Imagers to Visual Astronomers

[Deneb]

Hi

Just interested - What made you give up Imaging & turn back to Visual Astronomy, I be interested in your views. As I am sure there are some on SGL . Sorry for intruding on any personal reasons.

Nadeem.

[brianb]

I haven't given up imaging by any means but I do prefer visual observing.

[Merlin66]

After 20 years I gave up on imaging.....always enjoyed visual....

and turned to spectroscopy! Even more challenging - and satisfying..

Ken

[ollypenrice]

If ever I do go back to pure visual from doing both it will because of CABLESCABLESCABLESCABLESCABLES ........ aaarrgghh....

Olly

[Doc]

I have dabbled in astrophotography but our clear nights in the UK are so rare I hate it when you spend hours trying to sort out technical problems, while those hours now are spent observing and enjoying my hobby.

[Dimitris]

I caught myself more than once while imaging cursing that I couldnt use the scope. Finaly I gave up. I came to terms with what I like most and I got rid of everything not visual.

Had to try, but now I know better

Dimitris

[gliderpilot]

Having been a visual observer for years, I tried webcam imaging of the moon and planets. Having become tolerably acceptable, I gave up due to the hassle and complexity plus I became divorced from the night sky.

I find the thrill of seeing comets in the outer solar system or distant deep sky objects to be more than worthwhile. As an aside, I have a busy, complex job with too many hours in front of the PC so the idea of spending yet more hours gathering and then processing images fills with me horror.

Clear skies

Mark

[Psychobilly]

Hey Doc ... If this year turns out as bad as last year then I might be joining you...

Peter...

[ollypenrice]

I think that if you feel divorced from the sky while imaging, then stop immediately. I can only say that imaging is part of my love affair with what is out there. When I see imaging guests in action I'm reassured that I'm not the only one. The passion is incredible. I love being with people at work on their pictures - and observations, let me stress. However, being a mobile imager, as I believe Nadeem is, must require some awesome determination. I whine about cables that stay put, never mind having to be disentangled twice a night!

Olly

[brianb]

I think that if you feel divorced from the sky while imaging, then stop immediately.

I don't. When I do long exposure imaging, I leave the imaging running & observe visually with a different scope. The big issue, for me, is the number of occasions when an imaging rig can be left alone to get on with its stuff ... drifting clouds (& contrails ) are all too common & many nights here have enough shower interruptions to make running two scopes too much effort.

[Deneb]

Thanks for your comments so far, please keep them coming, it's interesting to see that imagers have turned to doing visual work, not to say there's nothing wrong with it. From the comments so far, it appears more Technical issues with equipment then "divorcing yourself from the sky".

Olly, your right - you could say I am a Mobile Imager or as some call it an "Iron Man Imager", i don't have an obsy, all my gear is taken out in bits, thats inc. the EQ6 Pro, cables, camera, Scope(s), netbook & the leisure battery. Sometimes I actually do observe, but 80% it's imaging & do enjoy it, nothing beats it, even in a light polluted area, especially when you see the results. Now just have to wait to get a unguided shot of M33 .

Cheers

Nadeem.

[Euan]

However, being a mobile imager, as I believe Nadeem is, must require some awesome determination. I whine about cables that stay put, never mind having to be disentangled twice a night!

Olly

Here here. I shamefully can't be bothered some nights even though I just have to roll the roof back

If I had to continue to carry it all outside and set up everytime I have no doubt I would be doing visual only

[Psychobilly]

Funnily enough after a while havignthe obs had the same effect on me... initially i would go out under marginal skies and grab whatever I could - I guess was still in "tourist" mode at the time thinking 1-2 hours on a target was more than enough...

Now unless I am pretty much guarnateed a clear spell of at least 3-5 hours I tend not to bother...

Especially as I have to make a "meds" decision by around 11 pm if I am to stand any chance of getting up to go to work the next morning...

Peter...

[russ]

Got fed up with the hassle, the cables, the laptop, the setting up, fruitless nights with wasted clear nights, lacklustre images, stress, bad tempers.....list goes on

[Mark at Beaufort]

If I had a permanent observatory set up for astro imaging then I might spend more time trying to produce some worth while images. Unfortunately the number of clear nights in the UK is not many so I prefer to set up my kit quickly to enjoy the night sky. I therefore will remain a visual astronomer looking for DSOs.

Mark

[Andrew*]

Great thread! I love the answers that are coming out, which really show the merits of BOTH approaches to our hobby.

I flit from one to the other. I DO find imaging tends to "divorce me from the night sky" (what a great way of putting it!). Set-up doesn't come naturally to me, and the amount of time spent tweaking means I might not look up once in half an hour. And when I do, I hardly see anything due to the bright laptop screen. When an image comes through, it shows less than a few degrees of the sky above my head.

So the reason I'll go back to observing, is to get that instant thrill, to be able to be spontaneous, to be less hampered by technical issues, and most importantly, to feel a better connection to the celestial sphere revolving over my head.

But I wonder: if I imaged more often, I'd probably be able to set up in half the time, and get more observing done as well!

Imaging has its merits as well, though, and those are what brings me back to it. The main one is: you have something more real to take away and show to others.

Andrew

[John]

I've only ever dabbled with imaging (basic lunar and planetary) but each time I've tried it I've found the experience more frustrating and stressfull than rewarding so I've not felt tempted to delve deeper into that side of the hobby. Having learned more about what's involved in producing the images, my admiration for those that pursue this is very high but that knowledge (superficial though it is) has also reinforced my view that it's probably not the path for me, at least at the current time.

My first love is pure simple visual astronomy - me, the scope and the night sky