WHEN WILL IT END!!??

[wesdon1]

Hi all, another rant, I'm afraid! LOL

I just cannot understand how it's now been over 2 months since I last had cloud free night skies here in Liverpool?? I'm roughly 11 months into my astro-imaging journey, after many years doing visual astro, and this recent endless cloud filled night skies has really took me by surprise. Obviously I know the british weather is often cloudy, but even by our Uk's awful standards, this recent bad spell seems excessive? normally you get atleast 1 single night in a month where you have cloudless skies? Or at the very least, an hour two break in the clouds? Saturn reaches opposition in 4 days, and it's looking unlikely i'll get a chance to image it with my new 224MC camera? 

All this being said, I won't let it put me off the hobby, because I know EVENTUALLY i'll get a chance to go outside and do what I love. Seriously, my only regret is that I didn't start this hobby many years earlier...

Clear Skies to all ( Please! LOL )

 

[bosun21]

You are not alone. I also haven't had any cloud free nights in two months so I have total empathy with you. I have a new pair of 15x70 Helios Apollo binoculars and a 150PL reflector still awaiting their first light. I will be miffed if I miss Saturns opposition as I have been eagerly awaiting the planets return to our evening skies. This has been the longest drought since I rekindled my astronomy journey 3 years ago.

[wesdon1]

6 minutes ago, bosun21 said:

You are not alone. I also haven't had any cloud free nights in two months so I have total empathy with you. I have a new pair of 15x70 Helios Apollo binoculars and a 150PL reflector still awaiting their first light. I will be miffed if I miss Saturns opposition as I have been eagerly awaiting the planets return to our evening skies. This has been the longest drought since I rekindled my astronomy journey 3 years ago.

@bosun21 My goodness, that old saying in our hobby about buying new gear jinxes the weather, really does seem have some truth to it?? LOL. I bought my 224Mc and L-Enhance Filter in mid June and like you i'm STILL waiting for their first light!?

Hopefully we'll all be treated to a really good spell of weather at some point soon!

[Elp]

I felt the same, thought it was a 6 week gap but ended up being 4 weeks and had two sessions this week. Managed to get enough data to potentially finish a new image, my third this year when normally I would be at number 6-8.

[alan potts]

If it is an consolation I have not fared much better down here. May I had one clear night, the night of the full Moon. June was a massive 3 again clear  for Full Moon. July wasn't too bad but with temperature of 40c the nights were very turbulent and rather hazy. Though August has cooled down a lot there is a lot of patchy cloud around. This would be OK for visual but I like it clear to use the cameras. That's not to say the sky hasn't cleared in the early morning but I am long past getting up at 2 am. Hope things get better for you all.

Alan

[wesdon1]

19 hours ago, alan potts said:

If it is an consolation I have not fared much better down here. May I had one clear night, the night of the full Moon. June was a massive 3 again clear  for Full Moon. July wasn't too bad but with temperature of 40c the nights were very turbulent and rather hazy. Though August has cooled down a lot there is a lot of patchy cloud around. This would be OK for visual but I like it clear to use the cameras. That's not to say the sky hasn't cleared in the early morning but I am long past getting up at 2 am. Hope things get better for you all.

Alan

@alan potts Thank you for supportive words Alan. I think tonight I might just get outside for the first time since mid June! Fingers crossed! 

My goodness that 40c heat is unbearable! I recall last summer ( or maybe the one before? ) we got 40c heat here in Liverpool and it was dreadful, it was difficult to breathe, so i totally sympathise with you if you found that heat difficult like I did.

Clear Skies my friend

[wesdon1]

20 hours ago, Elp said:

I felt the same, thought it was a 6 week gap but ended up being 4 weeks and had two sessions this week. Managed to get enough data to potentially finish a new image, my third this year when normally I would be at number 6-8.

@Elp Funnily enough, tonight is looking promising! Fingers crossed I get a chance to go outside. I'll update the post if I do! 

I think because i'm less than a year into imaging journey, and this was/is my first experience of a very prolonged lack of cloudless night skies.

Clear Skies my friend!

[AstroMuni]

At this rate I will forget how to use my scope 😞 As a fairly recent entrant into this hobby, its all newly learnt stuff so not yet ingrained into my brain -

[wesdon1]

14 minutes ago, AstroMuni said:

At this rate I will forget how to use my scope 😞 As a fairly recent entrant into this hobby, its all newly learnt stuff so not yet ingrained into my brain -

@AstroMuni yes I too am worrying i'll have forgotten my workflow after so long without doing it! I too am new, just 11 months into astro-imaging, after years of visual astro. Hopefully the weather will improve soon! 

[WolfieGlos]

6 hours ago, wesdon1 said:

@Elp Funnily enough, tonight is looking promising! Fingers crossed I get a chance to go outside.

You’re right…even down here, and depending on what forecast I look at it’s predicted to be clear all week now!

How typical that we’re going away midweek… is it bad that I want to cancel to take advantage of clear skies 🤨 

[Elp]

7 hours ago, wesdon1 said:

@Elp Funnily enough, tonight is looking promising! Fingers crossed I get a chance to go outside. I'll update the post if I do! 

I think because i'm less than a year into imaging journey, and this was/is my first experience of a very prolonged lack of cloudless night skies.

Clear Skies my friend!

I've had the opposite, was looking good for two days this week and now none.

One of the first things you have to soon realise is it's not a sprint, it's not even a walk. I've got nearly half a dozen, maybe more unfinished projects accumulated over the short years I've been doing this. Eventually I'll get around to them, gives me more time to add more hours to them too.

[sinbad40]

Not far from you Wesdon, just over in St Helens area.  Think i have had 2-3 hours of messing before having to cover up again since the start of July.  Fingers crossed we get some clear skies soon.

[WolfieGlos]

Currently can only see Cassiopiea, Lyra and about half of Cygnus. The rest of our sky has totally clouded over. If that’s what the forecasters say are clear skies, then I’m Batman.

I think I’ll keep checking outside until 11 and then call it a night. Hope you all have your clear skies 🤞

Edit; it did clear up, might have missed the start of clear skies from watching Sky at Night in catch-up, but I set up at 11:30 and as bbc forecast; clear all night. No wind either, and not a single lost image for 3 hours of capturing. Happy I persevered now! 

Edited August 15, 2023 by WolfieGlos

[MonsterMagnet]

It's been awful, every time I check the BBC weather here in London they claim it's going to be clear but it's never the case.  It's at the point where I'm unsure if they actually do a weather forecast or just make something up.

I've moved on to using Clear Outside from FLO which at least send honest that it's going to be cloudy.

I was lucky enough to take my scope to Spain a few weeks ago and got 6 nights totally clear imaging but even that wasn't ideal given it was the Sturgeon Supermoon.  Images were OK though given it was Bortle 4 there and I'm used to Bortle 9 here in central London.

MM

[alan potts]

18 hours ago, wesdon1 said:

@alan potts Thank you for supportive words Alan. I think tonight I might just get outside for the first time since mid June! Fingers crossed! 

My goodness that 40c heat is unbearable! I recall last summer ( or maybe the one before? ) we got 40c heat here in Liverpool and it was dreadful, it was difficult to breathe, so i totally sympathise with you if you found that heat difficult like I did.

Clear Skies my friend

Yes 40c is hot but the air is very dry here so not that bad just have to watch burning if you are out, too hot to work in though for me. I've been in hotter in the Middle East, 50c in UAE. You tend to get the same here with cold, I've had minus 26c here with very low humidity and been out in a T shirt for a short time, however if you get a wind your arms would probably drop off

Wasn't a cloud in the sky most of the day yesterday but it spoilt itself again.

Alan

[Richard]

Just returned from a week in Wales (Anglesey), dark skies and booked to coincide with the Moon-free (ish) Perseid maximum. Not a chance! One clear night (8th) and the mist rolled in…

Richard

Edited August 15, 2023 by Richard

[Robert7980]

It’s been the same here in North Carolina USA… Just one or two partial nights per month for more than a year now. Had a good week with a few days in a row of clear, but wildfire smoke from Canada made imaging impossible. Been frustrating.

[wesdon1]

On 14/08/2023 at 18:47, WolfieGlos said:

You’re right…even down here, and depending on what forecast I look at it’s predicted to be clear all week now!

How typical that we’re going away midweek… is it bad that I want to cancel to take advantage of clear skies 🤨 

@WolfieGlos So sorry for late reply! I wouldn't say it's bad that you flirted with the idea of not going away because in the UK, as very well demonstrated recently, the chances we get to do Astro are rare and impossible to plan ahead for more than a few days in advance. So it's no surprise you're thinking that way imho! 

LOL it turned out I couldn't get outside in the end, the forecasts were way off! Typical!

Ironically, tonight is looking even more promising! ( I dare not get too excited though! The let-downs are awful! LOL )

Edited August 16, 2023 by wesdon1
missed a bit!

[wesdon1]

On 14/08/2023 at 22:08, sinbad40 said:

Not far from you Wesdon, just over in St Helens area.  Think i have had 2-3 hours of messing before having to cover up again since the start of July.  Fingers crossed we get some clear skies soon.

@sinbad40 Oh right, so you have had identical cloud probs as me during these last 2 months or so. Tonight ( Wed. 16th august ) is looking almost a certain opportunity, FINALLY! LOL. I really hope you are able to get outside too tonight! 

Clear Skies!

[wesdon1]

On 15/08/2023 at 10:27, Robert7980 said:

It’s been the same here in North Carolina USA… Just one or two partial nights per month for more than a year now. Had a good week with a few days in a row of clear, but wildfire smoke from Canada made imaging impossible. Been frustrating.

@Robert7980 I feel your pain, my friend! The frustration is awful! I don't want to jinx myself, but tonight, FINALLY, is looking 90-95% probability i'll be able to get outside and image for first time since around 11th June, if I recall correctly! I really hope you get more clear skies ASAP my friend.

[sinbad40]

56 minutes ago, wesdon1 said:

@sinbad40 Oh right, so you have had identical cloud probs as me during these last 2 months or so. Tonight ( Wed. 16th august ) is looking almost a certain opportunity, FINALLY! LOL. I really hope you are able to get outside too tonight! 

Clear Skies!

I hope so.  I have been monitoring since weekend, but going off the met, its looking like i may lose tonight and tomorrow at this rate.  I can see blue sky in the far distance, fingers crossed it arrives when dark.

[ollypenrice]

Location, location, location.  At the risk of being damned annoying, I'll just tell you the truth. I moved to the south east of France.

Olly

[DirkSteele]

1 hour ago, ollypenrice said:

Location, location, location.  At the risk of being damned annoying, I'll just tell you the truth. I moved to the south east of France.

Olly

There is a reason why I have so many airline portable scopes and get most of my stargazing done in a 2 week period every year!

 

We did pick a hobby that does not always mesh with our weather, frustrating as that is.  But I always find an amazing night eventually comes along and washes away the memories of all the disappointments.

 

Edited August 16, 2023 by DirkSteele
typo

[WolfieGlos]

2 hours ago, wesdon1 said:

@WolfieGlos So sorry for late reply! I wouldn't say it's bad that you flirted with the idea of not going away because in the UK, as very well demonstrated recently, the chances we get to do Astro are rare and impossible to plan ahead for more than a few days in advance. So it's no surprise you're thinking that way imho! 

LOL it turned out I couldn't get outside in the end, the forecasts were way off! Typical!

Ironically, tonight is looking even more promising! ( I dare not get too excited though! The let-downs are awful! LOL )

Haha I wasn’t serious, it’s our first break this year. We’ve actually come up to rural Northumberland (bortle 3 according to ClearOutside), so fingers crossed the forecast is right for clear skies later this week…I brought the Star Adventurer just in case ! 

[wesdon1]

13 hours ago, WolfieGlos said:

Haha I wasn’t serious, it’s our first break this year. We’ve actually come up to rural Northumberland (bortle 3 according to ClearOutside), so fingers crossed the forecast is right for clear skies later this week…I brought the Star Adventurer just in case ! 

@WolfieGlos Haha sorry, my bad! I should have known you were only kidding! haha! 

Incidentally, the weather / clouds ruined last night yet again! GRRR I think I need a holiday too! haha! 

Clear Skies my friend!