I hate June!

[Davie]

Hello Donaldo

I'm just a wee bit further north than yourself and have to admit that summer time is when things get stripped down and tinkered with so that when the darker nights do come in I have a fully functioning set up. Doesn't always work out like that but I do try :-)

[ChrisLX200]

There was a chance to get something tonight but the clouds rolled in just after midnight so that put paid to my plans. I actually took a few frames of the moon (hardly an ideal target for my fract+Atik490 taking single frames!) then moved on to some Ha of ngc6946. So a brief yet still enjoyable evening and thankfully not a lot of effort to set up and take down.

Oh, here's the moon

ChrisH

[DaveS]

I've now given up for the duration, broken down my HEQ5 and brought it in ready for moving. During the week I'm in bed before it gets anything like dark.

[Lorne]

Hehe.... 

[Kirscovitch]

Oh and another gripe about June... Mosquitos. Swarms and swarms of mosquitos. I had issues the other night while trying to nail my PA. Little suckers would actually lift the mount and turn it a bit. 

At least at -20F I only had to worry about my blood freezing instead of it getting sucked out of me.

[ollypenrice]

For some darkness just go south! Here in SE France we have 4 hours astronomical darkness as a minimum. You don't have to reach the Equator!!

Mosquitoes don't like altitude so we are lucky on that score, too. 3000 feet is more than enough to do them in. Horrible things.

Olly

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

I do lots of solar. Even at 53 N, I have also looked the Ring nebula and M13 last Friday. Pretty impressive. Saturn was OK, but seeing was rotten. Still impressed a student of my wife who was babysitting. Conditions are not that good, but I do get the scope out when I can.

[Kirscovitch]

One good thing I have found so far in this first summer of astronomy is that I work 2nd shift. I go to work at 230pm and get done at 1030. So by the time I get home and get setup the skies are nice and dark and I am used to being up late (early?) Even before I got my first scope I was very used to being up untill the sun came up.

[ccfcbob]

I didn't realize just how light it was at night until I got into this astronomy lark. Out the other night and I could still read the lettering on my lenses at 11.30pm.

One thing I did spot last night just before i went up to bed in between the clouds was 'Capella'. Checked Stellarium and 99% sure it was that.

Never noticed before last night just how much it flickers or the colours in it. Not a chance of getting the scope out though for a closer look with how cloudy it was.