So there really is a New Scope Curse...

[Jaybee (John)]

Reading through a lot of the posts here, I had to chuckle at the "new scope curse" that causes thick cloud cover when someone buys a new scope..
Where I live we have had maybe 2 or 3 spatterings of rain since Christmas and very very little cloud either..
Last weekend I drove a 15 hour round trip in a day to pick up my new scope.
The night I got home and the following 2 nights...OOooOOOoooOOoo... HEAVY cloud cover

[duncan]

:rof l:

AWWW!!! Crap i shouldn't laugh, it happened to me too!

What the hell!!

:rof l:

sorry, but raining here at the moment.

[wavelandscott (Scott)]

Yes, the curse is real...

Why?

At telescope factories around the world manufacturers put "moistions" inside the packaging to help preserve the scopes freshness and new scope smell.

Once opened at your home the moistions react with the atmosphere to cause at least cloud and usually rain. The number of moistions placed inside a scope are directly proportional to the cost of the scope...more expense more moistions...so the more you spend the longer and more likely the rain.

There must have been a lot of gear purchased recently in/around Melbourne to account for the big storms...

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

However the Moistons (so they finally put a name to them) also react to the level of desire felt about using a new scope. So the more you want to use your new scope the more prolonged and pronounce will be their effect.

You didn't happen to buy eyepieces and other accessories did you? If you did then you need to know that these have a multiplying effect on any Moistrons present. Similarly the multiplying effect is directly related to there costs and the desire to use said accessories. Some are worse than others, for example; a 13 mm ethos has about 25x the multiplying effect that a red light torch does.

[rider]

Originally Posted by [1ponders]

Some are worse than others, for example; a 13 mm ethos has about 25x the multiplying effect that a red light torch does.

OK, Fes-up!
Which one of you bugg'rs bought a complete set of Ethos in the Redlands Qld!

[pgc hunter]

I was originally due to recieve the SDM on Monday (8th), and the next several days are forecast to be clear...and I don't have to be anywhere. Sure enough, first day off, wall to wall blue skies. Even last night was largely clear, against a forecast of showers!!!!!

Infact, every freakin day in the 7 day forecast says "sunny" or "mostly sunny"


whaaaat the???

[DavidU (Dave)]

Moistons....... HAHAHAHAHA

[Baddad (Marty)]

Hi John & All,

Well, the brisbane residents should all thank the IIS members. The dams are at almost 96% capacity. Its been a very unselfish effort by IIS members to do the rain dance and fill the near empty dams.

By the members' behaviour, giving up all those excellent viewing opportunities just so that SEQ can have plenty of water. IIS deserves special recognition from the Bligh Government.

Do we have a victim----- oops er volunteer, to correspond with the Premier ?

Cheers Marty

[Liz]

Yes, alas, all very true. I STILL havent had more than 5 minutes out with my new Dob ..... then the skies started clearing, then my new DGM filter arrived, so cloudy again .
Yes, there has also been mass buying in SQLD, and obviously some Victorians have been busy
As Marty said.... great for the dams.

[Ric]

Moistons, I love it.

Hi John, I had to wait 2 weeks before I could use my scope when it arrived. Mind you when I did get out under the stars I knew the scope inside out so new scope errors were reduced to almost zero.

[mental4astro (Alexander)]

I also think it may be inversely proportional to the age of the instrument.

Example 1: Bought my Celestron C5 new- clouds for two weeks (very expensive 17 years ago)

Example 2: Got my 'new' 30 year old 17.5" Odyssey II, no clouds for a month!

Obviously the 'moistions' had worn out after 30years.

Mind you, do "they" also add moistions to paint? I'm painting the rebuild of the old dob, OOOOOOO.....

[Starkler (Geoff)]

It works in reverse too.

One time I was selling a scope and when the fellow was able to come to my place and check it out the sky was fully overcast, so I wasnt able to demonstrate it on the night sky. He decided buy it anyway so 15 minutes after driving away with it the sky cleared up totally

[TrevorW]

It's applies to everything astronomical not just scopes

[[1ponders] (Paul)]

Obviously the 'moistions' had worn out after 30years.

Moistions decay into evaporatons. And as we all know there is a direct correlation between the density of evaporatons in the upper atmosphere and the quality of the seeing.

[DavidU (Dave)]

When I dropped and smashed my 6" refractor the weather strangely cleared up for days on end !

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Damn, I just ordered a collection of meteorites from the US.
Sorry

[leinad (Dan)]

Haha!

Oh and to add to the Voodoo. If you live in Perth; Sunday nights are always clear.

[mental4astro (Alexander)]

Originally Posted by jjjnettie

Damn, I just ordered a collection of meteorites from the US.
Sorry

What! you mean it's going to get foggy like London now, so that you won't even be able to see what you're holding!

OH, MAN...

[AstralTraveller (David)]

Well I've just bought a 28mm WO UWAN from the IIS classifieds but I'm not worried! After all, you'd never tell the difference around here.

[wavelandscott (Scott)]

Originally Posted by [1ponders]

Moistions decay into evaporatons. And as we all know there is a direct correlation between the density of evaporatons in the upper atmosphere and the quality of the seeing.

Excellent contribution and now new addition to my undersanding of how the water cycle works!