THIS DAMN WEATHER SYSTEM!!??

[Guest]

1 hour ago, wesdon1 said:

@Mike Q Mike it feels a bit strange me hearing you mention how cloudy Ohio is because as a brit, I'm used to it always being the UK that's a cloud ridden mess! LOL. I forget that it's not just the UK that suffers extensive cloud cover year 'round. I guess we just have to patient and remember that it makes those rare cloudless nights all the more enjoyable. Conversely, Liverpool, my city, had an amazing run of about 9 straight nights that were cloudless non stop all night long. It was incredible! 

The American Mid-West is a mess, especially those States near the Great Lakes.  We catch warm moist air coming up off the Gulf of Mexico.... Texas adds a little heat to it just because thats what they do in Texas and it slams into cool dry air coming out of Canada.  What do you get..... clouds. Ohio as a whole averaged 65 to 70 clear days a year.  Clear is defined as 25 percent cloud cover or less.  I am still working and get up at 0430 every day, so astronomy during the week is out.  So I get Friday and Saturday nights unless i take a day off.   I would explain our normal weather pattern but nobody needs to be that depressed lol 

[Mr Spock]

You need to move to Arizona - perpetual blue skies 😁

And for people there complaining about the heat, anyone would think it’s 120 - can’t be more than 114…

[The60mmKid]

(This post has been edited to remove unnecessary snark.)

Edited July 22, 2023 by The60mmKid

[Guest]

Arizona.... Hot, but at least its a dry heat. 

[JonHigh]

In the same boat! I’ve just bought a Altair 102 triplet and only had it out once and that was only a brief outing before the clouds rolled in! That’s not what the weather app said only 2 hours earlier.🤬 I don’t remember last year being this awful night after night. I’ve been ranting to friends about it, so happy I’m in good understanding company here. 👍🏻
By the way I use the ASI585mc for Planetary and cut my teeth with it on DSO Live staking in SharpCap. Excellent camera, you can’t go wrong with it. 

Edited July 20, 2023 by JonHigh

[inedible_hulk]

Bought a Starfield 102 in late May. It’s barely been out of the box ☹️. Even when it’s been sunny, there’s been a high altitude murk masking everything. On the bright side (no pun intended) though, I’ve had some really enjoyable solar sessions 😊.

[pipnina]

I bought the skywatcher 2" OIII and UHC filters for my eyepieces *last year* in november and I still havent observed with them!

I must must must get a peek of the various nebulae in cygnus and the milky way core before it all vanishes but time is running out this year again!

Last year I couldn't see the NAN with my filterless 10" setup and I have been hoping that a UHC or OIII would give me that little contrast boost I need. Plus give me better views of M42 and flame, possibly help me spy the horsy.

[michael8554]

You need to vent your rage against the system....... 😆

https://www.facebook.com/ratstribute/videos/467906567414250/

Michael

Edited July 22, 2023 by michael8554

[LukeSkywatcher]

Apparently here in Ireland we have had a months rain in the last 48 hrs. Yes, it's rains a lot here, but a months worth is ridiculous.

Edited July 23, 2023 by LukeSkywatcher

[Mr Spock]

54mm in the last 10 hours here.

Average for July (1976 to 2001) was 57.9mm...

[maw lod qan]

On 20/07/2023 at 13:29, Mr Spock said:

You need to move to Arizona - perpetual blue skies 😁

And for people there complaining about the heat, anyone would think it’s 120 - can’t be more than 114…

Excellent! Watched that just a few days ago!

Dock that astronomer a days pay for complaining about the heat!

At my house we are behind on rain, ahead on the hear.

High heat advisory usually from 10am till 5pm.

Took a quick peek at Sol yesterday, felt like I had been in the shower!

[Mr Spock]

12 minutes ago, maw lod qan said:

Dock that astronomer a days pay for complaining about the heat!

I expect 'Rock Ridge' and Vasquez Rocks are a bit toasty right now.

[Louis D]

On 24/07/2023 at 03:59, Mr Spock said:

I expect 'Rock Ridge' and Vasquez Rocks are a bit toasty right now.

Well, due to heat, an older hiker died in Death Valley National Park, a couple of hikers died in Valley of Fire State Park (Nevada), and a hiker died in Grand Canyon NP.  So far, no reports of astronomers dying due to the heat.

[wesdon1]

On 20/07/2023 at 15:58, Louis D said:

Come on down to Texas, then.  We haven't had clouds in weeks/months.  No rain, either.  100+ for weeks, 105+ for 10 days and counting.  I tried to go out and observe for a little while last week, but I was dripping sweat on everything within minutes even with a box fan blowing on me because it was still 97 degrees and 70+ degree dewpoint at 10pm.

* All temps in Fahrenheit.

@Louis D My goodness Louis, 100+F for weeks is literal torture!!?? I recall alst summer here in Liverpool UK, we got a record high temp of 40C+ ( roughly 105F ) and that day was absolute HELL!! And that was one single day!!?? So to have those sorts of unbearable temps for multiple days or weeks is just hard to fathom Louis!!?? IMPO that is literal torture!!

I really hope you guys over there get some respite asap!! 

[Elp]

Aircon makes it more bearable if it's available (and it usually is). Even the US spec cars have vastly superior Aircon compared to euro spec vehicles. But AC isn't really a solution to the issue at hand.

Edited July 26, 2023 by Elp

[wesdon1]

31 minutes ago, Elp said:

Aircon makes it more bearable if it's available (and it usually is). Even the US spec cars have vastly superior Aircon compared to euro spec vehicles. But AC isn't really a solution to the issue at hand.

@Elp yes AC is a life saver in such extreme weather. But as you rightly point out, it's no good for astrophotography outside. Greece is going through a terrible time at moment too, with fires caused by record heat. Global warming might actually already have started to bite us hard? You only have to look at the planet Venus to see how dreadful a runaway heating cycle can get. I fear for future generations, it's going to be a nightmare...

[wesdon1]

On 20/07/2023 at 19:33, JonHigh said:

In the same boat! I’ve just bought a Altair 102 triplet and only had it out once and that was only a brief outing before the clouds rolled in! That’s not what the weather app said only 2 hours earlier.🤬 I don’t remember last year being this awful night after night. I’ve been ranting to friends about it, so happy I’m in good understanding company here. 👍🏻
By the way I use the ASI585mc for Planetary and cut my teeth with it on DSO Live staking in SharpCap. Excellent camera, you can’t go wrong with it. 

@JonHigh Yes jon it's been awful, and the forecast for next 10 days looks bad too. I too cannot recall last year being this bad?? 

Oh right? brilliant mate. I am going to go for the 585MC next week. What annoys me though, is I recently bought a 224MC planetary camera, as well as buying the L-Enhance filter for DSO imaging, and still haven't been able to test them out!? ( except for one very brief 10 minutes using the 224MC before clouds rolled in! ) hopefully in a couple of weeks time, we might get a decent run of cloudless nights mate.

[Elp]

It's worse when you start a project, and weeks, maybe months go by until the next. If it's a seasonal target it'll have to wait until next year. I've started so many but can't finish any.

[Louis D]

6 hours ago, wesdon1 said:

@Louis D My goodness Louis, 100+F for weeks is literal torture!!?? I recall alst summer here in Liverpool UK, we got a record high temp of 40C+ ( roughly 105F ) and that day was absolute HELL!! And that was one single day!!?? So to have those sorts of unbearable temps for multiple days or weeks is just hard to fathom Louis!!?? IMPO that is literal torture!!

I really hope you guys over there get some respite asap!! 

We treat summer like most other folks treat winter.  We tend to hole up in air conditioned buildings and race between them in air conditioned cars during summer like most folks do with heated buildings and cars in the winter.  From mid-October through mid-April, we generally have wonderfully mild weather and spend most of it outdoors similar to how other folks spend spring to fall outdoors.  I often observe in shorts and a T-shirt during that time in the early evening.  At most, I throw on a windbreaker and long pants to mitigate the evening chill on colder nights.

The US as a whole has 90% of homes air conditioned and practically all businesses have A/C.  Here in Texas, it's pretty close to 100% for both.  As others have said, it doesn't help when you're observing outdoors.  It's sort of similar to how a heated house in winter doesn't help to keep you from freezing while observing outdoors in colder climates.

[wesdon1]

11 hours ago, Louis D said:

We treat summer like most other folks treat winter.  We tend to hole up in air conditioned buildings and race between them in air conditioned cars during summer like most folks do with heated buildings and cars in the winter.  From mid-October through mid-April, we generally have wonderfully mild weather and spend most of it outdoors similar to how other folks spend spring to fall outdoors.  I often observe in shorts and a T-shirt during that time in the early evening.  At most, I throw on a windbreaker and long pants to mitigate the evening chill on colder nights.

The US as a whole has 90% of homes air conditioned and practically all businesses have A/C.  Here in Texas, it's pretty close to 100% for both.  As others have said, it doesn't help when you're observing outdoors.  It's sort of similar to how a heated house in winter doesn't help to keep you from freezing while observing outdoors in colder climates.

@Louis D Thats a good analogy Louis, where you describe you guys treating summer like us folks treat winter. Personally I have a flask of hot coffee in winter outside, and wrap up really well. Because I live on 3rd floor of flats, I have to stay outside all night when imaging because I can't trust leaving my expensive gear unattended outside. So the winter really tests my resolve! LOL. That being said, i still love being outside all night, and I simply watch YouTube vids on my phone sat on my chair next to my rig, drinking hot coffee to keep from freezing to death! LOL. 

[Louis D]

3 hours ago, wesdon1 said:

That being said, i still love being outside all night, and I simply watch YouTube vids on my phone sat on my chair next to my rig, drinking hot coffee to keep from freezing to death! LOL. 

Got the image. 😁

[JonHigh]

On 26/07/2023 at 18:56, wesdon1 said:

@JonHigh Yes jon it's been awful, and the forecast for next 10 days looks bad too. I too cannot recall last year being this bad?? 

Oh right? brilliant mate. I am going to go for the 585MC next week. What annoys me though, is I recently bought a 224MC planetary camera, as well as buying the L-Enhance filter for DSO imaging, and still haven't been able to test them out!? ( except for one very brief 10 minutes using the 224MC before clouds rolled in! ) hopefully in a couple of weeks time, we might get a decent run of cloudless nights mate.

This can’t last forever. I have found the Scope Nights app to be very good or this site is quite accurate. https://www.yr.no/en to within 12 hours or so. It’s all highly annoying, you buy expensive equipment only for it to sit in a cupboard for weeks on end! Nobody gets it unless you are in to astronomy!
You will love the 585 as it’s so flexible but just make sure you get plenty of dark frames and many, many short exposures. I found about 30 seconds (@ gain 252) was the longest I could go to under my Bortle 6 skies. EAA is the way to go with it. However lunar and planetary imaging will blow you away! If your pockets are a little deeper, I would strongly suggest you use that money to get a cooled Astro camera if you want to do DSO imaging; new or used (on Astro Buy and sell) it’s in a different league. 

 

 

 

Edited July 28, 2023 by JonHigh

[Elp]

The 585 should be fine for DSO if it's your only camera, I use the older 485 and have done 120s exposures for hours (equatorial autoguided) no issue once calibrated and post processed for DSO, well, when you can go outside and do something useful with it other than just look at the shiny red exterior.

Edited July 28, 2023 by Elp

[wesdon1]

On 27/07/2023 at 13:50, Louis D said:

Got the image. 😁

ahahaha! That's DEFINITELY ME!! Glove's en'all !! Love it!! Haha

[wesdon1]

On 28/07/2023 at 03:17, Elp said:

The 585 should be fine for DSO if it's your only camera, I use the older 485 and have done 120s exposures for hours (equatorial autoguided) no issue once calibrated and post processed for DSO, well, when you can go outside and do something useful with it other than just look at the shiny red exterior.

@Elp Sorry for sucj late reply. LOL yes it's such a pain having them sat there doing nothing from new! 

Yes that is definitely my hopes for it, because I won't have a proper cooled astro cam for some months, due to the fact i've already spent £100's in last two months. Even a member of staff at Rother Valley optics was agreeing with me a couple days ago, that our beloved hobby is bloody expensive. And that's from a guy who works at the store selling the stuff! LOL