Dry spell for planetary observers?

[jambouk]

My preferred location for my home observatory has been where I get the best possible view of the celestial equator, but a friend suggested I looked at what the planets were going to do over the next few years.

I had a quick play with Stellarium and made a table of the maximum altitudes for Mars, Jupiter and Saturn from my back garden (52 degrees north) between sunset and sunrise from now until 2020, just looking at March, June, September and December from each year. The results are depressing. Any gaps in the data are when the planet(s) are below 20 degrees (my visible horizon) or just not observable during the nigh time.

Obvious limitations to my data are that I did it all by eye and retyped the data so may be errors there, and I've only picked fours months of each year. Is reliable data of this sort available online in an easy to understand format? My data is making me think twice about an observatory, or just putting it is in a more garden-friendly location (out of the way) and accepting I will be unable to see the celestial equator as well.

JD

planets to 2020.pdf

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

The exact moment of maximum altitude is largely irrelevant. If you look at the curves arround the maxima, you will see that they are pretty flat. Suppose the maximum elevation is 65 degrees, the time that the planet is above 64 or 63 degrees is huge.

[jambouk]

Michael,

I don't understand what you mean? (sorry, I'm not the brightest).

Why is the maximum altitude irrelevant? In say 2017, on my limited data set, the maximum night time altitude I found for Saturn from my back garden is less than 20 degree; therefore I cannot see Saturn at night in 2017 from my back garden as all my horizons are above 20 degrees?

JD

[C7tsj]

The exact moment of maximum altitude is largely irrelevant. If you look at the curves arround the maxima, you will see that they are pretty flat. Suppose the maximum elevation is 65 degrees, the time that the planet is above 64 or 63 degrees is huge.

I think he is saying they are at close to maximum elevation for a long period of time. They may not be at max elevation for long, but close is just as good.

Mark

[jambouk]

Ah, yes. Still pretty poor pickings for the next 6 years though.

I'm still looking for more robust tables to show me this data.

Jd

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Pondus]

Does this mean that Sirius is kind of your "limit" of what to see?

I live on 59N so I have to wait more than a decade to see Saturn in a decent position....

Rune

[jambouk]

Yes Sirius is on the boundary of what i can see; depending what time of the night it is, and where i stand, i can actually see sirius for much of the night, but from my chosen positions for an observatory it would only be visible for a couple of hours, probably for 20 degrees either side of southwest.

Jd

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MartinB]

Does this mean that Sirius is kind of your "limit" of what to see?

I live on 59N so I have to wait more than a decade to see Saturn in a decent position....

Rune

There are many advantages to living on the West coast of Norway but I guess good planetary imaging/observing conditions isn't one of them!

[Moonshane]

can you not find a local spot with a better horizon?

[jambouk]

My motivation is to have a permanent set up, and not have to lug it all around.

Jd

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk