what do you do,

[starship trooper]

hi there,

At the moment i am finding it hard to get out and spot because it is getting dark later and having to get up at 6am to do my job which is being a lorry driver which you can amagine i need to be awake to do my job safely,and so at the moment we havent had that many clear nights and when it is clear it seems to be on a week night and so i am beating myself up all the time because i feel i should be out there and take advantage of it, but then i think that i need to get up early the next day and dont go out there.

Anyway my question is what do other people do at this time of year with the hobby do you all get out there no matter what you have to do the next day?

Do you leave it until the weekends when you know you dont have to get up early next the next day?

Or am i on my own and i should stop being a light weight and get out there?

All thoughts appreciated cheers dazz

[RikM]

I have to cycle to work 7.5 miles each way and am up at 6.30 to sort out kids packed lunches etc. the normal morning stuff. I do tend to be bit of an idiot and am out observing until 1am most clear nights. 8" dob outside cooling down as I type I just cycle slowly and carefully the next day. Fridays and weekends if it's clear then I normally pack up nearer to 4am.

I am a development scientist for a biotech equipment manufacturer (actually head of department) and everyone knows I am an astronomer so I am expected to be a bit scatty sometimes.

[Veracocha]

Pretty much confine things to the weekend but I know soon it will hardly worth going out for imaging purposes. To ensure I hold onto my equipment despite the lack of use I have booked myself for as many Autumn/Winter star parties as I can. Galloway, Peak Star party, Salisbury and hopefully more of delilahtwinkles gatherings as they occur.

[m.tweedy]

I spend most of my time on this forum answering questions about anything because it is too light up in the north east. Still daylight as I am typing waiting to go and pick my wife up from the Take That concert.

[Si W]

Hi Daz

I do understand where your coming from, I'm a telecommunication/network engineer for a large ISP, I need to be on the ball, not due to safety reasons, but if I press the wrong button or write the wrong script, thousands of people would be without there telephone and or broadband .

I just watch the weather forecast and book a couple of day off around a weekend, tis a bit of a gamble with are current weather forecasting .

[starship trooper]

i must admit i do like my sleep but when i get out at weekends and have got clear skies i would stay up until the early hours ,but i must admit i do like the winter months although they are cool i can start spoting straight after dinner and be in bed by 2230ish and had a good session.

I am still to go to a star party and am looking to go to many next year.

And this makes me feel a bit better to know i aint on my own just wished i was young agian so i could handle the late nights lol

[Cornelius Varley]

Hibernate untill the nights get darker.

Peter

[ZZraynj]

It's a trade off for me. I too have to get up early, but I console myself by enjoying the garden until twilight. I suspect the stars (et al) will still be there, waiting come darker evenings. Actually, I'm looking forward to Jupiter coming out to play again, so it keeps up the long term interest (for me, anyway).

[bcfcciderhead]

I'm up at 6am mon to sat, sometimes night work (overtime) and the last month all the night work has been when the skies are clear, i did take my scope to work with me as i'm more office based and can get an hour between loading trucks, but it's not the same.

Not been out with the scopes for about 3 months but the thought of Jupiter coming into view again keeps me going and of course the winter, sure love that Orion.

As for a job i batch ready mix concrete.

[rocketandroll]

I am not a person who can survive on a small amount of sleep :-)

The last few weeks I've found myself up imaging until 2:00 - 2:30am and needing to be up to loom after/take my daighter to nursery at about 6:30 - 7:00, but I can only cope with that one day a week... I do have the advantage of being MD of my own (toy design) company and work from home 90% of the time so I do have the advantage that I can sneak in an extra few hours sleep during the day after a late night.

I don't think I'd be out past midnight though if I had to GO TO work the next day, that'd leave me shattered... as I said I AM a lightweight when it comes to sleep :-)

I am looking forward to winter though... having only started in astronomy in March, this will be my first winter of observing/imaging and the thought of being able to get 4hrs+ of imaging in before midnight is exciting in the extreme :-)

Ben

[GeorgeB]

Pretty much weekends only for me at the moment, as I'm up at 06:00 for work and have to be switched on all day. I did consider going out last night for a quick hour, but there was still fairly bright twighlight at 10pm.

[Pete Presland]

normally leave it mostly for the weekends,maybe a bit of solar imaging/observing.but this year lots of fine tuning to the new obsy,ready for the autumn.

[Space Cadet USA]

This is a very interesting discussion, just the other day I was wondering to myself how other people cope with having one of the most anti-social hobbies known to man It is sooo hard to drag yourself off to bed during the week, especially once you have gone to the effort of setting everything up. I am very fortunate at the moment in that I work from home and have great flexibility on hours, plus a very understanding wife who is used to going to sleep with me still outside peering at some faint grey wisp. In my previous existence I could not have imagined a late night observing during the week and so would probably just never have set the scope up. I would have not been able to function in a busy office environment if I had stayed up till 1 or 2am observing. It is hard to fit a night time activity around a day time life but the rewards are great and maybe the stress relief of those nights can help make the daytime grind a bit more bearable...

[Superewza]

I'm a student so... go to bed at 3, wake up anywhere between 12 and 2

Then again i don't actually own a scope/binoculars so you know...

[swamp thing]

stop being a light weight and get out there?

You said it!

Seriously though I find as long as the night after you observe you get some decent sleep you should be fine.

I do manual work and short nights don't stop me.

Regards Steve

[Viv]

Same here - it's a serious no go on a work night, as i'm up at 05:30am

However weekends or holiday time (like this week) are completely different.

But I find myself logged onto here, almost constantly - so much info that you need now, future or don't even know you need ...........

[Vicky]

I was thinking about this too last night. It was past 11 before I felt it was dark enough.

As a newbie I need to practice just using the scope so I suspect I might do some star hopping and perhaps do some sketches of what I can see at different times. Just biding my time til winter. Blimey, I never thought I'd be wishing away these bright nights!!

Can't wait for winter this year- first year with a scope and I was never that steady with the bins.

[Space Cadet USA]

I think time reading on here when weather/daylight/life prevents observing has to be time well spent

[The Sailor]

Well I am retired, a lot of time to do what I want and when. If it's a cloudy but nice day it's gardening time and if there is a glimmer of sun then the obsy is opened and the mount is started up. I have to admit that no matter what the first thing I do each day after a shower is go out to the obsy, second is kiss SWMBO and then breakfast . Nighttime is determined by the clouds, if none then I am out and will be there until my bones start to ache .

Jim

[RikM]

I can manage 3-4 late nights in a week if the sky permits. Much more than that and I am fit for nothing. I have never needed loads of sleep. 4-5 hours a night seems to be enough for me.

[Earl]

The summer months for me will be spent building my Obsy, its all coming together slowly.

[MikeD]

I set up at around 11pm if the forecast is for clear skies all night. I set an imaging run going and set my mobile alarm on vibrate and go to bed,

wake up at 4am and nip out to the garden in my pants and close the obs roof then back to bed until 7am for work.

Mike.

[Space Cadet USA]

nip out to the garden in my pants

Is that why you are called Y-front-o?

[smudgeball]

wake up at 4am and nip out to the garden in my pants

I'm another one concerned about the moderators running this forum

I usually try and get a weekend viewing plus one day during the week.

But with evenings that short, it's a challenge.

I fancy trying a full night shift some time but I'll leave that for later in the year.

[Space Cadet USA]

I think if I get my new scope I may be having a few more late nights...