Observation notes - lessons learned and re-learned

[BGazing]

Has been 30 years since I have braved cold and wind to observe, and...well, I forgot some of the early lessons. Might be helpful for other beginners to share the experience.

To start with, thanks to the FLO and meteoblue I was super positive that I will have a night of no clouds and actually good seeing, with gentle jet streams and good transparency. I have conveniently decided to ignore the indication that the wind is going to pick up as the night progresses.

Fine. Called a friend who I wanted to introduce to astronomy (he is a photo geek) and off we headed to a hill near Belgrade. Bortle 5, 500m elevation, not the best, but at least outside of the worst of the LP bubble. 4C outside...and the wind giving us the warning shot.

Now, I usually like to arrive during twilight to set up, this time it was dark already (7:30 PM), but it was easier with someone to hold the red lamp and help with stuff. Except that the wind was already there. By the time I have set up the rig my fingers were numb. I want Nexstar Evolution and less clutter...but that is for another topic and I guess I am whining too much.

Given that it was cold and windy, I should have used my brain and set it up without a dew shield. We were not going to spend hours there and freeze to death, and the wind delays dew formation. But I have not used my brain, and instead mindlessly put it on autopilot...and set everything up. The second wrong decision I made was to extend tripod legs more than I usually do. I have no idea why I did that, I am very conscious of the setup limitations and was always prepared to sit low in order to have a more stable rig. Somehow, this time I just...did otherwise.

Now I used my brain when I decided to bring the binos too. Since there were two of us, both had something to play with at all times. Brownie points for me, will always do that in the future.

M42 was impressive, I have to say that this time UHC only marginally improved what looked already really good in ES24 at 68 deg. The rig was still reasonably stable. My friend was amazed and spent quite some time studying it.

Mindlessly spent 5 minutes trying to find Rosetta (why, oh why) typing its number in the IC, instead of the NGC catalogue. Meh. Anyway, it was not there, not even with UHC, either it is a no-go target or I did something wrong.

M41, M35, M37... all nice, but the rig was shaking more and more. Dew shield acted like a sail and amplified vibrations on the Az Goto tripod.

Finally, Jupiter. Excellent transparency and some really good seeing...when the rig was not vibrating. Four dark bands...and I thought I saw the GRS...it was simply gorgeous...except that the wind got progressively worse...11 m/s and we called it quits.

 

[laudropb]

Very nice report. It shows the trials and tribulations we all face at sometime.

[billyharris72]

Nice report. Except I had a complete mental shutdown and read that you went to a hill called Bortle, which, at 5,500m elevation, was "not the best"!

[BGazing]

3 hours ago, billyharris72 said:

Nice report. Except I had a complete mental shutdown and read that you went to a hill called Bortle, which, at 5,500m elevation, was "not the best"!

LOL, you are absolutely right. 5,500 m observation point would require oxygen masks for sure, and some Sherpa guys to bring the equipment up.

[Linda]

Since the last time I didn't see much because of a shaking mount, I have learned to set up the scope on a as much as possible shielded place. And even then I had to stop observing after a while, because the wind started tearing pages out of my IDSA... Astronomy is as my husband noticed, very much a good weather hobby.