Fed up

[RT65CB-SWL]

I am fed up with cloudy skies on my rest days ...and clear skies when I have to be up at silly o'clock for work.  

[Pete Presland]

On 16/10/2017 at 10:28, westmarch said:

There is a long and proud history of British astronomy discoveries - all made despite rather than due to our weather - you are in good company.  Why not consider enrolling in a free online course?  The OU course on Moons starts next week.

https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/moons

John

 I did this course last year, it's very interesting. 

[Pete Presland]

Other than that keep those binoculars ready for any small window of opportunity! 

[Pete Presland]

Maybe a white light filter for Solar viewing as well.

[cloudsweeper]

19 minutes ago, Pete Presland said:

Other than that keep those binoculars ready for any small window of opportunity! 

.... or a non-driven frac!  Up and running in no time, no alignment, no collimation, use immediately (although a bit of time might be of benefit), widefield for finding your way, and dead easy to swing all over the place and get to clear areas.

Only 100% cloud stops me!

Doug.

 

[alhiggs]

i like the attitude folks lol screw the weather mondays looking good at moment could be a long night

[The Admiral]

Well, I've held off posting on this thread as it seems a bit pointless wingeing about the weather, although I am fed up to the back teeth with it. I don't mean to decry all the other posters, but it is what it is, and I'm coming to the conclusion that you either live with it, bad as it is, or you forget about practical astronomy. As others have mentioned, some have significant sums tied up in their gear, but given the use they get it can hardly be called a sound investment on strictly monetary terms.

I think it would be a whole lot more bearable if the forecasts were correct. They seem woefully poor at predicting observing conditions, even those sites that are meant to cater for astronomy. What winds me up is the uncertainty from hour to hour; I find it hard to work like that when all the gear has to be transported and set up for each session. Is the weather in other countries more predictable and stable?

Ian

[Charic]

On 16/10/2017 at 10:11, alhiggs said:

2 weeks straight cloud every night

Months for me since my last 'proper' session, I'm trying to re-assess my NELM  ( from  a conversation in another thread )  and haven't seen a Star in 11 nights!
Won't last forever though!

[alhiggs]

6 minutes ago, Charic said:

Months for me since my last 'proper' session, I'm trying to re-assess my NELM  ( from  a conversation in another thread )  and haven't seen a Star in 11 nights!
Won't last forever though!

very true November is winter time yay lol Clear long nights

[Pete Presland]

I mostly image Solar or Planets. I have managed 103 proper sessions this year from 293 days, this doesn't include any short visual sessions. So around 1 in 3. Certainly not great by any standards and this is with a grab any opportunity available attitude  I have probably had maybe a few dozen nights with the binoculars as well, just cloud dodging.

I find the ever growing light pollution, contrails, general poor atmospherics the most frustrating aspect, when you finally do get out there.  

[theropod]

Don't get too depressed about it. My thing is meteors, and this August during the Perseids it was cloudy for 13 days straight. This is so not typical for Arkansas, USA it isn't funny. I didn't capture a single one. This Saturday is the peak of the Orinids, and it is going to be cloudy again. Maybe I will just move to the Atacama desert and enjoy clear skies every night, or just accept it is what it is.

[alhiggs]

1 hour ago, theropod said:

Don't get too depressed about it. My thing is meteors, and this August during the Perseids it was cloudy for 13 days straight. This is so not typical for Arkansas, USA it isn't funny. I didn't capture a single one. This Saturday is the peak of the Orinids, and it is going to be cloudy again. Maybe I will just move to the Atacama desert and enjoy clear skies every night, or just accept it is what it is.

atacama sounds good shall we club together lol

[Horatio]

I chose the wrong year to come back to astronomy, purchased a Starwatcher Evo 80ED (really, lovely optics) and a Vixen Porta II (lovely alt az) 3 weeks ago and used it once so far for 3 hours before the clouds came in.  First light was actually the Grape and Olive restaurant in Swansea across the Bristol Channel form North Devon.....doesn't bode well.....

[Nyctimene]

On 20.10.2017 at 12:06, cloudsweeper said:

On 20.10.2017 at 11:47, Pete Presland said:

Other than that keep those binoculars ready for any small window of opportunity! 

.... or a non-driven frac!  Up and running in no time, no alignment, no collimation, use immediately (although a bit of time might be of benefit), widefield for finding your way, and dead easy to swing all over the place and get to clear areas.

Only 100% cloud stops me!

That's been my way of increasing my observing time during the last three years (2017, up to now 86 observations). 7x50 bins in a drawer next the kitchen door to the backyard + PSA; or the 80/400 frac, or the Heritage 130 P Flextube (stored at ambient temperature in the shed); 26 mm ES 62° Widefield, 8-24 Seben Zoom; 2,25 Barlow; UHC. This morning, I made use of 15 minutes between clouds to separate Castor with the frac, and to spot M35 with the bins, and was at least a bit satisfied, when the clouds rolled in. A few weeks ago, I spotted some doubles through a layer of clouds; so don't give up. It just comes down to being out under the stars...

Stephan

 

 

[cloudsweeper]

36 minutes ago, Nyctimene said:

That's been my way of increasing my observing time during the last three years (2017, up to now 86 observations). 7x50 bins in a drawer next the kitchen door to the backyard + PSA; or the 80/400 frac, or the Heritage 130 P Flextube (stored at ambient temperature in the shed); 26 mm ES 62° Widefield, 8-24 Seben Zoom; 2,25 Barlow; UHC. This morning, I made use of 15 minutes between clouds to separate Castor with the frac, and to spot M35 with the bins, and was at least a bit satisfied, when the clouds rolled in. A few weeks ago, I spotted some doubles through a layer of clouds; so don't give up. It just comes down to being out under the stars...

Stephan

 

 

My attitude too, Stephan!  Poor transparency precludes viewing faint and fuzzy stuff, but there are plenty of other interesting objects to see.  Clusters are a big favourite of mine.

Doug.

[25585]

Last decent nights for me were in August when Saggitarius was best viewing.  I saw some Perseid meteorites, but nothing since. The good nights this summer have neen in Astronomical Twilight.

More frustrating than the waiting is knowing things you want to see, at best times, are moving out of viewing until next year, particuarly those which get lost below the horizon.

I have my Starry Nights and Red Shift software to play with, but need a full scale planetarium, or a holodeck!

Amazing there are as many astro gear sellers in the UK as there are. 

[BRUN]

1 hour ago, 25585 said:

 

Amazing there are as many astro gear sellers in the UK as there are. 

very true lol