Positive benefits of Doris!!

[Stu]

I mentioned this in another thread yesterday but thought it worth starting another thread here.

I thought the seeing and transparency last night, in the clear spells between the cloud was excellent. I was out with some members of my club, and unfortunately did not take my scope with me because at the time I was leaving the cloud cover was 100% and it was raining!

An hour or so later, the sky was beautifully clear! How frustrating

I often find that you either get good transparency or good seeing, I was amazed that last night both of these were excellent! I can only assume this was because the rain had washed all the pollutants out of the atmosphere, and I guess that there must have been stable air coming in behind the storm.

Examples of this last night were the fact that I could see M44 with the naked eye and was lovely in binoculars. Perhaps this is not particularly amazing for you, but I have never managed it before from home (which is about 6 miles south of Heathrow). Our new meeting point is a little darker than my house but still last night was the best I've seen for a long time. Canis Major was quite evident despite its obvious low altitude, and we got M41 in binoculars; something which is normally buried in the murk. We also got M81 and M82 in the binos (8x56) which is another sign of a good sky here at least.

In terms of seeing, the lack of stars twinkling was evidence enough, but Mizar and Alcor were amazing clear with the naked eye, as were Theta1 and Theta2 Tauri.

So, a wonderful clear night, a platinum pass from the Mrs to be out observing and...... NO SCOPE! DOH! Only myself to blame, I shall learn from my mistake.

Hope plenty of others enjoyed the great sky!

[chiltonstar]

Yes, even the Dreaded Doris had her plus side! I set up, it clouded over, so I went to bed. Thirty minutes later I saw Jupiter shining through the bedroom window, so I hopped out and set up again (Mak 180 on SkyTee 2). Well worth it, Izar and Algieba were as good as I've ever seen them, with fantastic contrast against the extra-dark sky and even Jupiter, despite being still quite low (12:15 am) was generous of detail, with a hint of a transit taking place. 

Chris

[Starlight 1]

Agree with stu between the clouds transparency was very crisp , no doubts late evening or early hours in the morning it Would've been amazing .

[Davey-T]

Managed a couple of hours of subs on M81/M82 as you say nice clear steady sky between the clouds.

Dave

[xtreemchaos]

and it made everybody elses garden look like mine  . yes Stu agreed ,I had some good views in Leo lastnight, very steady seeing.  charl.

[Owmuchonomy]

Just a bit too much cloud here for consistent views last night but glad you folks got a good sky.  On the plus side the sky is total blue this morning here so its the first outing for the Lunt 60 this year and there is a large prom on the limb!

[Davey-T]

2 minutes ago, Owmuchonomy said:

Just a bit too much cloud here for consistent views last night but glad you folks got a good sky.  On the plus side the sky is total blue this morning here so its the first outing for the Lunt 60 this year and there is a large prom on the limb!

Saw the prom on GONG but annoying clouds here.

Dave

[DRT]

My experience of Doris consisted of...

• train cancelled and an extra night in London
• an 04:30 rise this morning to catch the first train home to find...
• a broken bedroom window
• tiles off the roof

[Size9Hex]

I hope the club took pity on you and gave you a turn at the eyepiece! The storm really must have blown in some clear air over us. Would have loved to be at a dark site, but the views from home were some of the best I've seen. Galaxies a-plenty!

[Davey-T]

Just had some holes in the cloud and done some solar and the sky is still really clear and steady, hope it lasts until tonight.

Curious as the Jet Stream is still parked over me.

Dave

[Stu]

39 minutes ago, DRT said:

My experience of Doris consisted of...

• train cancelled and an extra night in London
• an 04:30 rise this morning to catch the first train home to find...
• a broken bedroom window
• tiles off the roof

Oh poo  

[michaelmorris]

I finally got to polar align my new mount in the observatory and got an hour or so trying out my new-to-me C9.25.  Very impressed with precision GOTOs and great views

Lovely detail in M101 and M31, Jupiter's clouds bands stood out very nicely.  

[chiltonstar]

....interesting last night, in the wake of the storms following Doris, another night with exceptional conditions. I had a band of clear sky towards the E for an hour or so, with seeing at the good+ level (4/5) sufficient to give good surface detail on Jupiter and resolve the moons as disks, and again amazing transparency, with the overall sparkle of individual stars of M3 as good as I've ever seen them (Mak 180 at x125 and x90). M3 is a target I come back to time after time, as it always looks amazing, and a little different depending on conditions.

Chris

[JOC]

Stu - that would have been last Thursday night - yes?  That's when I got out too.  I have very little experience, but as I looked up at Orion (which as you all know by now is my current favourite target) I too thought that he looked particularly 'clear' (OK, that might not be the right technical term), but it was almost I though I could see right across to him with nothing in the way - the stars seemed more defined against the sky to the naked eye and this was entirely different to how I'd seen him in the couple of months previously (on our odd clear nights).  Through the telescope even M42's fuzzy background seemed to have more contrast against the sky too. 

Last night I looked up when we did the sheep (I do find myself looking up more now) and it was just as we had a cloud break - no point in setting up - it clearly wasn't going to last long as I could see the next lot building to come over - but again the view of Orion looked really clear.