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Decision making for venturing outside to view?

tehmac

By tehmac
in Getting Started With Observing

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tehmac

tehmac

Posted
Posted

Hi all,

I am just wondering what goes into your decision making for choosing a night to go out star gazing? I have been out the last two nights (for the first time since getting the scope in July ... though that is mostly down to having a newborn etc), and they were prefect nights, if a little cold! I have been keeping an eye on the Clear Outside app and waiting for evening hours where the traffic light system shows green in the app. However, these days are few and far between. Maybe I should be using other nights also that are not just green in the app? What do you use, and what goes into your decision making?

Thanks.

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Davesellars

Davesellars

Posted
Posted

I need to be sure of at least a couple of hours clear to make it worth it.  Obviously the forecast comes in to it (use a couple of different sites) but also a modicum of common sense as sometimes the forecast is completely wrong...  If there's any doubt then I may just pull out a small scope and observe from home.  Going to my site means preparation and ensuring I've got everything in a rucksack and a 15 minute walk and then setting up time (perhaps another 15 mins).  So while it's not the end of the world if in the end I've set up and then clouds over soon after it is rather annoying after all the effort put in.

 

If you have a newborn (I've gone through this twice in the last 3.5 years) I can recommend very much a scope and mount that can be setup and put away in a minute such as an 80mm or 4" refractor on an Alt/Az mount.  The time taken to setup a large mount and scope / align etc as you have may most nights stop you from setting up.   I used my 80mm refractor almost exclusively for a while until things settled down a bit (sleep)

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billyharris72

billyharris72

Posted
Posted

I generally use the Met Office website for weather info, as I've found it be the most reliable. That plus occasional looks outside (pretty much every night) for back garden observing. For travelling by car to a darker site I'll usually look for at least a 3-4 hour window and check before I head out.

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rockystar

rockystar

Posted
Posted

depends if I'm going out to a dark site or the back garden. If taking a trip, I'll check as many forecasts as I can before deciding if the hour each way is worth it - doesn't always work, once caught in a hail storm (pub), once nothing but clouds (chatting for 3 hours).

if garden, then look out the back door and just go for it if I fancy it - on more than one occasion I've set in clear skies, packed up 20 mins later in total cloud cover, then gone to bed 20 mins after that in clear skies!

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John

John

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Posted

Fortunately my observing site (the patio) is just a few feet from the dining room so it's easy to pop the scope out to cool and then pull it back in if things don't turn out nice. If in doubt, stick it out is what I say ! :icon_biggrin:

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