Aaarrrrrggggghhhhh!

[Poita (Peter)]

Beautiful day here today, not a cloud in the sky, first time in literally months. My IS camera arrived back from being on loan today as well, so I'm ready to get some planetary imaging in.

I got the tripod out in the afternoon and did a rough alignment, spotted Jupiter and Saturn in the still blue sky.
Wen't inside to get the power cables and the scope, brought them outside. Popped the IS camera into the eyepiece holder.
Ducked back in to get the Aeroguard and lathered up. Walked out, mounted the scope, connected the power, fired up the mount and went to the 3 star alignment and chose the first star.

Looked to the sky to choose the best candidate...and they had all disappeared.
The entire sky had somehow gone from completely clear to total cloud cover in those few minutes, and I hadn't noticed.

Not even a sucker-hole left, and rain forecast again for tomorrow.

I'm taking up darts.

[traveller (Bo)]

Originally Posted by Poita

I'm taking up darts.

goes well with beer

[pgc hunter]

Yup, nothing but cloud. Absolute pathetic start to autumn in SE and E Australia. We've just clocked up our 6th overcast day in a row. Needless to say, my bloody slab is emptying at record pace, as is my opinion of this poxy climate.

Flooding, endless cloud and rain and below average temps all summer over most of the country.

Yeah, I'm still convinced we are gonna dry out and burn to death, as per Mr FlimFlannery's mantra Lucky we have a $24 billion desal plant to save us!

[mental4astro (Alexander)]

My son's managed to poke me in the eyes 4 times in the last week, , only bloody stars I've seen. Not much fun, but stars just the same, .

[tilbrook@rbe.ne (Justin Tilbrook)]

Yes very frustrating!!!

The past four nights have been the same here. Iv'e been trying to test out my auto guider, does'nt work with fast moving cloud.
Finally got a break tonight, was touch and go though.

Cheers,

Justin.

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

Last time I saw clear skies I fainted with shock.

[Omaroo (Chris Malikoff)]

Originally Posted by jjjnettie

Last time I saw clear skies I fainted with shock.

'Mazing what you'll do for attention.

[jenchris (Jennifer)]

Lunar Eclipse was the last time I took a photo - except for three 6 minute images I took after my first light on the new pier - so that's 18 minutes since November

[Poita (Peter)]

Originally Posted by jenchris

Lunar Eclipse was the last time I took a photo - except for three 6 minute images I took after my first light on the new pier - so that's 18 minutes since November

That is the last real photo I took as well, except for a shot of sirius on request on a horrible night.
This really is a crazy run of cloud. At least the river has receded from my front door though!

[Baddad (Marty)]

"Clear skies" was mentioned. Is that when you can look up at the sky and not get rain in your eyes? er, Am I missing something here?

Cheers

[Ric]

"Clear skies"

Something I haven't seen in a while.

[Rob_K]

Where do you people live???!!!

So far this year I've imaged on 26 nights, plus done visual observing on two nights that I didn't image on as well. That's 28 nights. And I'm also in an area that copped the highest rainfall in the recent deluge. Not every one of those nights has been totally clear, and some imaging was done patiently waiting for breaks.

I suspect the real problem is scheduling, not clouds! Harden up lads & ladettes, roll up the sleeves & do the hard yards (and all those sporting cliches)!

Cheers -

[Poita (Peter)]

NSW.
Here it is the skies, not scheduling. I drag my sorry arse out there if there is even an eighth of the sky visible.
It has been an exceptionally cloudy run, I get some clear days, but pretty much no clear nights, the clouds roll in at sunset and stay until morning.
I know it can't stay this way forever, but it is getting frustrating.

A cloudy day used to be a rare occurrence here.

[jenchris (Jennifer)]

I'm getting high cirrus with no chance of any nebula showing.
It's very frustrating.
I just put the rotten pier in and the Obsy, and I've not used it yet.

[Jen]

Originally Posted by jjjnettie

Last time I saw clear skies I fainted with shock.

lol jjj dont you ever do that again

its nice and clear here again as usual when the moon is so bright grrrr

[Shark Bait (Stu)]

Originally Posted by Baddad

"Clear skies" was mentioned. Is that when you can look up at the sky and not get rain in your eyes? er, Am I missing something here?

Cheers

Forecasting clear skies this weekend.

[Irish stargazer (John)]

Originally Posted by Shark Bait

Forecasting clear skies this weekend.

....and a full moon
Typical weather

[Shark Bait (Stu)]

Originally Posted by Irish stargazer

....and a full moon
Typical weather

I'll take whatever is on offer at the moment.

[pgc hunter]

Don't care for full moon, it is not only the biggest annoyance for DSO observing, but also the most boring time of the lunar cycle to observe the moon itself with a telescope. Double steel-capped boots in the marbles. However, it is very nice when it shines through the bedroom windows, I like that.

After SEVEN overcast days, yes it's starting to get a bit old.

Forget purchasing astro toys, I am now going to invest in a punching bag. What brands would one suggest which can best withstand 200 pounds of p-off'd astronomer?

[Poita (Peter)]

Had another go tonight, it started off clear. I got all the gear setup and got a view of saturn through the eyepiece. Hooked up the cameras just in time for the clouds to arrive. Managed to snap a photo of the moon just so I could pack up knowing I had imaged *something*. I've waited for the last 2 hours for the clouds to clear, but no go. It's 4am and I'm off to bed!