The most frustrating thing in Astronomy ?

[Astro Noodles]

This is an incredibly rewarding and frustrating hobby.

What are your major frustrations?

I'll kick off - UK weather makes this very frustrating. I can go for weeks without getting a break in the clouds. 

[LukeSkywatcher]

The weather and not being able to observe between May and September because its not dark enough. I could go out at 10pm or 11, but I'm too settled by that time and doing other stuff.

[niallk]

Yup weather!  😭

Oh... but when you get a dark night with good seeing and excellent transparency ... omg 😉

Edited May 6, 2022 by niallk

[pipnina]

For all forms of astronomy, being at 50+ degrees north and missing multiple months of astronomy time (unless planets are high at that time I suppose) every year. Plus, british weather being what it is! Not to mention the months where we have no darkness also happen to coincide with the longest spells of clear skies we will see all year!

For photography... It has to be equipment malfunctions.

Nothing worse than not being able to work out WHY something isn't right... But something DEFINITELY isn't right!

At the moment I'm suffering there because of reflections, collimation shift (I really don't want to have to take the primary out and use sealant on it... May be the only choice)

[mikeDnight]

I think the weather is more of a hindrance to the imager rather than to the visual observer, as with the latter there are always opportunities to catch 15 mins here and 30 mins there through sucker holes. It helps having equipment that's quick to set up and is thermally stable within a few minutes. It's rare that I never observe over the course of a couple of weeks unless I choose to do so. And I observe all year round, even through the summer months. The Moon and planets don't require either a truly dark sky neither a transparent one, and even street lighting isn't much of a problem. Low power sweeping of the summer milkyway between midnight and 2am BST is plenty dark enough and thrilling enough to keep me enthused. Double star observing is another facet of observing that can be done under a summer sky. In fact if anything, it's the biting cold of winter nights that I dislike the most these days, so I like shorter sessions of around an hour or less in winter unless there's something truly interesting to observe.  The trick is to be adaptable and not limit the type of observing to just deep sky, or just planetary and lunar, but flirting with a bit of everything, being 100% happy in your chosen field but 99% happy in any other. 

 

Edited May 8, 2022 by mikeDnight

[Macavity]

(Solar Astronomy) Daytime CLOUDS? Mine seem to materialise directly in front of the Sun.
I am sure there is a "scientific explanation"... Coastal Climate... Foehn Wind (?!?)
The remaining 90% of the sky is CLEAR, but.... 😏

"Getting up early" works to some extent! But, from then on, it's a perennial battle. lol. 😐

Edited May 6, 2022 by Macavity

[maw lod qan]

My eyes!

I wear bifocals, which make it difficult. Then, when dare I say, I try to dabble into the dark side, I just can't see good enough to get focused just right.

What I see isn't always what I get in the image. 

[IB20]

Something that has only just started annoying me - it’s pollen! 😡

[maw lod qan]

1 minute ago, IB20 said:

Something that has only just started annoying me - it’s pollen! 😡

Florida snow!

[Greymouser]

For me it would be light pollution and inconsiderate neighbours. I don't get many chances to observe, due to various things and it is annoying to have those few occasions spoiled. I also do not get the chance to go to a darks site, ever. 

[Astro Noodles]

No one has mentioned Starlink yet.

[IB20]

Just now, Astro Noodles said:

No one has mentioned Starlink yet.

I quite like seeing satellites bomb through the eyepiece. I imagine they must be infuriating for imagers though. 

[Astro Noodles]

Just now, IB20 said:

I quite like seeing satellites bomb through the eyepiece. I imagine they must be infuriating for imagers though. 

Not at all. Software processes them out.

When I'm doing visual it's a bit like - ooh a starlink, and there's another, and another, and another etc.... and then all I'm looking at is Starlink and not even looking at anything else.

[The Lazy Astronomer]

20 minutes ago, Astro Noodles said:

No one has mentioned Starlink yet.

Actually, for all the attention starlink seems to get on this forum, I can honestly say I haven't really noticed them. Granted I've only been at this for a couple of years, but satellite trials are the least of my worries in astrophotography.... 😁

[SmokeyJoe]

Fog, I live in Norfolk UK, in a dip, even when it's supposed to be clear about 40% of the time we have fog! 

[saac]

Skill fade on use of software, mainly image processing. From one season to the next I need to relearn everything  

Jim 

[saac]

Second most frustrating thing is work.  Why oh why do I need to get up for work before I have gone to bed

Roll on retirement . 

Jim 

[Astro Noodles]

Just now, saac said:

Second most frustrating thing is work.  Why oh why do I need to get up for work before I have gone to bed

Roll on retirement . 

Jim 

I was wondering when someone would mention that. 😄

[ONIKKINEN]

The most frustrating thing has to be sudden shift in weather from clear to cloudy. I do mobile astronomy only so every time i want to set up my stuff takes at least 90 minutes until the camera or eyepiece is in place and doing work. I try to look at all the different weather services out there but lets be honest, none of them hit their mark every time. The times when i go out and expect a clear night only for the clouds to roll in AFTER i have gotten setup destroys me inside every time. Its really demoralizing and makes me feel like a complete clown. 90 minutes to set up, wait maybe 30-60min for the weather situation to become more clear and then tear down the stuff and head home without doing anything 🤮. I have gotten much better at judging weather in the past 2 years though and this problem gets smaller and smaller as time goes on.

43 minutes ago, Astro Noodles said:

No one has mentioned Starlink yet.

For my imaging they have never been a problem since sigma clipping removes all outliers even if there are a lot of them across the entire night. For visual its a nice curiosity if anything.

[LukeSkywatcher]

1 hour ago, IB20 said:

Something that has only just started annoying me - it’s pollen! 😡

I never suffered with allergies until 2018, when myself and Lorna became a couple. She's had them all her life.

In the same way, I never suffered with sinus problems until we got together. She's had them all her life.

Go figure.

Edited May 6, 2022 by LukeSkywatcher

[Astro Noodles]

Just now, LukeSkywatcher said:

I never suffered with allergies until 2018, when myself and Lorna became a couple. She's had them all her life.

In the same way, I never suffered with sinus problems until we got together.

Go figure.

Sympathetic suffering - I like it. 😄

[LukeSkywatcher]

Just now, Astro Noodles said:

Sympathetic suffering - I like it. 😄

I swear, it must be. I can't explain it otherwise.

[Astro Noodles]

OK, here's one. not so much frustrating as annoying.

Why, when trying to polar align, do I have to grovel on my hands and knees? And why do the manufacturers of mounts assume that I have a double-jointed neck?

Edited May 6, 2022 by Astro Noodles

[pipnina]

58 minutes ago, Astro Noodles said:

No one has mentioned Starlink yet.

My "reject high" map in pixinsight looks like a cobweb!

Sometimes the trails are not all rejected however : ( There are usually one or two left over even in one of my stacks of 800 images!

[Mr Spock]

Poor seeing. There's nothing more frustrating than having a clear sky, rare in itself, only to be thwarted by everything wobbling and shimmering.