What keeps us going back for more?

[lepton3 (Ivan)]

It's been cloudy all day here in Adelaide, and windy too, so I had pretty much given up on the possibility of observing tonight.

Even so, like the hopeless tragic I am, I was outside for a look at the sky every 30 mins or so since dusk, you know "just in case".

Around 8:30pm I see a pretty large break in the clouds, clear to the horizon, and Venus sitting pretty. "Great, I might get a chance to try the new U filter!" I'm thinking.

No time to waste setting up the eq mount! It's grab the C6SE, plonk it down, 1 point solar system align, eyepiece and then barlow to get things reasonably centred, slap in the camera, get that centred and focused, then screw in the U filter, gee it's pretty dim, I'm down to 7.5 fps, refine the focus, ok start recording, yeah! ..... hang on, it's fading! Now its Gone!! Look up. Solid cloud.

87 seconds of video. Why do we bother?. What keeps you coming back after the frustration?

Hang on, I'll be back in a minute, just stepping out to check if it looks like it's clearing again...

[FlashDrive (Poppy)]

ain't that the truth ...!!

Happens to me quite regularly , in fact it's raining right now ... and it looks like it's settled in for the next few days.

Hang in there Ivan .... keep watching.

Flash

[Matt Wastell (Matt)]

We Astro types certainly do not have commitment issues!

[Saturnine (Jeff)]

What keeps us going back for more is that the skies are ever changing, new comets, the parade of the planets, the phases of the moon, the annual reappearance of familiar constellations, etc. Having to wait for the skies to clear, sometimes waiting for weeks and being ready to respond, that and the fact that " we " can't get enough, due to family, work and weather constraints, keeps us coming back.

Jeff

[alistairsam]

Same here Ivan
cloudy in melbourne for the next 3 days
last night looked clear so took my new mount out, did a rough alignment, popped in the ep to focus, was white, couldnt see a star in sight. looked up, and the darn clouds had rolled in. its like they were waiting.

in all the excitement of a few hours of clear sky, i set up my mount with the RA pointing north instead of south following the N sticker!! but the goto still surprisingly worked. felt a bit foolish. (its the first time i've ever set up an eq mount)
i look up while driving home as well. keep thinking, dont these clouds ever get tired, where is their never ending source of energy from.

but to answer your question, just to see all the stars out there is so rewarding.
looking at a low moon while driving gave that out of this world feeling that reminds you you're on a planet and there're others out there. like the venera spacecraft pics of the surface of venus.
oh well.

[asimov (John)]

I've got plenty of very short AVI's on my HD let me tell ya Worse when you're working in great seeing & it clouds out (insert gritting teeth smilie)

There's plenty of reasons why I keep coming back for more

[Ric]

Why do I keep coming back for more.

I'm a glutton for punishment and a touch mad.

[pgc hunter]

Just the enjoyment and relaxation that a night at the eyepiece brings. The anticipation of what I might see in my target objects aswell