only. They are not designed to protect a telescope left exposed to the elements outdoors on a 24/7/365 basis. The Standard TeleGizmos covers are intended for periods of outdoor exposure not to exceed one to two months of continuous 24/7 use.Orion binoculars are known for quality optics at a great price. We offer binoculars for every viewing interest, including astronomical binoculars, compact binoculars, waterproof binoculars, birding binoculars, and sport and hunting binoculars. It comes in two sizes, a 39″ (990mm), and a 59″ (1500mm). That is the length of the tube, so make sure to know the dimensions of your device before buying. The price difference is minimal though, so if you have doubts, just go with the bigger model. Many thanks to all those have replied, you've all really come up trumps with lots of useful solutions. Astromania offers this cover in 3 different sizes, 23.8″, 30.1″, and 37.6″. The one linked below is the 30.1″ version that will fit telescopes of up to 1000mm in length and 203mm of aperture that will fit most hobbyist-level telescopes. Still, measure yours just to make sure before buying.

There are a few different methods to store your telescope besides just covers. There are bags and hard cases that can arguably protect the telescope even better. Some people like using both. They use a cover during the seasons with the best weather so they don’t have to re-assemble the telescope every time, and they use a bag the rest of the year or when they know the rain season is coming and the telescope won’t see much use. Once the Zygo test report has been completed, the optical alignment is thoroughly tested and tuned to ensure they are spot on before they leave us. It is true there’s nothing too special about telescope covers and an old sheet can still cover it from dust, but all the other features do make a difference long term, especially if you plan to keep it in a room with questionable conditions like a shed or the garage.I personally own the Astromania cover as well as a Green Witch one that is also amazing but unfortunately can’t list here because the company no longer exists. While I don’t own the others, I have reviewed them or tested them. Orion offers telescopes for every level: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced. From our entry-level beginner telescopes for amateur astronomers to our Dobsonian telescopes to our most advanced Cassegrain telescopes and accessories, you can find the best telescope for you. Because we sell direct, we can offer you tremendous value at a great price. At Rother Valley Optics, one thing we pride ourselves on is customer service and quality of our equipment. When we test your telescope, we will ensure that it is of the highest quality otherwise, we will reject the scope under our strict quality control and test another model for your peace of mind. One of the main values to look at when testing a refractor is the Strehl ratio. The higher this number, the higher quality lens you have. At Rother Valley Optics, we will guarantee the highest possible Strehl ratio for your telescope. We will aim to provide 0.95 Strehl or higher on Takahashi, RVO Horizon, William Optics and many more! Generally, the higher the Strehl ratio, the lower the Astigmatism and Coma meaning a better image quality from your instrument. Originally developed for NASA as a spacecraft insulator, the aluminized multi-layer polyethylene TeleGizmos standard solar cover material is strong, light, tear and puncture resistant, and much more durable than Mylar. It is even washable. TeleGizmos covers consist of a polyethylene base layer, a reinforcing fiber mesh layer, a layer of pure reflective aluminum, and another layer of clear polyethylene with double lap sewn seams for strength. Each cover has a material strength equal to that of a multi-layer lightweight tarp. The aluminized surface reflects away the sun's energy to keep your scope cooler in the daytime. It is waterproof to keep condensation from building up on your scope at night. It stays flexible at temperatures well below freezing and is unaffected by summer sun and heat. The bag-like scope cover fastens securely to your scope by cinching up the built-in drawstring of the opening at the bottom of the cover.

Telescopes that are to be left outside the house or garage permanently ideally should be stored in an observatory building. However, for continuous 24/7/365 outside exposure protection where no observatory building is available, the TeleGizmos Series 365 Series covers are recommended. The only special case here is Dobsonians that due to their shape require a cover with a different design than the rest, but there are covers specially made to fit them. You can also find a telescope cover for specific telescope builds such as 12-inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes on alt-az mounts , 5- to 6-inch Equatorian Refractors, and 10- to 12-inch f/5 Newtonians on German Equatorial Mounts. Buy a tripod coverto protect the legs of your stand from rust, dust, and UV radiation, or get a Celestron telescope cover to match your Celestron rig.You will also see some more values such as Astigmatism and Coma. Again, these are measured by the interferometer when we take measurements of the optical surface after adjustment. These are values which ideally would be at 0 but as our test optics are all curved lenses, there will always be astigmatism and coma present. The lower the number, the less of these aberations you will effectively see but with most refractors, you can buy field flatteners which will compensate for the coma anyway. The astigmatisms value is explaining the error between the symmetrical curvature of the lens. Basically, no lens will be perfectly symmetrical, the lower the astigmatism, the more symmetrical the lens surface is.

TeleGizmos 365 extended exposure covers - These use a multi-layer dual material design for extended-duration weatherproofing. They use the original TeleGizmos Solar Cover multi-layer material as an inner radiant barrier. This is coupled to an outer cover made of acrylic-coated high thread count woven polyester. This material is tested to prevent moisture penetration from a 1/2 inch concentrated water stream at 40 PSI, a heavier and more concentrated drenching than even the worst storm can provide. The inner Solar Cover liner provides radiant heat protection, effectively protecting your equipment from external radiant heat build up. It also provides an additional layer of protection against water penetration. The HABOPET cover also claims to be fully waterproof and UV-reflective. As for waterproof, it does look like it meets expectations, but for the reflectiveness, I have my doubts. The coating seems a bit thin and I found no mention of it being thermally stable anywhere in the specifications so I’m not sure it can keep the telescope cool under sunny weather. Other measurements such as the PV and RMS are important too. With these measurements, the lower the number the better as it shows less curvature on the lens. The flatter an optical lens, the better it will perform. The PV rating (Peak To Valley) is a measurement from the highest point (Peak) to the lowest point (Valley). From this we get the RMS (Root, Mean, Square). This is a similar figure to the PV and measured exactly the same way. The RMS is basically an average height difference from the PV so again, the lower the better. As you can see form the example below, we measured an RMS of just 0.027 wave which is a very good value. We also measure the Power with our systems which is essentially the error from the reference sphere to the test optic. The reference sphere we use on our system is a very high quality sphere so the closer to zero the Power, the less error between the 2 elements thus ensuring a higher quality optical surface. A dust cover by Astrozap is a great idea for keeping dust off your RC telescope. The sewn-in elastic band fits perfectly over the end of your telescope tube, preventing dust from settling on your optics and degrading image quality.

Celestron 925SCT Padded Telescope for Optical Tubes

The other one is huge, and I would have thought would cover most telescope/mount combinations. It also comes in a more lightweight version. Here's a link to the larger one I found if anyone is interested. Again, most people agree that the best answer if you plan to consistently stargaze is “try both”. Best Telescope Covers The only issue I have with this cover is the price. It is high. But is it worth it? well, I believe that really is up to you. Personally, I would only get it for a very expensive telescope, but if yours cost the same or slightly more than the cover then there are better ways to spend that money. These covers have been tested in the harshest of environments and have proven to be extremely durable and resistant. There are so many specialty accessories in the astronomy space that are completely unnecessary (I’m looking at you, “telescope gloves”) and we generally tell you to save your money and spend it on gear that is truly going to make a difference on your viewing experience, but that’s not the case here. Safety equipment does matter and is going to save you money long-term by increasing the longevity of your device. Telescope covers vs Bags