TheSkySearchers

One problem I have from late April until late August is that it does not get dark until late. Living nearly 51.5 degrees north of the equator does not help but even astronomers at 40 degrees north have this issue during June and July.

I am simply too old and tired to stay up late and get up early for work the next day.

Firstly, the Moon looks just as good in a telescope or big pair of binoculars, although photographing it can be somewhat of a challenge.

Secondly, if you use approved filters, the Sun is interesting as it is mostly active. If you have a a bit more money, there's solar narrowband viewing and photography.

Finally, on Fridays and Saturdays or other days you can lie in the next day, there's plenty to see in the night sky. The spring stars are on show, while the summer stars are low in the east.

Unfortunately, there are no bright planets in the evening sky but I have historically seen and photographed many.

If you can accurately set up your mount in daytime, or leave it out from the night before, you can also do some planetary observing.

Lady Fraktor wrote: ↑Tue May 10, 2022 6:55 pm If you can accurately set up your mount in daytime, or leave it out from the night before, you can also do some planetary observing.

You mean keeping the mount ON? My GoTos loose alignment when you turn them OFF.

Most goto mounts have a sleep or hibernate function, you can do it with a manual EQ as well as long as the polar alignment is accurate.
A friend does daytime planetary with a set of 100mm binoculars on a manual Az/ Alt mount.
Give it a try.

I have seen Venus when the Sun is above the horizon many times and seen the phase through telescopes and binoculars. I've never seen cloud bands on Jupiter, though.

I can hear you. Naval dark is as dark as it gets here, until late August. And around midsummer, not even that.
Greetings from lat. 61° 28' 10.9" N (about the same as Anchorage's).

Baurice wrote: ↑Tue May 10, 2022 6:09 pm One problem I have from late April until late August is that it does not get dark until late. Living nearly 51.5 degrees north of the equator does not help but even astronomers at 40 degrees north have this issue during June and July.

I'm having that problem now. Arcturus didn't peek out of the clouds until after 9PM last night. And astro twilight starts well before 5AM now. I find it quite vexing. Maybe I should try loading up on espressos at 8PM.

You can have our problems:

• Western USA - Wildfire Season has started in March this year meaning Skies Obscured by Smoke
• Eastern USA - Tropical Summer Humidity usually means 1-2 Clear Night Skies per month from mid-May until mid-October

Hi Philip. As to astronomy viewing, between the weather and old age, you just do what you can when and how you can. :Clap:

Makuser wrote: ↑Wed May 11, 2022 9:20 pm Hi Philip. As to astronomy viewing, between the weather and old age, you just do what you can when and how you can. :Clap:

Yes.it is often a quick shot or view between the clouds, although I have the odd longer session.

Just to prove my point about solar viewing, I checked the Sun in my binoculars yesterday evening and saw two small sunspots. I checked this morning and a third was visible. A look at the Learmonth images showed it to be two sunspots surrounded by many smaller ones.

Although I initially started viewing the Sun because of the lack of dark sky in the summer, I have found it a fascinating branch of astronomy.

Baurice wrote: ↑Tue May 10, 2022 8:29 pm I have seen Venus when the Sun is above the horizon many times and seen the phase through telescopes and binoculars. I've never seen cloud bands on Jupiter, though.

I've seen both Venus and Mercury with the Sun up...and for me the Moon always impresses!

Dave

I'm at 48 degrees north and already seeing this effect as we head into summer. My solution to the problem is probably taking a catnap during the day so I can stay up late without feeling too tired. Now at 52 I am not staying up late anymore for the most part. In my 20's I could get by with 4-5 hours of sleep, but not anymore.

helicon wrote: ↑Fri May 13, 2022 1:03 pm I'm at 48 degrees north and already seeing this effect as we head into summer. My solution to the problem is probably taking a catnap during the day so I can stay up late without feeling too tired. Now at 52 I am not staying up late anymore for the most part. In my 20's I could get by with 4-5 hours of sleep, but not anymore.

52! You're a youngster! I'm 67 and work full-time. I did a big Moon shoot last night at midnight but not sure how many photos worked, as I was trying a new imager.

Tried a sauna-session again last night. It didn't go well. The moon was still far too bright with 3 mm Radian + ND09 (13%).
I tried to stack both neutral filters ND09 + ND06 (25%), but the outer threads of the (cheap) ND06 were bad. It didn't go properly in Radian, and in the ES ND09, not at all.

At the edges of the moon, I could see rough terrain, but inside the disc, the contrast gets too flat to see details.

I guess the moon was part of the problem that I could barely see the big dipper. Not enough stars visible to navigate to targets, like open clusters. It doesn't get darker than naval dark any more.

Baurice wrote: ↑Tue May 10, 2022 8:29 pm I have seen Venus when the Sun is above the horizon many times and seen the phase through telescopes and binoculars. I've never seen cloud bands on Jupiter, though.

Just so you know, the first mirror site does not open, and the other two generate security warnings in Chrome and Web of Trust.

I think I got somewhat realistic photos. I guess around 11:58 PM. Little more than an hour before the darkest moment of the might. The blueness of the southern sky should be duller, though. In the pictures, the Sun is about 6 degrees below horizon. At the darkest moment, it should be one degree deeper.

To the north. To the south.

You mad me laugh when you said “I’m to old and too tired to stay up really late”