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A few weeks without observing

george7378

By george7378
in The Astro Lounge

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george7378

george7378

Posted
Posted

I know everyone is complaining about the weather, so here's my bit. I haven't observed with the scope for weeks now, and I am beginning to feel a bit depressed at not being able to take it outside. I was observing when I actually saw the bank of cloud which brought the first dusting of snow to the UK - it engulfed the sky within mintues, and rendered the rest of the weekend cloudy. Then another 15 inches fell, making it impossible to even walk around outside, leave alone put a dobsonian mount and a chair down in. The nights were very cloudy too. A week and a half later, and the temperatures plummet to -20 degrees, and the snow is still on the ground, which persisted for about another week. Then, when it finaly did warm up a bit, and we did get some clear nights, I still couldn't take the scope out because the whole floor was covered in a sheet of the slipperiest ice I've ever walked on, which made observing near impossible, especially when you need to sit on a wobbly chair. Then more cloud, with the odd clear night, for instance, yesterday night, when the wind was too horrible to sit out in.

I genuinely feel a bit moody and down at not being able to go out - almost as if I am temporarily losing touch with it, especially after the calm, dark winter nights I remember from last year, when I was just getting into the hobby. In my experience, the best time to observe is late winter and spring, when the ground is clear, the nights are long and beautiful winter sky is still on show. I feel a bit annoyed at when I look out at the sky and see nothing but clouds, or when I go outside only to be blown back in by freezing winds. I know that when I get a calm, clear night and another look at the Andromeda Galaxy's dust lanes, and the Orion Nebula's swathes of beauty, all this will be forgotten. How has it been for everyone else?

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jonathan

jonathan

Posted
Posted

Clear here in North Yorkshire, but cold. I'm just building up the courage to brave the temperatures with my binoculars (mounted on a camera tripod). I dare not try to carry my telescope outside because of the ice, and the 5" of frozen snow which is still sitting in the garden would make setup a nightmare.

Really quite frustrating as I took delivery of a 2" diagonal and 2" 38mm PanaView about a week ago but haven't had chance to use them yet. I made a space for them in my eyepiece / accessory Flight Case today, almost felt like I was laying them to rest!

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umadog

umadog

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Ooh clouds. Here on Long Island has been bad recently, but summers tend to be clear. Not looking forward to moving back to the UK from the cloud point of view. Also, population density makes for a lot of light pollution and few areas of dark skies. Same for Long Island, mind you, but escape to nearby rural areas is possible.

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Manok101

Manok101

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Posted

As i have stated before I do not live in england but in the states specifically south carolina. It has been miserable here for observing for the last few weeks. There was one or two clear days but one of them it was too cold, and the other it was too hazy to bother bringing the scope out.

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