Obs temp ?

[cosmic dave]

Just wondering does anyone take there observing site temperature for their notes ? I am considering starting to do this just to make my notes a little bit more precise/interesting.

[brianb]

I keep an eye on the temperature - not because it matters as such as because, with my coastal site, there can be a huge difference in seeing quality between air drifting off the sea and air drifting off the land .... and big rapid changes of temperature which cause tube currents as the scope cannot track changes in temperature fast enough, and also severe dewing when warm moist air blows over "overcooled" equipment.

[cosmic dave]

Good point, I am very near the sea as well. In fact I can hear the waves crashing when I am in the back yard at night with my scopes.

[Talitha]

I note the temperature at the beginning of a session, a few times during the session and one last time just before going home. Other conditions are noted too, like lunar presence, humidity, seeing, wind, transparency, etc. These easily recorded details enable me to get a good overview of conditions when i want to compare observations of the same target from different nights. It's also interesting to check my logbook before going out, just to see what things were like the previous year.

[Llamanaut]

i was thinking of getting a temperature/ humidty device (like the ones you get for reptile vivariuims to check the point at which things start dewing on my scope (in the hope i can then keep things at a slightly warmer temp to avoid dew) tbh i havent really had a major dew problem yet and i too observe within the sound of crashing waves. The only time ive had to stop due to dew was when i was 60 miles inland!

[cosmic dave]

There are advantages to living near the sea, lack of frost, warmer winters, darker skies, The down side is its windy and very isolated 7 months of the year.

[brianb]

The down side is its windy and very isolated 7 months of the year.

Windy is a down side but "very isolated" is definitely an advantage ....