Is it worth stargazing in the summer?

[muttley]

I bought my scope in the Spring, and had some exciting nights learning my way around the skies. Given the months of dodgy weather, I hadn't bothered to get the scope out for quite some time, but last night was beautifully clear. However, I went into the garden at 10:30 and could hardly make out any stars, even after waiting for my eyes to adjust. The light pollution isn't too bad in my neck of the woods, it just wasn't dark enough. Do all you keen experts go out at midnight, or is stargazing more of a winter hobby?

Simon

[johnrt]

Yes it's dark enough now by 11ish here in Kent, good couple of hours both last night and the night before and still time to get some sleep for work!

[Qualia]

Yeah, I say it's worth it, even if you're just practicing stuff so as not to get too rusty. You know? Reading your star atlas, star hopping, working out angles and distances, that kind of thing. If it's too bright for fainter DSOs, you can always try your hand at open clusters, splitting doubles, and planetary work. Or again, you could skip the evening entirely and get up early and watch Jupiter, Venus, and Pleiades make their early morning call and as an extra bonus for climbing out of bed at 4am-ish, you get Andromeda right over head. That's what I've been doing this week. Early morning calls and following Jupiter's moons, quite fascinating.

[JamesF]

The further north you are the worse it is because there's a longer period when it isn't actually considered to get "properly" dark at all, but i've been out on pretty much every available opportunity this summer. I've not started before 11:30pm generally though, and often don' finish until between 1am and 2am (or even much later, last night).

James

[Woking]

Yes, it is worth it even if it does mean later sessions than during the winter.

Last night I was observing in just a t-shirt, so different to freezing winter conditions. Plenty to see during the summer and plenty to miss out on if you leave it until the autumn.

[S.A.M]

Yes, it is worth going out during the summer months. Several reasons for this, it can be warm and you do not need layers of clothes to keep warm (unless you are my wife), you see the constellations of Scorpius and Sagittarius and the glow of the Milky Way over head to name a few. Downside, you do not start viewing until well pass 10 at night, last night I had to stop at midnight because of work the following day but the time I was out there (about 90 minutes) was just great.

Hope this helps with any decisions you may have with summer viewing. Before the last night and the weekend I had not been viewing since late May, the weather in Wiltshire had been that bad.

Peter

[Moonshane]

I think so http://stargazerslounge.com/topic/156841-finally-observing-under-decent-skies-2372012/

[The Sailor]

I have been getting out at about 2330hrs and stayed there till maybe 0200hrs ish, nothing serious, practice, checking different pieces against others, fruitfull at times . The day has been good for solar work, getting to know the PST and what I can achieve.

Jim

[Cartman]

I'm a beginner myself, but I had an interesting session last night. Crystal clear skies, Milky Way visible and I saw M31 for the first time (was even visible with naked eye at 40

degrees alt, so it was dark enough IMO). Started observing after 23h though, before that it was simply not dark enough.

[laser_jock99]

I was out till 3:30am this morning doing some imaging work. It was not cold or windy for a change and the sky was very clear (for summer) as can be a bit hazy at times. But yes - worth the effort, photo of the Triffid & Lagoon nebulas from the weekend:

[Marki]

Too many cloudy nights - I'll take any chance I can get, even if it means a late shift .

[DirkSteele]

Given the number of interesting DSOs in the summer sky, I believe it is worth it, even if it means later observing sesssions. Plus there is something to be said for not standing outside for several hours in very low temperatures....

[David Smith]

I was out last night. Didn't need the scope, just bins and my eyes. Milky Way was stunning. Can't wait to get back out tonight! So yes, I would say you will be missing out if you don't.

[webboid]

I only got my scope a few months ago & I'm taking every opportunity to observe. For me I am amazed at what I have seen & I will be able to tell how better the sky will become as it gets darker later in the year. So far I have seen 20 Messier objects despite the sky looking grey.

I think it's worth the effort despite late nights.

[heathenwoods]

I think you're probably getting the idea now but, yes, certainly worth it when conditions allow it. We've had an anomalous June/July but I've picked off new Messiers and got to know the sky better just this week. Go for it :-)

[Naemeth]

Even though I'm farily southerly, I've still been going out at 11:00 or 12:00pm, it's just too light before then, Messier hunting is pointless before 11:00pm in my opinion. But going out after 11:00pm can be very productive, and it's nice and warm outside too!

[Tyr]

Yes I think it's worth it, you just have to consider what you're looking for if you've got limited time.

I actually started at 10pm on Monday night and checked out some of the brighter double stars before 10:30pm when it began to get dark enough to see some globular clusters.

And remember you don't even need it to be dark to observe the moon when it's up.

It could be cloudy again next week, so I'm keen to make the most of whatever chance I've got to get some observing in.

Tyr

[fredster]

Would have been silly to miss the current run of clear nights. Skies have been amazingly transparent and very dark by midnight (here near the south coast). The Milkyway alone the last couple of nights has made it worthwhile. And being able to observe some of the more southerly targets (Lagoon, Eagle, Trifid, Swan, M22) has been wonderful. Throw in t-shirt temps and what's there not to like about summer skies. Besides winter skies, certainly in recent years, are massively overrated.

[muttley]

Well that seems pretty much unanimous! I will give it a go tonight and see what I can find - I probably just need one interesting DSO or cluster to spark my enthusiasm again. I will dig out TLAO and nip out to the local dark(ish) sky site. You can only see pretty much straight up from my garden, thanks to all the neighbours' trees!!

All the replies are much appreciated, thanks.

[Matt Scunthorpe]

Yeah like others have said really, theres some constalations you can only see in the summer. Hopefully it will be clear tonight, bit cloudy here in Wakefield (work) at the moment.

[cantab]

Near the solstice I reckoned on it being dark enough for DSO hunting only from midnight until 2am, and got a fair few nights of good observing in; fortunately I get to normally work from 1 til 5. It's already getting somewhat better I reckon. And of course the Moon and planets can be observed just fine in twilight.

[PorkyB]

You can get lucky with the conditions at any time. Last night was the clearest sky I have ever seen this close to the city (I was 15 miles out from Birmingham), observing in a T-shirt until 3am when the mist rolled in. It would have been a real shame to miss it. I can't do it every night if I have work in the morning, but I reckon I can get away with one short night's sleep in the week.

[ItIsOnlyMe]

Out until about 2 this morning, ten messiers including my first galaxies, spectacular Milky Way and some great meteors. Lovely picture of the ring nebula. Second night this week and as an added bonus it was warm enough to take a cool beer and sit out in shorts.

Worth every second.

You have to get out when you can and if you want to you can always find a reason not to go out, too hot, too cold, may rain, bit cloudy e.t.c.

[andrew63]

It's a great time to pop in your lowest power lens and enjoy the wonders of the Milky Way overhead - or even better a pair of binos in the deckchair !

andrew

[S1m0n]

I'm in Newcastle and the sky is still quite light at 11pm so I have not done any gazing this summer because its just too bright for me .

Thats not to say there is nothing to see and depending where you are as a few people have said you can see a good few things

Im just waiting for the cold dark clear winter night skies