How Often Do You Use Your Scope

[TJD]

HOW OFTEN DO YOU USE YOUR SCOPE

[erick]

Must you rub it in...................:(

[leon]

depends on the weather, so it is not a very accurate poll.

Leon

[TJD]

Its A Rough Estimate Its If The Wether I Good Every Day

[Matty P]

If I could, I would use my scope everyday but as life gets more busy with school. I am restricted to weekends only. And a weekend coinciding with a clear sky and a new moon is quite rare these days. Gotta get in to narrowband imaging. :whistle:

I try my best to get out under the stars at every time I can though. :)

:thumbsup:

[AdrianF]

The way the weather is lately my scopes gather more dust than light.

Adrian

[TJD]

i have the same problem mostle with daylite saving bim in bed when its light
but on weekends i goto the dark dark skyes and goto bed at 10 am and wake up at 9 pm so im up the whole night(s)i saw my first galexie last night:eyepop:

[jjjnettie]

My scope is out every clear night.

[TJD]

good to see people using there scops:thumbsup:
i thought there would be more dust than light

[TJD]

MORE LIGHT LESS DUST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:D:D:D:D:D

[Matty P]

I wish I could do the same during weekends but atleast now that I have an observatory I will be able to increase my time under the stars.

Good on ya first galaxy... Always the special one. :)

:thumbsup:

[iceman]

Some weeks I'll be out almost every clear night, other times when motivation is low it could be 2-3 weeks before it sees any light.

Motivation is fairly high at the moment, I just need clear skies and good seeing to keep it there.

[Robert9]

Being a relative newbie, I would like to say every night. But that just ain't possible. Certainly motivation is high, the skies continually beckon, but sadly are not always suitable. Bright full moon, cloudy/hazy city skies, saturated with light from a zillion sources detract from viewing. Certainly though I do make it at least 2 nights a week, and this will increase as the moon wanes over the next few days. Need to buy a filter or three.
Robert

[spearo]

Every two weeks or so.
I have to travel about 250KMs to my observatory at a dark site
frank

[wavelandscott]

Weather and travel permitting it works out to every couple of weeks...

[GrampianStars]

G'day Y'all
I have to travel about 250Kms west of Melbourne
to my observatory dark site every week. :thumbsup:
Fri & Sat (all night) & quick peak Sun night
am currently building an Obs for new city coastal digs
then will be nightly (when clear)

[gary]

Right you are there Leon!

When I saw the percentage that said they were lucky enough to use
their scope every night, I wanted to know where they could possibly
live to get such clear skies? :lol:

We'd all want to move there! ::thumbsup:

I guess there is an implied "On clear nights" in there. Either that or
we have a lot of people on IceInSpace who are avid night time cloud watchers as well. :cloudy:

[TJD]

alice springs doesnt have as much cloud but there still is cloud ayers rock ilucky for the same reason and almost no light pollution all you need therare some 30 inche dobs:D

[Paddy]

2-3 nights per week when I can get a few hours before moonrise with clear skies. I also will usually do an hour or so looking at the moon once a month.

Living with dark skies and a supportive partner is wonderful!

[TJD]

if any body would like to give me a no cloud contract i would take
or a new moon contract
or a no light pollution contract

it would make me:):):eyepop:

[TJD]

im not a morning person(im always late for school) and i have to get up at 4:30 to observe and you still coldnt call it observing because of LIGHT POLLUTION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!its terable:( but i say to my self at least ive got a telescope:)

[TJD]

what is your favirite zoom for galixy

[Paddy]

At this stage in Central Victoria with no rain so far this year, give me some heavy clouds full of precipitation. The astronomers' signing off "clear skies" is one I, for the moment, do not seek!

[TJD]

rain at daytime clear vat night
:D

[AlexN]

Every week, weather permitting ofcourse.. on cloudy days I make things I need for my scope, work to get paid to buy more toys...

If I win the lotto tomorrow night, I'll be an every day scope user! :)

[TJD]

if you had a 1500mm facal length what would be your faverite eyepeice
(12inche)for galaxys:help::help::help::help::hel p:

[MarkN]

Well I bought a 12" LB early August and wouldn't need all my fingers to count the nights I've been able to use it. However, at least one of those nights was memorable.

I was looking at Eta Carinae at around 100X and something about the star's appearance was unusual so I inserted a 9 mm Nagler. Lo and behold, for the first time these ageing peepers beheld the homunculus; stuck in a 2X barlow to remove any doubt (388X with the Paracorr).

The 8" LX90 can't cleanly resolve this object. Amazing to think it's about a light year across. Hope some others had a similar moment in the few decent observing nights we've had lately.

Mark.

[TrevorW]

Which country are those people living in where they get to use their telescope everyday or are they doing something else with it

:shrug::P

[TJD]

there is to many trevors on this forum

[TJD]

if you had a 1500mm facal length what would be your faverite eyepeice
(12inche)for galaxys:help::help::help::help::hel p::help::help::help::help:

[Quark]

I use my scope, on average twice a week, out here in the far west of NSW, that is the really really far west, we get 4 or 5 straight cloudy nights only a couple of times a year.

Clear Sky's
Trevor

[TJD]

there is to many trevors on this forum
:D:P

[TJD]

if you vote now you get in the running to pay me $1000000:eyepop: (not realy)

[toetoe]

my scope has been collecting dust, well not the telescope but the sheet that covers it has been, due to work and family commitments.

[TrevorW]

Toetoe nice Jupiter 2

PS: Trevors rule :thumbsup:

The boy's name Trevor \t-re-vor (http://www.thinkbabynames.com/ending/1/vor)\ is pronounced TREV-er. It is of Welsh (http://www.thinkbabynames.com/search/1/welsh) origin, and its meaning is "great (http://www.thinkbabynames.com/search/1/great) settlement (http://www.thinkbabynames.com/search/1/settlement)".

[pgc hunter]

Constant cloud and/or drinking nights mean my scopes spend most of their time collecting dust :(

I''m usually out on moonless weekends only.

[TJD]

i knew trevors were speical i have a brother and a sister but im the good looking,smart,nice and cool one there normal:thumbsup:

[TJD]

every day comon
:(

[Ford Prefect]

I'm with pgc hunter, the coincidence of:

1. clear skies; and
2. sobriety

is unfortunately rare.

Although I did manage to get out last night with about 50% cloud cover.

[pgc hunter]

^^ lol rare sobriety - I've gotten tipsy every night for the last 2 weeks basicially :D

I'd prolly be out if it wasn't for the smoke haze, but such is life. There was one spectacular night of transparency a couple of weeks ago, I'm regretting not making use of it to hunt the Antlia cluster and the goodies in the M83 region.

[TJD]

did my first star hop last night:D

[Davekyn]

When ever I can! Average about once a week over 6 months. I prefer getting out of town though.

[TJD]

10 pm-3 am last night;)

[Spacetrakker]

Unfortunately my since the start of my "Grey Nomadding" retirement last year the observatory and telescope has been gathering a lot of dust!
The good news is that for our next trip this year I'll be taking my brand new ETX125 to make use of the clear outback skies.
Cheers,
John

[Jay-qu]

I have been using my new scope everytime its clear :)

So far on the checklist:
The Orion Nebula
Omega Centauri
Eta Carina
and Saturn
:) :)

Im very happy with the performance so far and cant wait to get to a dark sky..

[Kevnool]

My scope leaves the confines of the lounge room between the last quarter and the new moon , weather permitting.

Thats the plan.....Cheers Kev.

[pgc hunter]

now that "summer" is over, I prolly get one chance every 2 months or so. Ahh the reality of living in Melbourne :( :mad2:

[TJD]

well only one person uses there scope once a year i wonder who they are:D

[pgc hunter]

someone that lives on the western coast of Tasmania :P

[Benny L]

every clear night.. even the moonlit ones :P narrowband ftw!! :D

[TJD]

nearly every day for the past 2 weeks

[dpastern]

The poll needs to have added to it "when the skies are actually clear".

Dave

[TJD]

its just the average eg: 20 times a year=18.25 days = 2.5 weeks

[dpastern]

Well, I've had the scope 4 weeks or so now, used it twice much to my angst. I guess it could be worse, I could live in the UK ;-)

Dave

[dannat]

I voted every month, but its the binos that i use - I find my eyes prefer them - if clear would use my 15x70's twice a week. Scope is really for other's - or to get a peak at a planet

[Jen]

i dont use mine enough lately :whistle:
i have lost a little confidence out there :doh::help:
Im trying to do the RA thing and it just gets me frustrated lately :screwy:
But the nights are starting to get dark earlier now so bring it on :D

[pgc hunter]

^^^EQ mount woes?? I must say, I'm an Alt Az man myself.

Well, all the Melbourne cloud is actually clearing, believe it or not!!!!

Scope is definately going outside tonight.

[Dog Star]

Don't you believe that old wives tale for one second longer, my enthusiastic friend!;)
This Summer has been absolutely abysmal for viewing due to almost constant cloud cover virtually every night!
Between September last year and January this year, I think I've had my scope out for maybe 10 occasions! The few nights I had clear skies almost invariably coincided with waxing gibbous Moons.
Things have improved markedly over the last 6-8 weeks and I'm expecting the Winter months to be awesome (as they were last year when I first bought my 12" dob)
If the skies are clear and the Moon is user friendly, I get out as often as possible, usually 4-5 nights a week either side of the New Moon.

[TJD]

allright who uses there scope once a year
:mad2:

[higginsdj]

Every clear night - for as long as the sky is clear (not that I am actually standing behind or looking through the scope for that amount of time).

Actually I can't remember the last time I looked through a telescope - some years I think though my telescope averages 1000+ hrs a year of use.

Cheers

[telecasterguru]

Even though the balcony on the back of my house is very small I try and get my scope set up at least 3 or 4 times a week weather permitting. It is the only way that I can think of to learn how it works.

[TJD]

makes sense:thumbsup:

[White Rabbit]

Agreed, plus you also have to include.

"When ever the Mrs/Girlfriend will let you the door"

[pgc hunter]

Besides the perpetually rubbish weather found here, I also have to include work, and getting drunk after work. That leaves not many nights :P