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Old 06-10-2018, 08:05 AM
garymck (Gary)
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garymck is offline
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Geelong
Posts: 788
When is light pollution so bad you might as well give AP up?

Hi,

Is there a point where light pollution/conditions are so bad hat you might as well give up imaging?

Last night I imaged for the first time in ages (health issues - heart - bypass surgery is NOT pleasant, but the alternative is worse). I live in Geelong West, about 1 km from the centre of the city. My imaging direction is limited to a bit of South, North and East (so directly over the city). My skies are Bortle 7, orange/red zone depending on which map you look at. In addition a high percentage of nights lose transparency due to a high mist that seems to come in sometime after 11pm.

My experience last night was frustrating - crap pictures that got massively worse when the mist came in after midnight. This was with my ASI071MC Pro. Yes I know one shot color is least suited to this imaging scenario, but I love the camera.

Under these conditions would it be worth doing narrow band? - I still have my QHY9/filterwheel with a full set of Baader filters (cant afford Astrodons - especially at the current exchange rate). The lack of transparency due to mist would affect narrow band just as much as OSC? I haven't done narrow band in the past as the number of "clear" nights here is so low that I figured I'd never get enough data to make it worthwhile - have gone up to 6-8 weeks between nominally clear nights that were not subject to a full moon! I could imagine that almost any target under these circumstances would become a multi year project!

Feeling frustrated enough to pack it in. Any suggestions? I think, if I didn't have so much money invested in equipment, I probably would chuck it in...Moving house is not an option...

not cheers
Gary
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