With an aborted attempt to open up and observe comet Lovejoy a few days earlier – a rain shower stopped play just as I was about to slew to it – found me rushing home from club night with clear skies and no Moon. With everything fired up, the lack of any COM port meant that I had to drive the scope manually. After syncing and entering co-ordinates manually, I had it sitting in…
Observing Session: 28, December
Two clear nights in three days – Wow. The ‘Scope Nights’ weather app had been showing excellent viewing conditions for this evening/morning for a few days, so I was able to plan what objects I wanted to observe for this session in advance. The 51% illuminated Moon was up at an altitude of 33 degrees at the start , but became less of a problem as it set towards the latter part of the session….
Observing Session: 25, December
Well after a slap-up Christmas Dinner, the last thing you might think of doing is sticking your head out the door to see if it’s clear. Well I did and it was. Earlier that day my ‘Scope Nights’ weather app said it was going to be clear between 21:00 and midnight – But Oh come on, this is Late December and I have 12 days off work. What could the ‘Cloud Lady’ possibly be thinking…
Observing Session: 3, December
This evening really pissed me off. Conditions were pretty good and looked reasonably settled. This was the first night where it felt really cold outside and we were both layered up, doing a very good impression of Dunlop Man and Women. The humidity was low and dew was absent throughout the session. All very nice, but with the Moon up and 91% illuminated, took the shine off the session. I’m running out of star clusters…
Observing Session: 19, November
One of those sessions where Weatherpro HD said there would be a window of clear skies for about an hour. With the lack of observing time recently, I’m starting to exploit even the shortest of observing opportunities that are on offer at the moment. Session Data Date: 19/11/2014 Time: 19:21 – 20:14 UTSeeing: I Perfectly Stable, Transparency: IV Somewhat Clear, Temp: 11c, Air Pressure: 1013mb, Humidity: 86%, Wind Speed: 9mph. NGC7243, Caldwell 16 In the Altair Astro 250mm, 40mm Plossl,…
Observing Session: 5, November
Well another poor few weeks for observing, so I have been forced out of desperation to go out on Guy Fawkes night with a Full Moon for company. Most of the fireworks must have been let off earlier, as I didn’t see anything go off while I was out. There was a little smell of smoke in the air, but nothing that was visible lurking 20 degrees above the horizon that I could see….