Conditions

[Luke.]

Do you guys have any conditions that have to be met before you even think about bringing your equipment out for photography?
I am mainly talking about moon phase, wind, temperature and obviously clouds. Anything else?
Would there even be any point going for DSO's on a full moon?

[ZeroID]

I've done DSO's on a full moon when there is little else to shoot for but use more southerly targets to stay away from some of the glare. More for practice than real results but you never know what a good LP filter and some judicious processing can acheive. Brighter ones like Eta Carina are acheivable. Or you go narrow band which I have yet to try.

Main condition is a clear night and no clouds ...the rest is optional.

[Atmos]

For me, as long as the skies are clear and it isn't too windy. If I am doing some testing (spacing or tilt), wind isn't as important as I'm going to be doing <10s exposures anyway :)
I do mostly narrowband when in Melbourne regardless of whether the moon is out. Over a full moon, Ha and SII come out :)

[Anth10]

Luke, I watch the sky report like a hawk, try Skippy Skies - download from the net. It is a brilliant program which gives a model for seeing and transparency as well as the typical cloud predictions for all states in Aus. Jet stream report is something I tend to pay attention to. I am only just starting in astrophotography and I swear by checking this site out weekly to plan your outings. Hope this advice helps you.

[Luke.]

What does the jetstream tell you?

[Anth10]

My understanding is that it relates to upper air turbulance caused by shifting wind patterns. This reduces the seeing conditions making focusing more difficult I found.

[Luke.]

Cheers I will keep an eye on it!

[cfn]

The Jetstream along with surface wind will both have an impact on your viewing conditions. Surface wind will obviously affect your tracking as wind gusts might move your telescope unless it is protected. The high altitude wind will create turbulence that will again show in your image.

You can very easily build a composite map combining surface Wind (10m) and Jetstream (300hPa) on CFN (http://www.cloudfreenight.com/map.view)by going to the map (http://www.cloudfreenight.com/map.view&ovt=wind300)section then selecting Wind (10m) as a base layer and Jetstream (300hPa) as an overlay (padlock). Afterwards you can select your location and time to view your local conditions.

The optimal areas will appear as darker shades of blues with very short overlapping wind vectors.