What's your favourite observing time of night...?

[emadmoussa]

Personally, I tend to enjoy it more when everybody around is dead asleep. My most fruitful sessions happened after 11pm. You're less likely to hear idiots shouting down the road or nosy neighbours checking out what you're doing.

Put it this way, a bit of background noise and observing don't go together for me. Let alone desperate smokers with their automated weapons of mass destruction - no, not cigarettes, I mean security lights - are probably heading for bed at that time and chances are your session will not be ruined by stray lights as much as earlier of the night.

This leaves us with those odd freaks of nature who just hang around after midnight even during the week - makes you wonder if they actually do anything in life except hanging out. To be honest, I never got my head around this ''hanging around'' mentality.

Some slugs, little frogs or toads are easy to deal with, and you're good to go.

So, yeah..rant away..

[gazza63]

Yep, Same here, anytime after 11 is about right. Between 1 and 3 is my favourite time of night. Like you said....no distractions. 

[emadmoussa]

The only problem is most of our clear nights happen during the working days - weekend and it's mostly cloudy

[gazza63]

Same tonight, clear nights this week, when i  had to be up at 5 in morning. Now It's weekend.....cloudy 

[emadmoussa]

Same tonight, clear nights this week, when i  had to be up at 5 in morning. Now It's weekend.....cloudy 

Don't get me started on today's weather...sunny and clear all day and as soon as the sun set, clouds rolled in. IT SHOULD BE THE OTHER WAY AROUND FOR GOD'S SAKE

[gazza63]

Guess... WHAT!  Clear skies for tuesday night...Aaaarrrggg. 

[emadmoussa]

Saw that...

I'm actually looking out of the window and the moon is totally clear, only patches of cloud. I know as soon as I want to take the gear up it'll get totally cloudy. Then again, it's almost full moon and wouldn't bother doing any DSOs  hunting.

[Nathan_Pembs]

Have to bring my mount outside the front of my house to polar align, so after 11.30 till 3am weather permitting. Don't start work till 3pm so a lie-in is possible

[Pig]

I was going to go and seek out some clear skies somewhere in the UK this weekend , unfortunately its all cloudy

On to the post topic, I prefer around 2am, it is really dark and quiet

[jason.p]

This time of year, anything between 8pm and midnight suits me with work the next day. When (and if) I ever retire that could well change:D

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[DazC]

In the week it has to be late evening (in the winter months), so I can get to bed at a reasonable time. At the weekend however, I prefer to observe from around 11pm until the early hours, as the atmosphere is more stable and the surroundings are a lot quieter making the session a lot more enjoyable.

D.C

[foundaplanet]

Personally, I tend to enjoy it more when everybody around is dead asleep. My most fruitful sessions happened after 11pm. You're less likely to hear idiots shouting down the road or nosy neighbours checking out what you're doing.

Put it this way, a bit of background noise and observing don't go together for me. Let alone desperate smokers with their automated weapons of mass destruction - no, not cigarettes, I mean security lights - are probably heading for bed at that time and chances are your session will not be ruined by stray lights as much as earlier of the night.

This leaves us with those odd freaks of nature who just hang around after midnight even during the week - makes you wonder if they actually do anything in life except hanging out. To be honest, I never got my head around this ''hanging around'' mentality.

Some slugs, little frogs or toads are easy to deal with, and you're good to go.

So, yeah..rant away.. 

Are you talking about imagers here..

I have practically given up with home astro after lemon lips next door stuck up a security light. I just drive out to the peace and safety of the countryside.

[Scott]

From dark 'til 11.30ish on weeknights....10.00ish 'til 4.00ish on week ends. makes no difference if anyones about....the natives have their security light so sensitive a quick snail will send them off.

[tich]

I just find it a waste of time trying to observe at home as security lights around here switch on & off all night so I just go to a dark site now to observe from dusk till dawn. I will however be imaging Jupiter from home when it gets high enough in the sky as the lights don't affect that.

[emadmoussa]

Unfortunately for me I'm stuck in my back garden.

[Space Dragon]

Anytime after 11pm is when it gets good......if your neighbour has an intrusive security light and you happen to get on with them ok......try speaking to them about it and sorting something out.

My neighbour has a bright white light which is on ALL the time after dark.....it does about the same as a full moon...we get on ok, so I asked him if I could gaffa a red tea towel over it.

It works out well as there's still enough diffuse red light to negotiate the path but my adaption isn't screwed up.

Now.....I wonder if I can persuade the other neighbours not to switch on any of their lights after 9pm.....sounds perfectly reasonable to me.

[emadmoussa]

If I could communicate the message to my neighbor, then I'm sure they're kind enough to sort it out. Unfortunately, they barely speak English.

[Pig]

I was quite surprised how good just before daybreak is, there seems to be something eerie about it too

[JB80]

None of my neighbours speak English either.

Practicality overrules any sense of having a favourite time for me, generally any time from dark to about 2 or 3am is the best I can manage and then that still leaves me with only 4 or 5 hours sleep. I'm happy for anytime to be honest.

Personally, I tend to enjoy it more when everybody around is dead asleep. My most fruitful sessions happened after 11pm. You're less likely to hear idiots shouting down the road or nosy neighbours checking out what you're doing.

Put it this way, a bit of background noise and observing don't go together for me. Let alone desperate smokers with their automated weapons of mass destruction - no, not cigarettes, I mean security lights - are probably heading for bed at that time and chances are your session will not be ruined by stray lights as much as earlier of the night.

Around here that 11pm turns into as late as 2am on any given night of the week. The background noise(which doesn't bother me all that much) is generally other families having dinner and drinks outside, it's not every night though and yeah until about 10 or 11pm is the bulk of it. After then if there is noise it's much friendlier sounding environment presumably as the sangria takes hold.

Oh and then there are the dogs, it's not too much of a difficult task to get about 50 dogs simultaneously barking with the odd sneeze or clatter of a door.

Still I don't mind it as long as I'm not being bothered  and haven't been yet.

[brantuk]

"I was quite surprised how good just before daybreak is"

I love that time of night between 3am and 5am when you're racing around the sky trying to get a few final objects in the eyepiece  before dawn, after a clear night of happy stargazing. Then grabbing a cuppa and relaxing in a deck whilst watching the stars fade away and the day waking up, the birds yawning and stretching their wings and starting to twitter, and rabbits coming out to play is just magic.

Sometimes you get some really stunning back lit cloud patches rolling in across a bright constellation, with a planet or two nearby, as the horizon begins to brighten, creating a beautiful spooky scene on a fading marine blue sky. Then the missus stumbles out of the tent in her wellies carrying a bog roll and plodding off to the loo block spoiling it all lol.

[Scott]

"I was quite surprised how good just before daybreak is"

I love that time of night between 3am and 5am when you're racing around the sky trying to get a few final objects in the eyepiece  before dawn, after a clear night of happy stargazing. Then grabbing a cuppa and relaxing in a deck whilst watching the stars fade away and the day waking up, the birds yawning and stretching their wings and starting to twitter, and rabbits coming out to play is just magic.

Sometimes you get some really stunning back lit cloud patches rolling in across a bright constellation, with a planet or two nearby, as the horizon begins to brighten, creating a beautiful spooky scene on a fading marine blue sky. Then the missus stumbles out of the tent in her wellies carrying a bog roll and plodding off to the loo block spoiling it all lol.

Thanks Brantuk, First good chuckle of the day.