Clear nights in 2022

[tomato]

I was given a little astronomer’s notebook for Christmas 2021 which I diligently filled in every night I was out in 2022. It has 100 pages and I completed 96 of them, does the publisher know something about the UK weather, I wonder?
 

Now I go out whenever it is clear if I can, regardless of time of year or moon phase, so they were not all ideal imaging sessions by any means, but I’ll take a 26% hit rate for the cloudy UK.

I have a new notebook with 100 pages for 2023 so we will see how this one goes.

[F15Rules]

To get out that many times says you were not only fortunate with the weather, but that you took advantage of every single opportunity to observe/image..that's a very impressive result, congratulations!👍

Dave

[Tomatobro]

Its interesting that I live 10 miles from Tomato. I am on a hill and he is on flat ground. As moist air gets push up over me it condenses into cloud. I have watched this phenomenon on my all sky camera. Its a fact that Tomato has more clear nights than me even though we are only separated by a few miles.

[teoria_del_big_bang]

I must admit I miss a lot of possible imaging time because I usually only leave my rig out if I am absolutely sure it will not rain at all which in Yorkshire does not happen too often, or in the darker months when I can start imaging on or before 9 pm I may do a couple of hours as usually for me a perfectly clear sky usually ends up with cloud cover soon after rolling my gear out onto the patio and so after an hour or so imaging usually gets rolled back in.
The summer months were obviously the driest as the country suffered the drought but I also do not do much in the non astro darkness time of year due to poor conditions and lack of targets suitable for my current setup.

So my notebook (which is a continuous one not just yearly) has about 10 pages filled out 😞 

As you managed some sort of imaging for more than 1/4 of 2022 that is some achievement so well done 👏

And for 2023 I really do hope you run out of pages 🙂 

Steve 

Edited January 5, 2023 by teoria_del_big_bang

[geeklee]

52 minutes ago, tomato said:

but I’ll take a 26% hit rate for the cloudy UK.

Absolutely, great going - I'd estimate my own at 10-15%.  I'm being optimistic with that 15% so I can I keep looking back with rose tinted glasses on the weather...

[JeremyS]

I observed on 99 nights (27%) in 2022.

This was lower than my 18 year average of 110 nights (30.5%), partly because I was but with work etc.

My best months in 2022 were January and March, each with 19 nights

[josefk]

...Just 49 nights for me in 2022 (13%). i felt like i was consistently exploiting the clear nights but obviously not.  Must try harder 2023 to keep up with you guys!

i enjoyed 3x "all nighters" (1 per Spring, Summer, Autumn). I still need to do a winter one - maybe starting with Mars and finishing with C/2022 E3 (ZTF).

January hasn't started well and the outlook doesn't look promising 😞

[teoria_del_big_bang]

I really would like to see a map of UK showing the amount of clear sky over a year then I can start persuading the wife that that is really a great place to retire to 🤣#

Does any such thing exist ?

Steve

[tomato]

Having a permanent setup makes a massive difference. If I was still setting up and taking down my total nights would be half of what I managed.

[tomato]

15 minutes ago, teoria_del_big_bang said:

I really would like to see a map of UK showing the amount of clear sky over a year then I can start persuading the wife that that is really a great place to retire to 🤣#

Does any such thing exist ?

Steve

I did suggest Atacama to Mrs Tomato as a possible retirement holiday home location, it didn’t get the response I was hoping for.🥴

[kirkster501]

In the whole of 2022 in Nottingham I managed only three times where I left my gear out running all night, 99.999% it would get rained on.   

[teoria_del_big_bang]

22 minutes ago, tomato said:

Having a permanent setup makes a massive difference. If I was still setting up and taking down my total nights would be half of what I managed.

I guess it would have to be self build if I did that, but a thought, wife loves the beach 🙂 

Steve

[F15Rules]

2 hours ago, JeremyS said:

This was lower than my 18 year average of 110 nights (30.5%), partly because I was but with work etc.

Are you sure it wasn't because you spent so much time studying, sourcing and advising on Handles, Jeremy??

Dave

[jjohnson3803]

58 minutes ago, teoria_del_big_bang said:

I really would like to see a map of UK showing the amount of clear sky over a year then I can start persuading the wife that that is really a great place to retire to 🤣#

Does any such thing exist ?

Steve

There are historical statistics here for North America / UK / Europe:

https://weatherspark.com/history

You'll have to drill down a bit to get to historical cloud charts for your area.  Interestingly, they show the winter months to be the cloudiest here and summer the least cloudy, while south Florida is just the opposite.  That seems like a good argument for me to become a "snowbird" and spend winters there while spending summers here.

[josefk]

47 minutes ago, tomato said:

I did suggest Atacama to Mrs Tomato as a possible retirement holiday home location, it didn’t get the response I was hoping for.🥴

Post retirement (a long way off yet unfortunately) 6 months a year spent down in the Iberian Peninsula and/or Morrocco (sp. the Atlas mountains) would tick a lot of boxes...

[teoria_del_big_bang]

5 minutes ago, jjohnson3803 said:

There are historical statistics here for North America / UK / Europe:

https://weatherspark.com/history

You'll have to drill down a bit to get to historical cloud charts for your area.  Interestingly, they show the winter months to be the cloudiest here and summer the least cloudy, while south Florida is just the opposite.  That seems like a good argument for me to become a "snowbird" and spend winters there while spending summers here.

Well that tells the whole story of 2022 for me 😞 

Steve

[teoria_del_big_bang]

4 minutes ago, josefk said:

Post retirement (a long way off yet unfortunately)

Believe me do not wish your life away, all being well it will come but don't be in a rush to get there 🙂 

5 minutes ago, josefk said:

6 months a year spent down in the Iberian Peninsula and/or Morrocco (sp. the Atlas mountains) would tick a lot of boxes...

That would be a great thing to do, pity its not so easy to spend more than 90 days anywhere now without residency and then that creates other issues if you want to spend the other 6 months in UK, but can't get into that argument, and don't want to 🙂

Steve

[tomato]

52 minutes ago, kirkster501 said:

In the whole of 2022 in Nottingham I managed only three times where I left my gear out running all night, 99.999% it would get rained on.   

Steve, if your observatory has a powered roof, consider investing in a Hydreon rain sensor. It intervened a few times in 2022 to protect my gear on sessions I had left running.

[JeremyS]

1 hour ago, F15Rules said:

Are you sure it wasn't because you spent so much time studying, sourcing and advising on Handles, Jeremy??

Dave

Sounds like you are getting Carried away, Dave

🤣

[F15Rules]

12 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

Sounds like you are getting Carried away, Dave

🤣

🤦🤦😭😭😂😂

[Guest]

Ohio is one of the cloudiest States in the US, I think we are #8 out of the top ten when it comes to clouds. In my part of the State we average about 60 clear days a year....clear is less then 40% cloud cover.  I have two days a week to observe, Friday and Saturday nights.  If i am very lucky i will get 20 nights a year that will have decent seeing or transparency and you cant have them both on the same night. 

[josefk]

11 hours ago, Mike Q said:

Ohio is one of the cloudiest States in the US, I think we are #8 out of the top ten when it comes to clouds. In my part of the State we average about 60 clear days a year....clear is less then 40% cloud cover.  I have two days a week to observe, Friday and Saturday nights.  If i am very lucky i will get 20 nights a year that will have decent seeing or transparency and you cant have them both on the same night. 

They sound like long odds - i'm not sure i would have the patience. Is there an upside re. the darkness of your skies on those precious ~20 nights?

[Guest]

1 hour ago, josefk said:

They sound like long odds - i'm not sure i would have the patience. Is there an upside re. the darkness of your skies on those precious ~20 nights?

I have bortle 4 skies where I am.  The local grain elevator installed new security lighting last year, while it is 400 yards away, it doesnt help the situation.  On the plus side, every once in a while the skies settle down and get very clear.  This usually happens after midnight and last an hour or so.  Everything just looks so much better, i have been lucky enough to be out in it once, but when you get up at 0430, being up past midnight isnt much of an option 

Edited January 11, 2023 by Mike Q

[DaveS]

What is a "clear night"? Does such a thing exist?

[josefk]

25 minutes ago, Mike Q said:

I have bortle 4 skies where I am.  The local grain elevator installed new security lighting last year, while it is 400 yards away, it doesnt help the situation.  On the plus side, every once in a while the skies settle down and get very clear.  This usually happens after midnight and last an hour or so.  Everything just looks so much better, i have been lucky enough to be out in it once, but when you get up at 0430, being up past midnight isnt much of an option 

You have my sympathy - i feel your pain and admire your stoicism!