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awful seeing last 2 evenings!? (13th/14th May 19)


wesdon1

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Anyone else find the seeing really bad the last couple of nights in uk?? ( 13th/14th May 19 ) I was struggling to get resolution with just 90x mag on my 130/900 newt reflector!?? Or is it my collimation out again! lol (or me not cooling mirror sufficiently, or my lenses, or my....haha you get the picture! I'm a newbie who is still learning! )

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my goodness i think i might have just worked out the answer to my own question...It's been really warm, so it could be thermal currents rising from land during the evening as it cools ???

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Down here in the west country the seeing has been superb. I believe the jetstream might be a bit further north than usual so you might be getting it while we are not. That can really affect the seeing quality.

 

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My seeing has been pretty variable too, not anywhere near as food as John's sounds. I've had good views when it settles a bit but still a little frustrating and not supporting the highest powers.

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6 minutes ago, Stu said:

My seeing has been pretty variable too, not anywhere near as food as John's sounds. I've had good views when it settles a bit but still a little frustrating and not supporting the highest powers.

Likewise. My 'seeing' was good enough at 222X with just a slight amount of atmospheric wobble, but higher power was just not possible. I tried 317x and it was mush.

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42 minutes ago, John said:

Down here in the west country the seeing has been superb. I believe the jetstream might be a bit further north than usual so you might be getting it while we are not. That can really affect the seeing quality.

 

Hi, thanks for reply. Yes i believe that could actually be a major factor as it's far north, and in doing so giving us nicer weather in the day i think ? Would you say that my rising thermal currents theory is 0% of the causes  ? I'm asking your opinion as i'm new and trying to learn as much as i can every day about the hobby. Thank you sir!

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47 minutes ago, John said:

Down here in the west country the seeing has been superb. I believe the jetstream might be a bit further north than usual so you might be getting it while we are not. That can really affect the seeing quality.

 

Agreed.  As per my lunar thread seeing was fabulous in Nottingham and could bare very high magnification.

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4 minutes ago, Saganite said:

Likewise. My 'seeing' was good enough at 222X with just a slight amount of atmospheric wobble, but higher power was just not possible. I tried 317x and it was mush.

Ye i went up to 270 and it was awful. couldn't get past 130-140x without mushy wobbly mess.

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4 minutes ago, wesdon1 said:

Ye i went up to 270 and it was awful. couldn't get past 130-140x without mushy wobbly mess.

and most the night 90x was wasn't much good either!??

5 minutes ago, Saganite said:

Likewise. My 'seeing' was good enough at 222X with just a slight amount of atmospheric wobble, but higher power was just not possible. I tried 317x and it was mush.

Ye i went up to 270 and it was awful. couldn't get past 130-140x without mushy wobbly mess.

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6 minutes ago, wesdon1 said:

Ye i went up to 270 and it was awful. couldn't get past 130-140x without mushy wobbly mess.

Although I could get a very useful 222x last night I actually settled for 124 X and spent a couple of hours or so, so the highest powers are useful .but not the be all and end all. Your other point about thermic activity around you is very valid. In the winter months observing over roof tops can be troublesome because of heat plumes. 

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Oh right i see. in winter the thermals from rooftops makes total sense. Thank you for pointing that out to me! I am very new and i'm like that Robot Johnny 5 from the film in the 80's!  INPUT!! INPUT!! MOOOOOORRREEE INPUT!!! haha I am just crazing knowledge constantly!! haha back to being serious, yes i also understand what you mean by not seeing max mag as the ultimate goal. I suppose i'm thinking that way due to my eagerness to see as much detail, and as big as possible image, of Planets, galaxies etc etc etc. I'm 5 months in, so i have so much to learn. Thank you.

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The best seeing in ages in Derby the last two nights. So clear and still which allowed very high magnification. Observed the moon mostly at 385x last night with the Skymax 180 but was still OK at 500x and not too bad at 600x but the sharpest views were at 385x.

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21 minutes ago, wesdon1 said:

Would you say that my rising thermal currents theory is 0% of the causes

No, it could be highly relevant. I often find that the stillest viewing is early hours of the morning after everything has cooled off.

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2 minutes ago, Stu said:

No, it could be highly relevant. I often find that the stillest viewing is early hours of the morning after everything has cooled off.

Yes i thought i must be? and in my limited experience thus far, i have noticed the seeing is better early morning before sunrise. I get up around 2am some mornings to specifically  veiw Jupiter/Saturn as they are reaching their highest point in skies, so as to be looking through less of earths atmosphere, for the best possible views with the equipment i have. My views of Mars have been pretty poor thus far, when i have a night session as soon as it's dark, until around 1am, then bed for a few hours so i'm not a zombie in work lol. I am loving every second of this new hobby. It's truly breathtaking what's up there...

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I was in Kent over this past weekend and had a scope with me.  Seeing was awful on the Saturday evening.  Moon looked like it was being viewed under water and usual double star splits like Izar and Double-Double were proving very difficult!

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16 minutes ago, wesdon1 said:

Oh right i see. in winter the thermals from rooftops makes total sense. Thank you for pointing that out to me! I am very new and i'm like that Robot Johnny 5 from the film in the 80's!  INPUT!! INPUT!! MOOOOOORRREEE INPUT!!! haha I am just crazing knowledge constantly!! haha back to being serious, yes i also understand what you mean by not seeing max mag as the ultimate goal. I suppose i'm thinking that way due to my eagerness to see as much detail, and as big as possible image, of Planets, galaxies etc etc etc. I'm 5 months in, so i have so much to learn. Thank you.

Satisfying observing comes with patience, so even when the atmosphere is not too good, if you persevere, sharp detail can appear for a few seconds , disappear and then reappear.

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My experience of the last couple of nights has been pretty good seeing generally.  The moon has taken lots of mag.  Away from the moon, things have been a bit more variable ive found.  Not rubbish but certainly not amazing.

 

Steve

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Sounds like some very wide variations in seeing quality around the country over the past few days :icon_scratch:

We spend ages debating scope and eyepiece types but in the end it's stuff outside our control that either plays ball or doesn't !

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