Guy Fawkes and observing!

[nytecam]

November 5th is this coming Friday but around here fireworks are going off most evenings for the last week and usually continue overall for a fortnight with the occasional rocket stick in garden or rooftop !

Does it inhibit your observing with stuff wizzing above your head ? It's been clear here of late but have been giving it a miss including the recent asteroid pass which is a shame with so few clear evenings in winter :- O

Nytecam

[Size9Hex]

I enjoyed the clear skies last night, and it was all the more memorable for the sounds of excited kids at Halloween and the occasional firework whizzing up. Managed to spot a faint galaxy M81 in the same part of the sky as the fireworks. They made little difference in comparison to when the moon rose, causing everything to vanish! When the local big organised display is on, there would probably be too much smoke for astronomy but I won't care, as I'll be straight over there to enjoy it :-)

[Dazzyt66]

Not usually an issue for me as I tend to go out around 4am... Lol

Clear skies!

Dazzyt

Skywatcher 150P

[Steve Ward]

I just ignore them and get on with what I'm doing ... 

 Round here with the profusion of pyro-happy american servicemen and their families you can expect fireworks pretty much any day of the year ... 

When you allow a week either side of all national holidays , name days , birthdays and other minor anniversaries it's become a year-long habit .

I do like a good display myself but preferred the days when you had that one big show on the 5th .

[Floater]

Astronomy curtailed 'cos I'm trying to prevent Amber (see left) from hurting herself as she's so stressed out with bangs, whistles and whizzes.

[laudropb]

Maybe I am just getting too old, but the fire works nowadays all seem to end with a loud bang. This I find annoying. At times it is like living in a war zone.

[nytecam]

Maybe I am just getting too old, but the fire works nowadays all seem to end with a loud bang. This I find annoying. At times it is like living in a war zone.

Yep - been there and done that in the London Blitz in the 1940s as a 5yr old but at least all the schools were closed.  

'Spose nowadays I'd take my iPad and walk with my family to somewhere nice but in those days there was nowhere that safe ;-)  

[swamp thing]

Personally I think that folks aren't so bad around here the last couple of years. I reckon the lack of disposable income has curtailed the usual shock and awe type of displays we used to get. 

That said I do enjoy them, but refuse to give over my hard earned cash to buy some of my own.

Me, cheapskate?...............you betcha

[Alien 13]

Lots of bangs and whistles here but I dont mind even the dog and cat sit out with me, planning some simple statc widefield so any rockets in the frame could make for an interesting photo.

Alan

[trazor]

Astronomy curtailed 'cos I'm trying to prevent Amber (see left) from hurting herself as she's so stressed out with bangs, whistles and whizzes.

This product, as recommended by our Vet works for our 2 dogs.........

http://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/puppy/puppy-training/other-puppy-training-solutions/adaptil-starter-pack-with-diffuser-unit-and-30-day-refill-stress-reduc

[davedownsouth]

Fireworks usually pack up by ~10pm, and I rarely get my act together by this time, so not really much of a problem.  Also, if you take a trip out to the country there are not usually that many fireworks going off.  

Looking at the long range weather forecast, I do not think fireworks are going to be too much of an issue this year .

[Floater]

This product, as recommended by our Vet works for our 2 dogs.........

http://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/puppy/puppy-training/other-puppy-training-solutions/adaptil-starter-pack-with-diffuser-unit-and-30-day-refill-stress-reduc

Thanks, trazor, I'll have a look at those. Have tried 'calming pills' before (with another dog) but they either felled her or, reducing the dosage, did no good. Anything's worth trying for this poor lass, though.

[LukeSkywatcher]

Before Halloween (we dont do Guy Fawkes here in Ireland), i normally start my dog on a daily dose of these:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=calmeze+for+dogs&tag=mh0a9-21&index=aps&hvadid=2978597641&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&ref=pd_sl_12jifl2w4w_e

They are not an instant calmer though and need to be given on a daily basis for about 2 weeks before the day of stress for the dog.

[Gareth88]

When I used to work with a professional company in the firework industry for 6 years before my accident, we went to some really dark sites, and the view was incredible! But since the accident I don't go out atall while fireworks are firing, I'm like a dog and get scared and frightened now so usally wait till gone 12 (:

[Dave In Vermont]

Whether it's Guy Fawkes Day, Halloween, or April Fools - best to leave the kids have their periodic suspension of societal repression. Or they'll burn your house down!   Actually by being an old fuddy-duddy astronomer to these little beasts it's astronomy itself that will suffer in the long run - when these little terror's come of voting-age.

I wonder if they make that stuff suggested above for humans.....? Poor dog. Maybe you could take up a new hobby for those days that the kids are allowed to go wild-in-the-streets. Something like Subsonic Applicators and Directional - Modulation.....

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Dave

[Pete Presland]

I tend to just go out with the bino's if by some miracle its clear, not that it stays clear long with all the fires on the go as well.