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  #41  
Old 17-03-2019, 07:26 AM
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codemonkey (Lee)
Lee "Wormsy" Borsboom

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Quote:
Originally Posted by Shiraz View Post
good.

your images are excellent and you seem to get enviable seeing at times - be a real shame to have a bit of future sky goodness up there and no-one making use of it.
haha. Thanks Ray.

Yeah, hasn't been a good run in that regard lately. Even in September when I managed three images, the seeing was some of the worst I've seen.

I *did* manage to get 2.5hrs on NGC 2997 a couple of months ago with some of the best seeing I've had (1.5" FWHM in luminance), but then the never-ending poor weather rolled in so I've been unable to finish it.
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  #42  
Old 17-03-2019, 08:28 AM
garymck (Gary)
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I think the frustrations of this hobby are getting to many, and I am also almost ready to chuck it in. When I first started imaging in the mid 90's with a homemade Cookbook 245 camera I could count on 2-3 nights to image a week. The climate seems to have gotten steadily worse and now I'm lucky to get 1 night a fortnight worth imaging.

My location in Geelong is s a POS. Light pollution is unbelievable (at least Bortle 8, more likely 9)- I have a small section of sky to image from due to it and neighbours second story additions. That and the high mist that seems to come in at around 11pm every clear night and ruins transparency.

If I had my time over, and knowing what I know now, I would never have spent the money I have on this hobby (even though my Mesu mount is absolutely awesome). If I thought I could recoup 2/3 of what I have spent I would sell it all. Unfortunately even good gear, well priced is having trouble selling and I won't fire sale it... I haven't touched my gear since I spent 6 hours of time on a relatively bright object (IC2944) and could barely stretch out any nebulosity.

My only hope is that I can persuade my partner to buy a country property when she retires - if I'm still alive, which may be doubtful as I've had a heart attack at 59, and bypass surgery at 66 :-(

In the meantime I'm going to teach myself to play the ukulele, do some airbrush art, a bit of woodwork (finishing an 8" dob), and possibly do some air rifle target shooting.....

May even dismantle my obs and pack everything it away.

Bit of a rant but the frustration gets to me when this has been pretty much a lifetime hobby ...

Gary
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  #43  
Old 22-03-2019, 04:32 AM
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silv (Annette)
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ouch.

I calculated that I get 2 nights per good month, 3 nights if I count a moonlit night.
Good months: mid Feb to mid May, mid Sept to mid Nov. The rest of the year is either summer on 54˚lat or winter on the coast of the Baltic Sea with a river mouth close by = permanent cloud cover, no exaggeration.

Total of max 15 evenings per year. And that is still littered with disappointments from uncertain forecasts and sudden, unplanned for clear spells.

I'm in the observing lane. So I listened to my heart to find the answer what it is I actually like so much about looking with both eyes into serene beauty and into what I know is eternity and a distant past that's unimaginable.

Now here comes: why not get my hands/eyes wet on a stereo microscope and look at sands and crystals and other old stuff that my beach has aplenty. Quickly browsing through a microscoper forum, apparently I can even do imaging and "stacking".

So if fishing is not quite the answer, maybe fishing and a stereo microscope is. They even come in achromats and apos!

Last edited by silv; 22-03-2019 at 04:45 AM.
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  #44  
Old 22-03-2019, 04:37 AM
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silv (Annette)
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Here's a microscopic image of sand from Alice Springs
https://www.mikroskopie-forum.de/pic...1_54172779.jpg

and German sand, polarized
https://www.mikroskopie-forum.de/pic...1_34868631.jpg
almost like M42, no? And the best thing: it's older than M42, much older...
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