Neowise with 80ED - Through the Clouds

[Xiga]

What a frustrating night.

I was just about to go to bed (Jul 12, 01:15) when i decided to have a quick look outside (it was supposed to be completely clouded over) and lo-and-behold i could see stars! So i decided to ignore the fact i had already had a few beers, and try and set up the scope in double-quick time, in case i could grab a few quick snaps of Neowise between the clouds. There was only 80 mins of Nautical Darkness left, and i had to set up from scratch, so i decided early on that i would only aim for 30s subs and not even bother guiding or even connecting the dew bands. As it turned out, i couldn't even see Polaris through the polar scope, so had to rely on Sharpcap for the full PA routine (normally i would do a rough PA using EQMod). This took a good 15-20 mins, instead of the usual 5 mins, but i was just happy to get a good PA done! I wasn't prepared at all, so i had to get the RA and Dec co-ordinates from Heavens-Above, and quickly set up a sequence in SGP. 

Found the comet with no bother and got framed and focused. Then just started shooting 30s subs and hoped for the best. By this time, it was 02:45 and Nautical Darkness had passed. I was just hoping for a 5 min window with no clouds (i took over 70 subs) but alas, no such luck. Despite the skies overhead being totally clear, the clouds to the North never cleared, and every single sub was affected by thick cloud 🙁

Rather than just bin them all, i decided to try and at least process one of them. I was able to find 3 potential candidates where at least a fair bit of the comet was visible (i might still try the other 2) and this was the best i could manage.

Happy enough that i at least came out with some sort of image, but boy was it frustrating not to have even a 5 min window of clear sky! The forecast here is pretty terrible now for the next 6 days, so fingers crossed this isn't the only opportunity i get at this. 

Nikon D5300; HEQ5-Pro

1 x 30s, ISO 200

Calibrated in APP, processed in PS.

Thanks for looking and CS!

Edited July 13, 2020 by Xiga

[MKHACHFE]

Same...I waited all morning and could just barely see it through the thin clouds.

Hopefully better viewing tomorrow

[Xiga]

1 minute ago, MKHACHFE said:

Same...I waited all morning and could just barely see it through the thin clouds.

Hopefully better viewing tomorrow

Clear Outside is showing 100% cloud cover here every night until next Saturday night! 😢

[tooth_dr]

4 hours ago, Xiga said:

Clear Outside is showing 100% cloud cover here every night until next Saturday night! 😢

Next weekend onwards looking ok.

Thats a good image given the circumstances but I can appreciate your frustrations. I have mountains that direction and plagued with cloud too.  

[MKHACHFE]

On 13/07/2020 at 04:13, Xiga said:

Clear Outside is showing 100% cloud cover here every night until next Saturday night! 😢

I know ..it sucks. Well, even if I don't get to see it again, at least I got to see it once. 

[tomato]

I admire your perseverance in getting that shot, I usually don’t care about persistent cloud low on the horizon, but I’m currently obsessed with it!
The trouble is at my location even on good clear nights, it seems to be rarely clear down to the horizon.
 

Hopefully the comet will still look as good after it has gained a few more degrees of altitude.

[Xiga]

19 hours ago, MKHACHFE said:

I know ..it sucks. Well, even if I don't get to see it again, at least I got to see it once. 

I'm a glass half-full kind of guy (usually more concerned with what's in the glass!) so I'm quite sure that another opportunity will come up to see it 🙂

16 hours ago, tomato said:

I admire your perseverance in getting that shot, I usually don’t care about persistent cloud low on the horizon, but I’m currently obsessed with it!
The trouble is at my location even on good clear nights, it seems to be rarely clear down to the horizon.
 

Hopefully the comet will still look as good after it has gained a few more degrees of altitude.

I feel your pain mate. Fingers crossed it will still be photogenic for a while yet. Have you thought of getting to a dark sky spot the next clear night?

[Xiga]

On 13/07/2020 at 08:23, tooth_dr said:

Next weekend onwards looking ok.

Thats a good image given the circumstances but I can appreciate your frustrations. I have mountains that direction and plagued with cloud too.  

It's still a while off yet, so could all change, but the forecast for Sunday is looking promising Adam. If it holds up, I might take a run up to Beaghmore to get away from the LP. It's only a 70 min drive from home, which isn't too bad. I might ask you for some advice on the lay of the land closer to the time if that's ok? 

 

[tooth_dr]

8 minutes ago, Xiga said:

It's still a while off yet, so could all change, but the forecast for Sunday is looking promising Adam. If it holds up, I might take a run up to Beaghmore to get away from the LP. It's only a 70 min drive from home, which isn't too bad. I might ask you for some advice on the lay of the land closer to the time if that's ok? 

 

No problem, please let me know and we can meet up.

[MKHACHFE]

So, it looks like clear skies potentially where I live on Saturday.. .

It also looks like it will still be bright. If not bright enough to be seen naked eye, certainly still worth photographing.

Fingers crossed! Either way, I'm happy I saw it when I did. 

 

Cheers