On Average how many nights provide good observation conditions in UK?

[Anser]

I am new here and a quick question if I may.  I am looking to buy a telescope and have been watching the night sky with binoculars until now.  Can people give me an idea how on average many nights you get with good viewing conditions?  My reading suggests that by the time you take out moonlight conditions, cloud cover (weather) etc the observation days in UK are limited I would welcome peoples opinions, thank you.

[Gerr]

Hi Anser,

In Anglesey (North Wales) I have had about 6 good nights since October. A perfect night where there is no wind, no moon and no clouds I have yet to experience!!!.  I mainly do astrophotography though and have been doing this for over a year now. Love my hobby and am fascinated by DSO's but very much an intermittent interest!!

Gerr.

[pete_l]

13 minutes ago, Anser said:

by the time you take out moonlight conditions, cloud cover (weather) etc the observation days in UK are limited

I took up astronomy in 1999 when I lived in the UK. Until then I had never  considered nighttime weather, since the  forecasts concentrate on what will happen during the day. Therefore I was completely unprepared for the surprise that the UK was mostly cloudy, most of the time. At least: the part (South East) I lived in, was like that.

After a time I started to keep a record of when I was able to observe. After discounting cloud-free nights with a bright Moon, nights when I would have to be at work (early) the next morning and times when family / social obligations prevented it, I found I was getting 15-20 sessions per year. Once the equipment was set up, these would typically be a few hours of scope-time. Rarely more than 6 hours and from the beginning or May through to the end of August, very little time at all.

During the winter there could be several weeks between sessions, although I did notice that there was frequently a cluster of clear nights during the spring.

Edited January 26, 2021 by pete_l

[Roy Foreman]

I have been waiting over four months for a clear night with no clouds and no moon. According to my records 21st September 2020 was the last time I was able to do any deep sky work. I live in the southwest. Summer 2020 was, however, very productive, but it did mean waiting until 11.30 pm to start imaging !

[wulfrun]

Since you've been using binoculars, you probably have a fair idea already. Binoculars do give you a big advantage of zero set-up time, you only need to wait for your eyes to work at their best. They're also great for peeking quickly through cloud gaps at whatever happens to be on show at the time, if conditions are like that.

If you want conditions of low or no moonlight, you can remove about 3/4 of each month anyway, leaving a week or so. Then there's the fact that UK weather is not exactly reliable so very much pot luck. Add local factors in and I think the answer should be "work it out for yourself for where you are, you're the best person to answer the question".

[fifeskies]

It is all relative , how many hours clear counts as a good night, at least 2 hours clear sky is worth going out for.

I am fortunate enough to have a ROR shed so can be imaging within 5 minutes which means I can quickly take advantage of brief clear spells.

 

10 nights imaging in the October to Dec part of the winter only under no Moon (but missed a few during the xmas period)

 

Just counting January this year , I have had 6 nights with at least 2 hours clear sky , but only 1 long frosty clear night.

(2 of those nights were under bright Moon , but I did some narrowband (Ha) imaging which blocks out the moonglow.)

 

So not exactly the conditions in the better parts of the world , but not hopeless either.

 

I would say 2 times at least a month under dark skies if we use the at least 2 hr criteria (and another 2 under bright moon for narrowband or just enjoying the Moon itself)

About once a week or so there is at least a 2 hr window , but only about 1 night a month of clear all night.

 

[JeremyS]

Have a look at this thread when people talked about their observing in 2020. So far this January, I've observed on 11 nights from Cheshire, a region hardly noted for its clear skies 🙂

 

 

[Anser]

Thank you all for the responses much food for thought as I live in the SW and work in London during the week which further complicates the picture

[Peter_D]

I've started doing more Astrophotography in the last year  - one advantage is you can revisit your data and reprocess images during periods of bad weather. 

 

[keora]

I've been looking at stars/planets with binoculars for 18 months, and I bought a basic telescope three months ago.

Since late November I've used binoculars or a telescope to look at the stars on nineteen occasions. Often the sightings were for a short period, looking out of the bedroom window, mainly with binoculars. Out of nineteen viewings, I've taken a telescope out into the garden on about ten occasions .

The last few months have been poor for viewing because the weather has been so cloudy. It's better sometimes to make a quick sighting with binoculars, because clouds can roll in within a few minutes of setting up outside. It's a pain when you've lugged the telescope down the stair, through the room and kitchen and set it up in the garden.

Based on what I've experienced, and avoiding star watching when it's a full moon, I think viewing conditions are suitable on perhaps one night a week.

Last summer I found that starwatching in June/July wasn't very good because of the long twilight - unless you want to start after midnight.

Edited January 27, 2021 by keora

[SteveNickolls]

Hi, and welcome to SGL. I have kept written records of nights observing and imaging which you might find of interest on the matter raised. The quick answer is not enough especially for imaging purposes. I've set out below in two tables a summary of the observing and imaging sessions from 2012 to the present day, there is obvious variability in the figures from year to year.

First the total number of evenings I have been able to get outside and either observe or image. These include the full range of complete nights to snatched periods between clouds.

Month	2012-2013	2013-2014	2014-2015	2015-2016	2016-2017	2017-2018	2018-2019	2019-2020	2020-2021
June	1	3	0	5	2	3	10	0	4
July	3	4	2	2	2	1	7	5	8
August	4	9	9	7	6	13	11	13	5
Sept	5	8	9	11	6	8	12	13	11
Oct	7	8	6	10	4	7	7	8	7
Nov	4	7	8	10	3	10	9	9	9
Dec	6	6	10	8	3	6	14	4	10
Jan	6	4	9	5	4	11	15	6	6
Feb	4	4	5	6	4	5	15	7
Mar	2	2	5	5	4	3	5	8
April	0	2	7	4	5	6	5	8
May	0	3	3	3	3	9	4	7
Totals	42	60	73	76	46	82	114	88
Sessions/month	3.5	5	6.1	6.3	3.8	6.8	9.5	7.3

 

And imaging evenings-

Month	Number of Telescope/DSLR and Lens/DSLR Imaging                       Sessions
	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21
June	-	2	1	1	0	0
July	-	1	1	3	0	1
August	-	6	7	8	5	2
Sept	-	3	6	4	8	9
Oct	-	2	2	5	2	2
Nov	-	1	2	4	0	3
Dec	4	3	4	5	1	5
Jan	3	1	4	6	4	3
Feb	3	0	1	3	4
Mar	4	4	1	1	3
April	4	5	2	1	4
May	5	2	3	3	1
Total	23	30	34	44	32	25
Sessions In Month	23/5=4.6pm	30/12=2.5 pm	34/12=2.83 pm	44/12=3.7 pm	32/12=2.7 pm

 

This all relates to Nottingham of course and living elsewhere may involve having a different weather pattern. also some nights may be lost to illness etc, but a fair reflection of opportunity to spend time outside with the hobby.

Cheers and clear skies.

Steve

[Stu1smartcookie]

The weather always has been and  always will be a pain for us hardy astronomers in the British isles .. and there lies the problem , evolution of the Earth has deemed it so that we are surrounded by water and are subjected to wind and rain at any given time ( usually when there is an astronomical event such as an eclipse or meteor shower ) . This makes us even more determined to get outside when we finally get a clear night . Looking back , during the first lock down we were blessed with lovely clear nights . When you compare our weather to that of , say , Arizona we are such a poor relation ... and of course when we do get a clear night , most of us battle against the dreaded LP ... or a very bright Moon . But , hey , its a British pastime to moan about the weather . 

As in the song  "the sun'll come out tomorrow " .. although maybe not here ..   

[johninderby]

Blame the Gulf Stream that brings all the cloud and rain but also gives the UK a much milder climate than it would have otherwise. Apparently without the Gulf Stream London would have the same climate as Helsinki. Long cold snowy winters. Brrrrr 😬

[Carl Au]

I think that question also depends on where your interests lie and your telescope choice. I  can remember folks complaining they hadn't been out in weeks where as I had been out almost every night to look at an early evening venus some doubles and some lunar observation with a ED100 I was using at the time. Astrophotgrathy, cats, maks and large dobs slow you down. The amount of times I set a 10 inch dob up only to bring it in again without a peep because it hadn't cooled down in time, a problem I never had with smaller scopes. I use a 4 inch ED refractor on an AZ4 these days again, I had 4 sessions in the last week...

[KP82]

The weather condition is one of the two major factors (the other being weight and ease of handling) for why I prefer smaller scopes. My 4" refractor allows me to capitalise on those brief moment of clear skys much more easily than larger Cats and Dobs. My 8" dob is probably at the limit in terms of setup and cooldown time for those nights. And when we do get a very clear sky for the whole night, I'll be imaging mostly.

[wibblefish]

I have had my telescope since early Nov and managed 12 nights according to my notes. I generally am only able to go out from about 830 in the evening at the earliest though most nights its still been clear when I finish and am usually out for a couple of hours plus pack up time.

I am located about 20 mins from the North Norfolk coast for reference. 

I have had the odd quick look night for 5 mins peering through a gap in the clouds but the main reasons I am not out are purely 100% cloud cover or rain etc.

I dont worry about the moon nights as you can see other things or just moongaze but I guess it depends what you want to do.

Keep the telescope in the garage and there is almost zero cooldown on my 90mm refactor nor have I had any issues with dewing.

 

Edited January 27, 2021 by wibblefish

[Kon]

Depends what telescope you plan to get and if you need to drive on a dark sky. Is it visual or AP? I got my 8" Dob in December 2020 and I think i have managed 6 viewing sessions or so. I am already in dark skies so it only takes 5min to setup and then the 30min-1hr cooling period (saying that i have viewed the moon with ok results after 10min cooling, but not optimal). I am new to the hobby and I see it as exciting when it is clear outside. I have managed some nebulas and clusters with the moon out, not the best but it get me going and got me excited. Moon looks great as well. The rest of the cloudy nights you can spend in this forum reading what you could have viewed if the skies were clear 🤣 Joking aside, how long is a piece of string? This year has been particularly awful but next few months could be amazing.

[Tiny Clanger]

I'm a relative newbie, so can only provide a very limited sample :

I got my first proper 'scope in the early summer last year, and once I'd spent some nights finding out how to use it, the first actual written log I made of what I saw was on July 30th 2020 . Since then I have had one or the other (seldom both, I'm too lazy) 'scope out a total of 39 times, so over 6 months that's 6.5 sessions per month on average.

Because my body clock seems jammed on 'teenage/nocturnal'  setting many of those sessions were long into the small hours when conditions overhead were good, and the most recent 3 involved standing out in the snow, so you can safely assume stupid levels of enthusiasm behind the numbers.

I don't think .  'Bah, the Moon is washing everything out, no point setting up', but 'Ah, the Moon is washing everything out , look at the Moon ' 

Heather

[Tiny Clanger]

6 hours ago, Stu1smartcookie said:

The weather always has been and  always will be a pain for us hardy astronomers in the British isles .. and there lies the problem , evolution of the Earth has deemed it so that we are surrounded by water and are subjected to wind and rain at any given time ( usually when there is an astronomical event such as an eclipse or meteor shower ) . This makes us even more determined to get outside when we finally get a clear night . Looking back , during the first lock down we were blessed with lovely clear nights . When you compare our weather to that of , say , Arizona we are such a poor relation ... and of course when we do get a clear night , most of us battle against the dreaded LP ... or a very bright Moon . But , hey , its a British pastime to moan about the weather . 

As in the song  "the sun'll come out tomorrow " .. although maybe not here ..   

Arizona, when I stayed there with friends near Phoenix in the summer years ago they had very regular thunderstorms on summer nights, with torrential rain (en route to somewhere or other I saw a roadside memorial and stopped to investigate : it marked a spot where an actor in cowboy films had drowned in the desert nearby when a flash flood filled the gulch he was in. The thing that stuck in my mind was that his horse drowned too ...). Also there are scorpions ...

[Stu1smartcookie]

41 minutes ago, Tiny Clanger said:

. Also there are scorpions ..

... ok , you've convinced me . lol Actually , watching the YouTube channel "Galactic Hunter " i do recall they picked up an unwanted guest when putting their scope bag on the ground .

As for the weather there... "along with the sunshine ,  there's got to be a little rain sometime " OMG i am remembering some old songs today lol

 

Edited January 27, 2021 by Stu1smartcookie

[Skipper Billy]

Have a look at the dates on this page of my website.  https://www.davidbanksastro.com/deep-space-objects

I image EVERY clear night no matter what the moon is doing.

Its getting worse by the year.

This season we have had 6 clear(ish) nights since mid August.

[TerryMcK]

Last year I got 54 clear nights.

Edited January 27, 2021 by TerryMcK

[Louis D]

About 50% of nights are clear enough to do some sort of observing around this part of Texas.  However, the seeing conditions may not be the best due to dust having been blown in by a recent front, or having high winds due to severe pressure gradients between high and low pressure systems.  I'd say about 20% to 25% of nights are decently usable (including those with the moon shining brightly) taking these issues into consideration.  This doesn't even take into consideration the mosquitos ruining most summer nights. 😁

[Shimrod]

6 hours ago, Skipper Billy said:

Its getting worse by the year.

This season we have had 6 clear(ish) nights since mid August.

I'm glad it's not just me that thinks that. I have been out a couple of times with binoculars since the start of October. There were a couple of clear nights over the Christmas period but it was too cold to get the telescopes out - they would have not taken nicely to a move from a warm house to -4.

I got back into astronomy after a few years out (part time academical studies that took all my free time), and over the last two years it has seemed like the opportunities for observing have been particularly poor. I can see the advantages of an observatory to grab a quick hour, but it is not practical where I live at the moment - so set up and tear down time plays a part in any decision to observe.

[John]

12 minutes ago, Shimrod said:

.....set up and tear down time plays a part in any decision to observe.

I think that is a key point and, here in the UK at least, makes a big difference to how many sessions you get.

I keep my setups very simple and portable and observe just a few paces from where the scopes live. My scopes just take a couple of minutes to set up / tear down. This way I can have quite a lot of observing sessions even though some of those might be quite short due to the unpredictable weather.

Our garden is not large enough to house an observatory.

If I had complex scope setups and had to carry them someway to an observing site before connecting power sources, aligning mounts etc, etc then the number of sessions I have would be drastically reduced, possibly to the point where I would not actually have the desire to own a scope at all