Its cooling off...

[sheeny]

The weather is finally cooling off. With so much cloudy weather lately, the night time temps have been high but the last couple of nights have been clear here and we've started to feel it.

The night before last hit 0°C at 22:00 and reached a minimum of -3.3°C, and last night hit 0°C at about 23:00 and then reached a minimum of -5.8°C. Big frost this morning.

I should've been out in it, but I'm waiting for a new D block for the ST8i so I can fit the new focusser for the spectroscope... patience... patience... In the mean time I'm deliberately having a break so I'm keen when it arrives.

:)

Al.

[leon]

Nice temps indeed Al,I used to love the frosty nights as well, i'm afraid where i am at the moment it gets to about 15 overnight, and don't see much of a change happening real soon.

We are in Denham on the West Coast

Leon

[JohnG]

Same just down the road from you, Al. Was a bit warmer at 0400, -1.3 :lol:, first of the minus temps for the season, been hovering around the +1's and 2's for the last week or two with 100% RH.

High cloud has come in now.....

Cheers

[supernova1965]

I love winter the cold is better when it is hot you can only get down to skin but when it is cold you can wear all your clothes if needed:P:D

[astroron]

Al it hasn't got down below 6C yet but I am sure it wont be long before it gets down to 0C soon:cold:
Started the electric blanket a couple of nights ago:D
Cheers

[Suzy]

:cold:I'd say you guys are crazy, but it appears I'm the crazy one- I seem to be the only one here that doesn't do this sort of cold. :cold: Reading about it just makes my face want to \ crack./ :cold:
Aye, give me the heat any day.:)

[AdrianF]

Bring on winter I say.:D
Luv the cold.


Adrian

[astroron]

Suzy, you do come originaly from a tropical country:P
I come from a bloody cold country in the winter:cold:
so these tempretures are not to bad :screwy::lol:
On with the hoodie (don't worry about the hair;))and the the heated cover and you will be snug as a bug in a rug when observing:thumbsup:
Cheers

[pgc hunter]

got to around 3-4C here this morning. , and this is with a layer of the usual punce. Don't mind the cold, beats sweating onto the eyepiece while swatting mozzies :mad2:

[jenchris]

I don't like the cold.
I can function in it but I'd rather spray my skin with repellant and go naked! Frightens the natives though!

[Darth Wader]

SWMBO insisted I get the gas heater out of the garage. I hate the cold, but I hate heaters more - sucks all the oxygen out of the house :-(

[Ric]

It's the best time of the year for viewing, nice crisp & clear skies.

I did get caught out the other day though on the bike, I had my winter gloves on but no inners. My fingers ached a bit after 40km of -4ºc

[sheeny]

Another -5.1°C morning here, so obviously a clear night.

I hope my D block gets here soon...

Al.

[Jules76]

I feel the cold way too easily thesedays. I think it has something to do with having spent the past 8 years up here in Brissy and a couple of years before that in Darwin. I'm too use to the sub tropical/tropical heat!

Never was a problem before. Grew up in Adelaide and remember many winters waking up in the morning and finding frost on the windows. Never seemed to bother me then.

Now when I go down to visit my parents, all it takes is a cool night and I'm shivering! Doesn't even have to be winter!

Looking forward to the clear nights though. Best thing about winter! :thumbsup:

[bartman]

Oh yes Suzy...I HATE ( ok hate is a strong word.....)the cold :thumbsup:


I also originally come from a cold country (The Netherlands)..... but I still HATE ( ok hate is a strong word.....) the cold weather.


Apart from snapping off the ol' digits...:lol:.
I have to agree ...viewing is a lot better in the cold air....

Maybe I have to order one of those freezer suits from ....(forget his/her name):lol:

Bartman

[Liz]

I love it too. :D All that hot muggy stuff as gone, and we can enjoy some cooler clearer weather - beautiful.
Did have to go and search for a jumper last night after shivering on the couch in 20 dg !! :cold:
Born and bred Victorian, and dont mind a bit of real cold now and again either .... refreshing, but not too much of it. :)

[TrevorW]

Coldest it ever gets in Perth is around -2 (at night) and not generally until Sept/October. Alas Perth weather for over 12 months has been UTS don't know when we are going to get some decent rain.

[pgc hunter]

3C here this morning. Freeeeeeeezing. And it was unforecasted clear, on a useless Monday night ofcourse , spewing my guts :mad2:

[Jeeps]

I've had a couple of nights in the last week where after driving home in the dark you step out of the car into the cool air and look up to a dark sky full of jewels and you can see where patches of the milky way are darker than the rest of the night sky. It's times like that when i stop and stare and forget that i'm freezing. Then it's time to get the scope out!

cheers

[ZeroID]

I thought Aussie was all warm all the time? You guys keep telling us how cold NZ is but I'm wandering around in shirt sleeves at night with no heating anywhere. Was out at the scope in just a T-Shirt last week for an hour or so.

Geez, you guys must be getting soft or something ... :P

I dunno ... :shrug:

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol: :thumbsup:

[sheeny]

:P

Of course your minimums are warmer... you're never more than 2ks from the ocean in NZ!:P ... its not like you have any real mountains over there either:P:P:P:P:P:P:P:P

:)

Al.

[KenNo2658]

1 degree here. First clear night in ages! Didn't come in until I was shivering so much I couldn't focus! Well after midnight and my fingers were stinging!

But such a clear sky and with my new Light Pollution Filter, I wasn't gonna give up until I really had to!

Ken

[mozzie]

hi al
i don't get as cold as you but last night it was getting down in the lower single digits only had a jumper and shorts...looks like the winter clothes are having to come out..:lol::lol:

[AdrianF]

1C here this morning with a hint of frost. Clear skies but didn't get home until 730 from Charleville so did feel like getting scope out.

Adrian

[gregbradley]

Winter seems a far better time to be imaging in Australia. It seems seeing is far better, sky is clearer, far less cloud and of course the nights are much longer.

Where I image from is about 80-100kms from Oberon and it got to about 4C minimum. But the seeing is divine and you can image to 5:30am and its dark by around 6:30pm. So that is 10-11 hours available imaging time.

US astrophotographers seem to get cloudy skies in winter.

There is an interesting cloud by month summary at Bureau of Meterology I think that shows numbers of cloudy nights and clear nights per month. As I recall July/August had the most number of clear nights on average.

Greg

[Ric]

Blimey, I woke up to snow this morning and 0.9ºc.

It snowed for about an hour but melted off pretty quickly after that. currently it's about 6ºc, I don't think it's going to go much higher today.

[Liz]

[QUOTE=Ric;719113]Blimey, I woke up to snow this morning and 0.9ºc.
QUOTE]

Blimey is right!!!

Got down to 11.7 here, which may sound nice and warm for a few of you, but its not for us!! Bloody chilly!:help:

[sheeny]

We in the midst of our 3rd good snow shower for the day.:D Visibility has been down to about 200-300m during the snow showers, but nothing selttling yet. Fingers crossed it'll settle tonight!

:)

Al.

[h0ughy]

get a shot of the snow on the dome Al

[Ric]

Here's this mornings effort at Wamboin.

Currently the temp is 0.7ºc and steady. :cold: But the skies are clear. :thumbsup:

[Darth Wader]

It'll take a fair bit of effort to get up for the planetary conjunction tomorrow morning:eyepop:

[GrahamL]

Still never seen snow :thumbsup:

[supernova1965]

Me neither and I really want to

[JohnG]

White mud, :lol:, no wonder it is so cold here, just had a run of 5 mornings where the temp was 2 to 3 degrees below zero, cloudy, windy and raining now :windy: :cold:

Cheers

[Glenhuon]

Well its dry here, clear skies and the stars are a bit twinkly. Cool but not as cold as Coota :cold:. Must admit I miss those real cold clear an dark nights over there. Think me freezer suit is in permanent storage now though :)

[acropolite]

I like the change in seasons, I find that hot sticky Queensland heat in summer far more unpleasant than a bit of cold. First snow on the mountains here in Tas this morning, our heat pump packed it in over a week ago and we've been suffering the cold, huddled over a fan heater in the lounge room with the doors shut. Our overnight temps are usually above zero, with only a handful of mornings below zero each winter, days are usually 10-14 during the coldest months.

[ngcles]

Hi All,

I was up at Mudgee last weekend at the Sutherland Society's star party and while it was mild and blithe during the day, the moment sol dipped below the western horizon, so too did the mercury -- rapidly.

On the Friday night / Saturday morning and Saturday night / Sunday morning it was -2 when I hit the hay around 4am and dropped another degree after that before sunrise. I could hear my mate Gary in the bunk opposite (in our old van), who had a heap of clothes on, in a sleeping bag and with another sleeping bag on top shivering as I was drifting off to sleep.

Fortunately, I invested in a Kathmandu goose down sleeping bag about 2 years ago and even though I only had a tee-shirt and jocks on, was as warm as toast. Kathmandu sales are wonderful things. This bag was very expensive at $280 after 60% off the full retail price, but is worth it.

I remember waking up at about 6am on Saturday morning and my nose was numb and cheeks (on my face) tingling with the cold. It was not easy getting up to um ... you know ... irrigate a thirsty-looking tree (as you do) -- in thongs and tee-shirt ... in the dark.

While it was very cold, it was also dry and there was no condensation on the optics all night. Just some frost on the 'scope particularly on the shroud.

All good fun.


Best,

Les D

[pgc hunter]

Was out doing a surveying prac with the uni class today at Yarra Bend. According to BOM, it hit 10C for the max at Viewbank, (close enough to Yarra Bend Park) and bloody hell at times you could see your own breath it was that cold. Don't even ask about the wind chill :cold:

[sheeny]

Here ya go Dave. Taken this morning.:)

Al.

[Hagar]

Been cold here, snow on all the hills. Falls creek could open for skiing if we get another dump of snow like 2 nights back.

Takes some getting used to again. John is correct. White mud...... If you have to work in it there is no way to stay dry. I like the cold but hate the snow.

[h0ughy]

thanks Al that does look cold!!

[Ric]

It was -5.3ºc this morning out my way. :cold:
At a 110 Kph on the motorbike it worked out as a windchill of -19ºc.

No wonder my fingers felt like they were burning even with heavy winter gloves on. :cold: :cold:

Probably the first stages of frostbite. :lol: