Jump to content

Banner.jpg.b89429c566825f6ab32bcafbada449c9.jpg

Worst seeing ever!

Bart

By Bart
in Observing - Discussion

Recommended Posts

Bart

Bart

Posted
Posted

Got up at 3.45 as if was predicted clear, which it was. No moon, so time for some galaxy observing in Leo, Virgo, Coma etc.

all went well, lovely time drifting along getting all those fuzzies.

Tried then for Mars and found it looked terrible. Went to Saturn ( I had glanced at earlier at x50 which was small but reasonably clear) and that was terrible. It looked like there was a stream flowing over it. I was truly taken aback!

Went to Mars again and it was the same. A virtual torrent going past it.

I recollimated anyway

Then went to the Hercules glob and just couldn't get detail. The stars just wouldn't get sharp. Recollimated and it didn't improve

I was shocked and disappointed. In my 3 or so years of this game I have never seen anything like it.

With a heavy heart, and knowledge that a days work is ahead, I packed it in.

I'm a bit stunned. The sky looked so clear and beautiful.

What was rushing over this part of the world this morning!???

Barry

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ronin

ronin

Posted
Posted

Mars would have been South for you at that time and that anticyclone that had passed over you and left a bit of clear sky had a big long arm that would have been south and I guess you were viewing through that disturbance.

This morning early I could hear rain and I would say it was throwing it down over Devon/Somerset again.

One thing about astronomy at present is you get to understand a lot about weather and some of the mechanics of it. Besides the centre of the Low going over there is a large spiral arm of a weather front, that arm of rain and turbulance is what I suspect you were viewing at and into.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Bart

Bart

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thanks folks

I must swot up a bit on the mechanics of weather, seeing as it's something I experience a lot!

Must say again though, given the sky looked well, I was really surprised how bad it was, never experienced anything like it before

I hear we're in for a rough weekend coming!!

Barry

Link to comment
Share on other sites
AlexB67

AlexB67

Posted
Posted

Bart, the Irish weather as you know is not the most stable. In your situation I'd venture a trip to Kerry if you can manage it some time for the darker skies, it should be great for DSO and low mag viewing when it is clear. Recently Kerry got a dark sky reserve award. Unfortunately with the rough air flows and the surrounding Ocean steady air is not something you'll experience as often as you might like there.

Not to put too much of a damper on it, I've seen what you describe here too, it would not go away all night, it was a complete washout as far as planetary details were concerned. I've since realised the naked eye tells you little about air stability, apart from the twinkly twinkle, It is only when you stick the scope up there you really find out what you are up against sometimes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Bart

Bart

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Same for me last Sunday - a rippling stream moving across Jupiter. I don't think I've seen anything that bad before.

First nights observing in ages and I just packed up and came inside :(

Pity. It's very disappointing, clear, but no good. Imagine a pastime that you could partake in when you wished :Envy:  :Envy:  

Barry

Link to comment
Share on other sites
stolenfeather

stolenfeather

Posted
Posted

Humidity will spoil any night viewing.  There are some nights when the entire moon looks underwater!  Pristine skies where one does not have frostbite, mosquitoe bites galore, humidity, light pollution is few and far between but...  when that night comes...  It's perfect! 

Then there are nights when everything goes wrong!  :evil:

Isabelle

Link to comment
Share on other sites
lunator

lunator

Posted
Posted

Nick have to agree :)

Only got out for an hour before the cloud rolled in but scope collimated, seeing and transparency very good/excellent the detail on the Moon was fantastic and Jupiter was crisp :)

Cheers

Ian

Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Beulah

Beulah

Posted
Posted

I imagine things will not improve once the earth starts warming up again for our brief spell of warm sunshine we get for few days a year.   :D

The ground is so saturated it will probably create spells of foggy conditions.

Yup, weather finally got to me too. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites
alan potts

alan potts

Posted
Posted

Barry,

Thats sounds awful. It is only a few weeks back that I was lookng at the Moon with the 190mm at around X120 and all the craters disappeared with similar seeing, it was only for a short while though. My seeing has not been good this year or the back end of last, most odd.

Alan

Link to comment
Share on other sites
DannyHarvey

DannyHarvey

Posted
Posted

It was the jet stream - it doesn't matter if its clear, if the high level wind is blowing then you wont stand a chance. You can try to predict  using this chart - you want nice purple colour over your area..

http://weather.unisys.com/gfs/gfs.php?inv=0&plot=300&region=eu&t=6p

This is where I got the info from:

http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-iarticle_query?bibcode=2006JBAA..116...11P&db_key=AST&page_ind=0&data_type=GIF&type=SCREEN_VIEW&classic=YES

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.