Withdrawals..

[ubertank]

So I got my first scope November 29th. I've gone out of every night it has been nice and clear. All three of them (one just for scouting purposes). Both observing nights have been absolutely amazing fun and really memorable. it felt like confirmation a life long interest had been sparked.

I'm checking the Met Office each day now to see if the 5th day of the forecast is going to be any better, but it's looking miserable as ever here in the Midlands.

I've said previously that the weather is a nice limiting factor in a way as it "keeps you keen" by stopping you from being able to bun yourself out on the hobby, but man am I feeling it now after three weeks of no observing. You do need the patience of a saint for this hobby. Luckily mine isn't too bad.

What's the longest you've had to go without getting outside due to the weather and what's your take on it? Does it really get you down not being able to indulge sometimes or are you happy indulging in other ways by image processing and stuff indoors when you can't go outside?

[rory]

i think its why astonomy books are always in demand . and what keeps s.g.l going so well. this year on the whole has been a pig !

[Luke]

Congrats on your first scope!

I think two to three weeks is normally the longest for me, if I ignore the summer where I took a break for some months with it not getting fully dark.

I average about six nights a month, which I think is not too bad. As you say, it stops us overdoing it

Sometimes the clear nights come in clumps and it can get a bit tiring, but I try to use the frustration of the bad periods to build up motivation to get out when I can. We had an amazing clear spell at the end of the Kelling star party last year, where it was clear for almost a week. Tiring, but it was great to get a month of viewing in one week

I think it can help to have another hobby, to fill in the gaps.

[JamesF]

I get frustrated when I've not been able to get out for a while. How frustrated depends on how much other stuff is going on. Getting out twice a month seems like a good result at the moment

James

[Catweazel]

I'm lucky to get out once a week, mainly due to rubbish weather, we seem to have an extraordinary amount of cloud here? I have decided to have a serious restriction on the amount of money I spend, as the gear just doesn't get used enough to justify it

[Matt Scunthorpe]

During the summer i think i didnt get out for like a month with the constant rain. But i agree with what you say that it keeps you keen. I am kind of raring to get out there, but its raining atm...

Gratz on the scope, getting on with it alright?

[foundaplanet]

I get frustrated at times of prolonged cloud, especially when we have these good dark nights.

The most frustrating part of it all for me though are those times when you have planned because the forecast is looking good. Then, shortly after you have driven to your dark site and gotten all set up the clouds roll in.

[Matt Scunthorpe]

Yeah but look at all the talking and tea drinking we got to do Colin

[jason.p]

What I find particularly annoying is it being completely clouded over when you turn in and then peeping out in the early hours (having got up for a peep) and seeing a beautiful crystal clear sky. Of course, a truly dedicated astronomer would get out there and set up.....Yeah, right

[stevetynant]

and unfortunately no respite on the horizon :0(

[jonathan]

I can go for weeks and not mind really if the weather is poor, I have plenty of other distractions, but when there's an event such as a meteor shower and it's just wall to wall cloud, grrrr. I am only an occasional astronomer, although I do like to have good kit (why skimp on the views? May as well make my limited time out worth while).

[SteveNickolls]

This year has been bad, looking at my observing log I made an entry " 22.7.2012- Almost a month since clear skies. It’s still rather light until quite late to observe but I thought I would record for posterity that we have had almost incessant rain and cloud since June." I have found this means that any techniques I learn trying to do a spot of ap gets largely forgotten so I am consciously vering away from ap. The year was also punctuated by my SCT mount having power problems which while being mended all rather turned out for the good-I realised how great and simple binoculars are! I am by and large patient but missing out on most of the meteor showers this year because of cloud/rain has been the hardest to take. I have been conscious that the poor weather has also encouraged me to spend money on new gear to compensate for the lack of observing opportunities-this tendency will stop. I am going to take a hard look at what can be resold/given away in the New Year as others may want/be better able to use of this under used gear, I have for example 3 Phillips Toucams.

Cheers,

Steve

[Capricorn]

Astronomy is something I do as well as other things, so it can be quite a time between going out.

A clear sky doesn't mean going out, other factors come into it, also I cannot get the equipment, take it out, set it up and then think what do I look at. I have to have some idea(s) before. Otherwise I really do just waste the time.

Between April and September I tend to more or less forget it, although a suitable evening is not always ignored. The lighter evenings mean staying up later, which is not always possible.

Unless you have a more or less permanent set up you cannot just decide to go out and observe. Even the simplest grab and go takes some setting up, and in realistic terms you are looking at 30-40 minutes.

I think a lot of people have the idea that they will get a scope then go out night after night looking at the stars whenever they want or wish to. That just does not happen. When someone says they want to start astronomy I cannot recall one reply saying that are they aware that they may get one clear night a week, maybe one every two weeks and that night will not fall at a convenient time and so be missed.

[stem1989]

I forgot what stars look like?! just a mass of cloud for weeks now

[Lorne]

Yeah, as hobbies go, it can be frustrating that not everything is within our control. I dont know how many few and far between clear nights I've missed because I've been on the wrong shift. If I had any hair left I'd be tearing it out!

[ubertank]

It does make it all the more special when I do get outside, but yeah, two to three weeks of rain is really depressing.

I REALLY want to get into AP and have the money to take a real plunge, but with the limited amount of time I would get to just practice it makes the time / cost ratio questionable.

I'm standing by what I said though. It does keep you hungry and enthused. The moment the met office has a good day forecast I'm going to be overjoyed and waiting with baited breath for it.

[Matt Scunthorpe]

Like said above, even on clear nigths, I dont always go out, mainly because its warmer/easier/better to be laying on my sofa in the warm than stood up in the freezing cold.

Some of the things that annoy me is when its always cloudy or raining on weekends, but really clear on 'schoolnights'. As well when its pouring it down in the evening, and when i leave for work at stupid o clock the next its perfectly clear. The other morning when i left at 0630, i could see actual stars, not just Jupiter and Venus!

[Archie Tureous]

I am based in Birmingham and have been out, on average, twice a week throughout this year. There was a three week gap in April/May and I haven't been out since Sunday 9 December (clear all night but had to go to bed at 4am as it was work in the morning) and Monday 10 December (out for a couple of hours in the evening, came in as it was starting to get misty and was -2C).

Occasionally I have been out when the forecast was good but when I got to my out-of-town site it was all cloudy. Only twice have I been out and done no observing at all. It sometimes works the other way and the sky clears as I arrive at my dark site.

I guess this hobby teaches us patience. It also develops an obsession with the weather forecast (I check two forecasts every day and a third if they disagree significantly). I have also learned how to plan my need for sleep around my observing and not the other way round. Fitting all this in around the needs of a job and a family takes some organisation, but it certainly is possible.

[Matt Scunthorpe]

See i never check weather forecasts. I just look up and see if i can see stars. Then ill compare it too how dark (or how many stars i can see) it is to what i know it can get from my area.