Alone ?

[Ally8446]

Am I alone in this ? Surely not. I'll do my best to explain... For about the last 4 or 5 nights I have kept a close eye on the evening sky. Roughly every half hour have a glance and guess what..cloud. Every damn time..cloud. Except right about bed time. Now if I put my scope out to cool down earlier then its 'what if it rains'. So the question is do I just completely alter my life's routine or is there some medium out there that will tell me with a slight degree of certainty whether the night sky will be cloudless or not ? And thank you all for your patience but we got there in the end. Regards as always, Al

[eddy]

LOL i had the same thing last night, setup took me about an hour before i started to image, took 1 image, then the clouds set in. Same the night before, but ended up going back out later in the night as it did eventually clear (thursday night i think)

Its all a bit of 'pot luck' specially this time of year with April showers etc. As far as altering your life style goes, just remember, you cant do astronomy in the day time...lol

Hope that helps somewhat!

[ronin]

You change your whole life.

Even if it were clear say 1 night in 3 that clear spell may be 2:00 to 4:00 AM. :D:D

If you are asking for it to be clear every night and when it is convenient to you then you have no chance.:eek:

Astronomers are an odd bunch, we seem to complain about any lights, want it cloudless at a time to suit us, want no trees or buildings to inhibit the horizons, and most want this in their back garden.

[Ally8446]

Not looking for a 6th sense just something that could say ' 60-70% chance of being cloudless' or something of that ilk

[JamesM]

Hi Ally, the weather questions? Whether to set up my kit or wait another night! Well there is an old saying, "there's no rush, the stars aren't going anywhere" which is certainly true and doing astronomy does demand on many occasions that we take the longer view in pursuing our interests. I must admit, I do envy our American cousins who live around the Nevada desert, who can arrange a time to meet up with fellow observers when it is convenient to them rather than what we do here, which is always a last minute scramble, somewhat akin to Spitfire pilots waiting for the telephone call to announce an incoming attack! AS Eddy has said, it's 'that' time of year, which I know seems to creep into May and June in recent years, but patience is the name of the game - makes it all the sweeter when it arrives!

Clear skies

James

(P.S Eddy, astronmy in the day - what about solar observing, about the only observing possible at the moment:D:D)

[eddy]

Wind Map - Britain Observations

Weather Eastbourne - meteoblue

BBC Weather

theweatheroutlook.co.uk

Metcheck.com - UK Weather Forecasts - Live Data - Long Range Weather Forecasts

Weather and climate change - Met Office

They'll give you a forecast for cloud coverage, also use Weather Europe, Satellite Weather Europe, Weather Forecast, Rainfall, Clouds, Sun in Europe - Source: SAT24.com for recent satellite images of cloud cover and make your own deduction from that.

A lot of weather sites have an Astronomy Forecast

[eddy]

Completely forgot Solar observing, something i think ill be trying my hand at this summer to be honest

[Ally8446]

Cheers guys and thanks eddy especially. Plenty of choice for me there. Clear skies

[eddy]

Dont get too obsessed, i check them 20+ times a day and it does you no favours, only to be dissapointed in the end.

Best forecast you can ever have is to stick ya 'ead window! lol

[knobby]

Don't know if you have an android phone but astropanel is pretty helpful

[Cubemaster]

+1 for Astro panel. Pretty decent guide IMO

[richbyers]

i had a look on the met office app....said last night was to be cloudy and tonight clear as a bell...well last night was clear as a bell and tonight is cloudy

[LukeSuppalot]

i had a look on the met office app....said last night was to be cloudy and tonight clear as a bell...well last night was clear as a bell and tonight is cloudy

Lol. That seems about right to me.

I've found the most reliable local weather report comes from the old boy who walks his dog past my house at the same time most evenings. He's lived in the village for over 60 years and if he says it's going to be clear I set my scope up to cool. He's rarely wrong. I've asked him how he knows and all he says is "Dunno boy. I jus know". Don't know what I'll do if he stops walking by.

Luke

[richbyers]

Lol. That seems about right to me.

I've found the most reliable local weather report comes from the old boy who walks his dog past my house at the same time most evenings. He's lived in the village for over 60 years and if he says it's going to be clear I set my scope up to cool. He's rarely wrong. I've asked him how he knows and all he says is "Dunno boy. I jus know". Don't know what I'll do if he stops walking by.

Luke

i bet he was a fisherman.......he must have some stories to tell

[ianaiken]

I've just had the pleasure setting up around 21:30 then fighting my way through 5 hail showers before getting one sub then packing up before the next shower. Now I'm looking at the sky and its been clear for easily an hour if not a bit more. I should have left it setup.