The END for DSO?

[estwing]

my local club says after this month the sun doesn't sink far enough below the horizon for alot of dso hunting...yikes!

[JamesF]

There are plenty still out there. I think almost all the remaining Messier objects I've not found are "summer" objects.

James

[scuffer]

I was thinking of posing the same question , the last couple of times I have gone out there has been a lack of stars , wasn't sure if it was due to wispy cloud or just the time of year, is it worth a camping trip somewhere darker in the summer months ? Or view the moon till september

[Mike73]

my local club says after this month the sun doesn't sink far enough below the horizon for alot of dso hunting...yikes!

That gives me five days to finish off the Virgo galaxies before I go back to work (and no astronomy) for 2 weeks.

Light evenings seem to have happened so quickly this year!

[Viv]

this is the first time. i'll be going through a summer break.

Desperate for Sombrero & Veil neb - looks like a wait for a couple of months now for veil neb & next year for sombrero.

will be interested to hear answers for scuffer's question - will a dark sky still do for galaxy's in the summer.

[estwing]

summer breaks?...now where's that PST...

[Whippy]

What they're probably referring to is the lack of 'astronomical' darkness. The Sun has to be more than 18 degrees below the horizon for it to have no effect on darkness. As we're coming round to the summer solstice, the sun no longer gets that far under the horizon so it doesn't get truly dark. The further north you are, the more pronounced the effect is. I've been on holiday in the highlands of Scotland during the summer and for all intents and purposes it doesn't really get dark at all.

Tony..

[JB80]

I don't see how come people are so keen to take a break, if your winter has been anything like here then you'd be itching to get some observing time in summer or no.

As Tony said about the Astronomical Darkness though, I mean I get that but there is still loads to see.

Frankly I have been looking forward to summer and clearer nights so I can dust the scope off and get some PST time in as well. The last year has been useless for weather.

I think I'm on a fools errand though.

But I do get the point that it's not so great for the DSO's.

[estwing]

the ONE-day that you'll need that PST...i bet ..it's ..c..l..o..u.no i cann't say it

[nightfisher]

Im so glad that 99% of my astro work is solar system

[swamp thing]

I normally take a couple/three weeks off around the longest day. But that's about it, we don't get enough clear nights as it is.

[RobH]

I normally take a couple/three weeks off around the longest day. But that's about it, we don't get enough clear nights as it is.

Me too....after that I find (I'm on the south coast) that I can get a couple of hours in, and if you're imaging in narrowband you can stretch that a bit.....this was imaged on July 4th a few years back.....

[NGC 1502]

It does depend what you call a DSO. Double and multiple stars don't need full darkness to be seen well.

There's always solar system objects if faint fuzzies are tough to see.

Regards, Ed.

[estwing]

i once worked out a snowboard holiday day on the slopes...started at 9am non-stop till 4pm and i mean non-stop.time spent on snow riding???...1hr 58 min! all that money and effort..sound familiar?

[ollypenrice]

I'm at Lat 44. A few years ago Tom (Tom O'D) said he was coming for a week around the shortest night; with two scopes running we banged out 8 hours data per night (4 per scope) and had one of the best weeks either of us can remember. It's incredible how much difference going a little south makes, so if you are taking a holiday make the most of it. Most people go south. I always did before I was smitten by astronomy. Even if you just pack a pair of bins, do it! I'd love to get down much further south in June. Rho Ophicus, Hmmmm....

Olly

[ronin]

At this time of year there is relatively little darkness, and the more north the less darkness still. Artic circle has 24 hours of day light on June 20.

Worked in N Yorkshire and for a month either side of the solstice I didn't need lights on until around 10:00pm, and that was indoors. Outside the sky remained blue, maybe a deepish blue but certainly not dark.

For astronomy you could easily have to wait until after 11:00 for it to sufficently dark, and that meant say 3 hours, I would doubt if you would get 4 hours, before the sky began to lighten again.

Of course if we didn't have Summer Time it would be darker an hour earlier, but then also lighten an hour earlier also.

[peterbolson]

Last night was the last one with any complete darkness where I live. Astronomical twilight ( when the sun is more than 18 degrees below the hoorizon ) ended at 0.33am and began again at 1.43am so only 70 mins. of proper darkness, even without the moon ! You can see the times for your postcode from this website http://www.good-stuff.co.uk/suntimes/

Sixth magnitude stars will no longer be visible to the naked eye in good conditions so it makes finding your way about by star hopping more difficult but there is still plenty to see if you can find it !

[JamesF]

I didn't realise going such a short distance north made such a large difference. I think we still get about three and a half hours down here. It's unfortunate that so much of it is after midnight.

James

[Lowenbrau]

Quite interesting, never thought of that as on my location we have always at least few hours of astronomical darkness, and I tend to agree in such circumstances it's not worth to watch much... Open clusters with evenly bright stars, not too packed or faint could be same though. It can be arranged as few observing sessions with such objects. OCs aren't my favorite objects, but still have done such observations

Check these great OC lists

http://www.backyard-astro.com/Lists/lists.html

[twotter]

Well I'm looking forward to seeing the Summer Triangle again and the Ring Nebula again

[johnrt]

I image all year round, still possible to get a good 3 hours data here in north kent even around the shortest night.

PS Well, when I say all year round I mean in-between the layers of thick cloud all year.

[Steve Ward]

Six and a half weeks and the nights start drawing out again , cheer up ! soon be Christmas

[David Smith]

Don't pack up just because it's summer! Lots of real crowd pleasers in the summer sky as well as a great meteor shower, warm evenings to view planets with. Sagitarius / Ophiuchus region comes back into view which is absolutely stunning. I am personally looking forward to turning some of my new kit on these summer treasures. Assuming the clouds give at some point .

Only down side is that every night is a late night once the skies clear but .... sleep, who needs it when there are stars to look at

[Ant]

I don't see how come people are so keen to take a break, if your winter has been anything like here then you'd be itching to get some observing time in summer or no.

As Tony said about the Astronomical Darkness though, I mean I get that but there is still loads to see.

Frankly I have been looking forward to summer and clearer nights so I can dust the scope off and get some PST time in as well. The last year has been useless for weather.

I think I'm on a fools errand though.

But I do get the point that it's not so great for the DSO's.

Thank god for Narrow Band Imaging! You can still do that in semi darkness!

[nytecam]

I'm in Surrey /South London and DSO stuff in the SE to south [remote from sun] is ok before midnight for June and July;)