How Bad was the seeing 24th Nov in Melbourne

[HCR32]

Hi ppl
Just wanted to confirm with ppl in Melbourne about the seeing on 24th Nov was it as bad as I think or didnt I live me gear to cool down enough?

Wouldnt mind knowing what others thought of the night. I seriously couldnt use more then 150x.

[SkySearcher]

Can't confirm the 24th but I have tried twice this week including the 23rd and gave up. I let my scope cool for at least 1.5hrs each time (12inch Dob). The 23rd was particularly bad with Jupiter just a bubbling blob. I was looking to split some doubles so gave up pretty quick.

I also wondered if I had let my scope cool long enough. Or maybe it's heat in the concrete driveway I have the scope on?

[sadia]

I thought 23rd was bad till I saw dancing stars on 24th. On 23rd I had a good patch of half an hour around 12:30AM before it started to go bad again.

[HCR32]

Just as I thought. I was have a look Jupiter with my nice ep's hoping to see something I haven't before with my other ep's and saw nothing but blur to. It funny even though I was pretty sure the seeing was very bad for some reason confirmation by others make the wasted time feel a little better all in the name of science. Lol

[DavidU]

Yes it was a shocker ! Jupiter was moving like it was jelly.:rolleyes:

[pgc hunter]

The seeing has been an absolute crock in Melbourne lately. I tried observing Jupiter last week and again on Wednesday this week, and I just went back inside. Didn't even bother. As David says, Jupiter was jelly, or perhaps a fuzzy tennis ball. :mad2:

I did notice one interesting development, on the Wednesday there appeared to be 3 white ovals trailing the GRS.

Looks like we are going to have another crap summer plagued by bloody rain and cloud with its associated puss bucket seeing conditions a 'la last year. Thanks for nothing La Nina you stupid homewrecker :mad2:

[SkySearcher]

Is there a way to tell if it will be bad seeing? For example if it;s a really hot day and then a cool night would that indicate a lot of thermal currents?

Not sure if it's true but I have it in my head that colder nights are better for seeing.

[Keltik]

Got the LB16 out last night at ten as the sky lookednice. Using the only EP I can use, the Meade 32mm supplied with the scope (still waiting for the freebies included in the deal, and my old Unitron .965's don't have an adapter) but I could still see Jupiter bubbling like a saucepan of porridge. It was so bad at times the belts disappeared, so I gave up. Wasn't a complete dud of an evening though, got a nice binocular view of Mercury just after sunset when the twilight got dark enough...

[HCR32]

At the ep Jupiter NEB was there but the south seemed to blend in giving an impression that it wasn't really there. The seeing was so bad that I'm one to enjoy playing with the focuser that I started finding it frustrating focusing in and out even with a feather touch. It would be good to have a permanent section in this forum that ppl can rate every night of the year according to their locations seeing condition so we can refer to it if in doubt. If I was a new comer to the hobby and had last nights experience as my first I would have sold up and stuck to something like online gaming for a night hobby. Seriously would have to rate last night as one of the worst for me!

[Moon]

I was imaging and couldn't get FWHM below 2. Spend way too long focusing. Good to know it wasn't just me.
James

[trav]

Thankfully I found this part of the forum - I had the camera (D90 through a Bader eyepiece) setup for the very first time on the 23rd and tried to get some good shots through my trusty olde LX90. Jupiter was a blob but I managed to get this...

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/bc4uOhb_xjC0C1A8enl-qKcR7FmpV4tjTFGm4sgZ-s0?feat=directlink

[HCR32]

Better then what I could see on the 24th!