How many hours do you spend stargazing?

[04Stefan07 (Stefan)]

Recently under 1 hour due to bad weather. Used to do around 2-3 hours but I am yet to have a night where I would like to do around 4-5

[omegacrux (David)]

Didn't do much in August
The weather was fowl I think we had something like 150mm of rain !

David

[tlgerdes (Trevor)]

Per night, I do bugger all.

1 or 2 nights per month I'll spend all night, so how does that fit into the poll?

[pgc hunter]

In a typical session? About 6 but I'll pull an all-nighter if I'm not tired.

[sheeny (Al)]

I voted less than 1 hour. I haven't done much night time stuff this year, mostly solar, and then usually a 1-2 hour session once or twice a week weather permitting. I spend more time processing than capturing...

Al.

[multiweb (Marc)]

Same here. Bugger all. It come and goes. Sometime that's all I do for a while then big periods of inactivity in between (months). Summer is better for tinkering with stuff. I get too cold to stuff around in winter so I should start again soon.

[casstony]

One to two hours in the backyard fits in well with spending time with the rest of the family. About 4 hours seems good away from home observing with others.

[jjjnettie (Jeanette)]

There's too many variables involved to give even a vague answer. Weather, seeing, how tired you are, if your gear is running smoothly, moon phase, work etc etc
For a while there I was putting in 8-9hrs a night and catching up with sleep the next day.

[Gem (Grant)]

Lots of 1 -2 hr sessions for me. I actually get a bit lonely outside by my own after a while. I usually have a son or two for the first hour, but after that it is generally just me. Which is great for another hour or so - then I just get cold... ACT winter and all.

[Vegeta (Ibrahim)]

all depends on the weather and moon for me. under excellent conditions on a moonless night, i'd spend 3-4 hours, but under a moon and bad transparency, i'd be lucky to manage an hour, unless i've devoted the night to lunar and planetary.

[Stardrifter_WA]

Not near enough, actually.

This will change when I can get my observatory up. It is still sitting under my patio. Concrete slab has just been done and have just received council permission, after 12 months of wrangling. But, sadly, it will be a while before I can erect it, as my left hand is in plaster for the next few months, as I have to undergo a series of operations on my hand. I had hoped to get it up before the first op, but didn't get council permission in time.

[ZeroID (Brent)]

Third option should read 2-4 hours, not 3-4, I suspect and that's about what I manage on a good night. Out there from about 8:00 pm till about 11:00 normally. I can cope with that during the week as it's pretty much my normal bedtime. (The joys of needing less sleep as you get older ... ).

But even at weekends I wouldn't go much past that time anyways unless for a specific event. Still got the rest of the weekend to enjoy and my better half would be annoyed if I fell asleep at 150 kph on the track ...

[GrampianStars (Rob)]

Originally Posted by jjjnettie

There's too many variables involved to give even a vague answer. Weather, seeing, how tired you are, if your gear is running smoothly, moon phase, work etc etc
For a while there I was putting in 8-9hrs a night and catching up with sleep the next day.

Yep!
Still do regular all nighters around new moon...
Even just leaned over the Obs during a lightning storm

[Waxing_Gibbous (Peter)]

I find 2 hours to be a good max. for me
I could do more, but general fatigue inevitably creeps in and starts to degrade my enjoyment.
The longest sesh I've ever done was six and a bit hours on a Messier Marathon and while the multiple targets made it interesting I was pretty shagged at the end.