We are currently experiencing a La Niña which generally means a long wet summer
As long as those big low pressure fronts keep developing near the bight every week and push across Victoria and up the NSW coast we will have limited clear nights ahead ie: predominant S to SE winds carry a stack of low level moisture
Once we see some consistent dominant high pressure off the coast ie prevailing NE winds to NW winds , then we may get some more frequent clear nights
The long range forecasters are saying this current trend which has been with us since November, won’t change until April
Hang in there , it’s not like this every year or season and the Universe is not going anywhere in a hurry
Astronomy requires a lot of patience , you jut have to try and suppress your frustration ( some how ) and divert your enthusiasm and energy to something else in the meantime
Hang in there , a clear night will pop up sooner than you think
Thanks Martin.
Guess I'll have to do some window shopping to see how I can spend all the money I don't have.
Well, I might have to disagree with Martin, at least for tonight and maybe tomorrow night. La Nina seerms to be taking a break, the forecast map has a High pressure area sitting just off the East coast of NSW, with wide bands, indicating fairly stable cloud free nights. Today has been brilliant blue skies up here, not a single cloud and the wind is dropping off now, with humidity down around 40% on the coast. At least up my way, so I am thinking tonight could be great. Don't write it off.
Tonight was pretty good up my way, only a few clouds around, but since I was doing EAA I was able to dodge them and just move to another target. It certainly makes covering a number of targets fairly quick. I was impressed by the clarity of the Antenna galaxies, and how distinct they were through my ED150 and ASI294 combo, compared to the purely visual experience on the same target with my 16" f5 dob up at the Lake Chaffey dark site. The luxury of just 30 seconds of stack time trumps big visual aperture.
I noticed this morning that it rained after I closed the roof and retired, so pretty marginal after all, especially for long sub imaging.
Glen
The trend does continue, sunny day and arvo , then the clouds roll in later on into the evening
Cloudy rest of the weeknights and into the weekend , days still fairly sunny but nights patchy to heavy cloud
Maybe ok to do a little bit of EAA or observing but a waist of time setting up for long exposure AP
The odd totally clear night will pop up soon for all of us
Glad you managed some EAA
According to Clear Outside, tonight doesn't look great but Thursday night looks relatively clear until 2am. But I have seen that change pretty quickly.
It's wall to wall clouds around here. The only clear evening in the forecast is Thursday before midnight but the jetstream is really high until Friday so not worth it unless you image with a fisheye lens IMHO. Besides the grass that I've just mowed two days ago is already calling me.
I thought Thursday night would be the night. All week Clear Outside said it was clear until at least 2am. Looked at it this morning and it's gotten worse. And the whole week is red. Urgh!!
I can only quote the old adage, " local conditions apply". Despite the doom and gloom, I will rely on my eyes, where I am.
Secondly, I will concede that EAA, where many 1 sec frames are aligned and stacked, and enhanced for display by Sharpcap, could very well be producing an atmospheric distortion correction (ADC) effect.
I can only quote the old adage, " local conditions apply". Despite the doom and gloom, I will rely on my eyes, where I am.
Secondly, I will concede that EAA, where many 1 sec frames are aligned and stacked, and enhanced for display by Sharpcap, could very well be producing an atmospheric distortion correction (ADC) effect.
Tongue in cheek Glen No doubt EAA would act as lucky imaging a little too. Another thing I heard is that a large laminar mass of air moving fast in the same direction could be pretty stable. But my experience as often been that the faster the more turbulence. Anyway glad someone had a good night.
Heads up for Wednesday night clear with great seeing in Sydney and probably lots of other places on the east coast. I hope I didn't jinx anything but saying it. Out to do some planetary.
Last night was a pretty good down here on the South Coast , cloud cleared by 8.30pm although transparency and seeing wasn’t great to start off with , it improved significantly by 10.00pm and by midnight the night sky was pristine
Captured nearly 4 hours on NGC 300, guiding started off ordinary at 0.90 around 8.30pm and by midnight it was 0.65 and really smooth until I shut down at 3.00am
Going to capture another 2 or 3 hours tonight after the cloud clears by 10pm or so
Wednesday and Thursday down here are looking excellent (all nighters ) no dew , light winds and no moon which is very welcoming after the battering we copped and inclement weather over the past week or so
The Dome will be imaging out the back and the 12” goto dob will be out the front for observing
Last night was a pretty good down here on the South Coast , cloud cleared by 8.30pm although transparency and seeing wasn’t great to start off with , it improved significantly by 10.00pm and by midnight the night sky was pristine
Captured nearly 4 hours on NGC 300, guiding started off ordinary at 0.90 around 8.30pm and by midnight it was 0.65 and really smooth until I shut down at 3.00am
Going to capture another 2 or 3 hours tonight after the cloud clears by 10pm or so
Wednesday and Thursday down here are looking excellent (all nighters ) no dew , light winds and no moon which is very welcoming after the battering we copped and inclement weather over the past week or so
The Dome will be imaging out the back and the 12” goto dob will be out the front for observing
Heads up for Wednesday night clear with great seeing in Sydney and probably lots of other places on the east coast. I hope I didn't jinx anything but saying it. Out to do some planetary.
You have jinxed it now Marc, bow your head in shame for spoiling the seeing for everyone else.
The jetstream maps for Wed and Thurs do look promising and there are some shadow transits to try and image. Last night , here, the sky was nice and clear but the seeing was anything but steady, took some vids but couldn't get a decent image from them. Haven't really had a good steady night for months, the winter jetstream and local conditions are not being nice to me, so far.
You have jinxed it now Marc, bow your head in shame for spoiling the seeing for everyone else.
The jetstream maps for Wed and Thurs do look promising and there are some shadow transits to try and image. Last night , here, the sky was nice and clear but the seeing was anything but steady, took some vids but couldn't get a decent image from them. Haven't really had a good steady night for months, the winter jetstream and local conditions are not being nice to me, so far.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sunfish
You are right Marc and others. Beaut night out there. Clear and still.
I think my target might be a bit small .
Quote:
Originally Posted by h0ughy
It's clouded over here in Newcastle after being clear. I am sure there was a frogdance involved in this
Imaging my ass off here. Seeing is nice for a change.
Besides the grass that I've just mowed two days ago is already calling me.
No doubt EAA would act as lucky imaging a little too. Another thing I heard is that a large laminar mass of air moving fast in the same direction could be pretty stable. But my experience as often been that the faster the more turbulence. Anyway glad someone had a good night. 
