its funny for me to read these posts in light of having just passed another american winter. although the northern skies have their many attractions, having to shovel 2 feet deep of snow to get to my observing platform gets boring. winter here lasts about 5 months with almost half of that below zero. it has got down to -22C so i wear so much clothing i can barely move. although focusing is important its more of a decision whether to take the thick gloves off or not. at these temps frost-bite is a reality so you cant spend more than 15 minutes outside at a time but at -10C odd its not so bad - by comparison. plus all eletronics malfunction and battery life dwindles to minutes rather than hours, so the only option generally is star-hopping with the DOB. but then, in such arctic conditions there is virtually no moisture in the air and the sky transparency is astounding.
still, give me 20C with dew any day
