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How Do You Do Your Obsrerving


BLUEThumb

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Hello   

Hope this is'nt a daft question so here goes

Having just started out on this new adventure ,i was wondering how how do you Do your viewing, IE (Do You Stay Up All Night ),OR ,(Early Part Of The  Evening,)OR,( Early  Morning),or do you go may be go ,Once,Twice ,maybe Three times a week. ALSO  do you try and plan what you  want to view OR do you just go with whatever is up there at the time of your viewing.

I ask this as i am finding it difficult not with the viewing,but with the times i want to do it.

Regards

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No it's not a daft question. At the moment we have had beautiful clear sky all day only to spoil itself as it gets dark then to clear as I'm going to bed. I have always been an evening viewer and apart from the odd time when I have set-up early morning to view something a bit special that about sums it up. You will find people that do all nighters and people that do early mornings. Normally I get so many clear skies I dictate when I want to view or photograph.

Alan 

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I'd stay up late or get up crazy early for something really special like a transit of Titan, but generally I'm a civilized hours astronomer. If it's clear between tea and my bed time i'll observe if not then I won't. The important thing is to do what makes you happy. Amateur astronomy is a hobby not a duty, so whatever makes you enjoy it most is the right approach. I have a friend who's happy to stay up all night imaging and that great for him, but for me 11pm is brandy and bed time :)

 

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10 hours ago, BLUEThumb said:

Hello   

Hope this is'nt a daft question so here goes

Having just started out on this new adventure ,i was wondering how how do you Do your viewing, IE (Do You Stay Up All Night ),OR ,(Early Part Of The  Evening,)OR,( Early  Morning),or do you go may be go ,Once,Twice ,maybe Three times a week. ALSO  do you try and plan what you  want to view OR do you just go with whatever is up there at the time of your viewing.

I ask this as i am finding it difficult not with the viewing,but with the times i want to do it.

Regards

 

Hello, 

Good to hear from you.., 

The single-most important takeaway since I started in this hobby in the UK is this:: When the weather or skies allow, take your shot! 

As I have to work Mon - Fri, whenever weather and time allows, I start as soon as its dark enough and go for at least 2.5 - 3.5 hours, then I call it a night. 

Its very rare that I'd have the chance to observe 5 nights in a row, so a couple of nights per week of a few hours sleep is manageable for me currently. If I get a chance on a Friday, I'll generally go until just before dawn - depending on the season. 

Ironically, in my second location in California, its more of the same due to the marine layer 🙄 So it doesn't matter whether I'm in Surrey, UK or CA, US - the opportunity to observe is still very much dependent on the weather.., Ah well.., 

Best..,

bsdsgl84

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I'll image until about 23.30... any later and my wife is miffed in the evening and I'm a very grumpy bear in the morning.... I've probably finished until September... Have been seriously looking into solar.

I'd love to be able to stay up all night!

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Almost always,  I'm observing in the early morning hours,  after 3-4 hours of sleep. No street lights; better seeing; rested; and no dark adaption needed. Never been able to observe more than three hours; mostly 11/2 to 2 hours. Works as a retirement schedule for me during the whole week. Before only on weekend.

Stephan

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I don't do much solar observing.

For nighttime observing I start as soon as I can see anything (ie: Venus, Sirius, the Moon in twilight) and carry on until the early hours if I get engrossed / into the zone and the skies stay clear.

I don't do early mornings I'm afraid unless there is a very special target that can only be seen then :rolleyes2:

Sometimes though, even when the skies are clear, I take a break from observing. It is a hobby after all :smiley:

I'm retired now so I don't have to get up early to go to work, which helps.

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I don't have any hard and fast rules, just take it as it comes. At the moment I’m doing a fair amount of solar during the day, the switching to Venus and/or the Moon as soon as the sun sets. I do occasional late nights, up to 12 or 1am, and very infrequent all-nighters, most likely when away camping on hols or at a star party. My skies at home aren’t great which does limit the targets to be seen. I’m looking forward to the planets coming back to good positions, Mars this October, but also Saturn and Jupiter before that.

My longest session was a lunar eclipse some years back. I started around 11pm, observed the whole lot until 4am ish, the picked up Jupiter and followed it on and off until well into daylight. Tired afterwards though!

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The vast majority of my observing is short sessions of up to an hour at a time at home.

I'll have a go at any targets, solar, lunar, planets, dsos, but I have quite bad lp so nothing too exotic is possible.

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No hard and fast rules for me. If the Moon is on show I'll observe it. If the planet's are on view, I'll observe those also.  Sometimes when neither the Moon or planets are on show I'll hunt down a few deep sky fuzzies. At other times I'll aimlessly hunt double stars and admire their contrasting colours. But I do like to sketch what I see, and so I'll try to sketch something during an observing session, as I find it helps me to pick out the more subtle detail, and is a great way to record observations.  I rarely ever go out with the intention of observing for several hours, although sometimes the time does seem to fly by. Even half an hour can be enough to satisfy me, especially if its below zero. I'm a creature of comfort! 

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I used to stay up crazy late to catch a new set of targets as they come into view.

Nowdays I’m a little more patient and wait for things to be on display at a sensible time. I’m generally tucked up in bed by 1am.

Paul

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Perhaps dropping the how and retain the do you do. Second time this week I have a dobsonian out in the yard, yet again there is a thin haze forming, yet again I expect that later on I will be bringing it back indoors.

Observing expectations require a multifaceted approach;

The spontaneous, preferably with binoculars to seize opportune moments.

The planned dark sky trips, where you might get lucky for a time but need to improvise your target list to adapt to conditions.

Setting up at home, where by if it doesn't shape up its less of a hassle.

Occasionally there may be a special occurrence to become motivated to get up very early, these events can be rewarding. Otherwise if venturing away on a dark sky trip, when the coffee runs out, its time to go home. 

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