My imaging session tonight - not! Smoked out
Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2020 2:26 am
I have been anticipating this night for the best part of a week. The weather was cooperating with a high pressure system directly overhead, meaning no clouds and no wind. Clear Outside and the local weather shamans have been calling it since last Friday. I spent time getting darks last night at the correct temperature so I would be ready to process when I finished my session.
Then I saw the morning sky today. It looked like high clouds, but I was told there isn't a cloud in the sky. What is up there at high altitude is smoke from the West coast wildfires. The sky was a light tan in color most of the day. I took a quick shot of the Sun at 300mmfl , and the surface looked completely smooth, no granulation at all, which is not what I should be seeing. I stuck my head out at full darkness. Vega, Altair and Deneb are barely visible. Jupiter is glaring in the southwest with Saturn barely visible if I look closely. I'm glad I didn't take the time to set up!
I found one smoke simulation on the net that indicates clearing by 1PM tomorrow but it doesn't run any further than that yet. We'll see how things look then. Of course we will be on the back side of the high, which will bring higher temps, and more moisture in the air, not the crisp Fall-like night I was looking forward to tonight. Yet another letdown in a year that has been full of them!
On the bright side, the smoke is high enough in the atmosphere that it doesn't present any respiratory problems, and the air doesn't smell smoky. A few years ago we could smell the smoke from wildfires in Canada when the wind came in from the northwest. That was really freaky!
Reporting from the smoked-out East coast.
Bob
Then I saw the morning sky today. It looked like high clouds, but I was told there isn't a cloud in the sky. What is up there at high altitude is smoke from the West coast wildfires. The sky was a light tan in color most of the day. I took a quick shot of the Sun at 300mm
I found one smoke simulation on the net that indicates clearing by 1PM tomorrow but it doesn't run any further than that yet. We'll see how things look then. Of course we will be on the back side of the high, which will bring higher temps, and more moisture in the air, not the crisp Fall-like night I was looking forward to tonight. Yet another letdown in a year that has been full of them!
On the bright side, the smoke is high enough in the atmosphere that it doesn't present any respiratory problems, and the air doesn't smell smoky. A few years ago we could smell the smoke from wildfires in Canada when the wind came in from the northwest. That was really freaky!
Reporting from the smoked-out East coast.
Bob
lol