Dmack1 Posted May 12 Share Posted May 12 (edited) This has been by far the worst winter season I have had in 4 years of AP. I have had a grand total of 4 clear nights since the beginning of the year. I moved my 8" LX200 to my Todmorden Pier at the end of Feb and have managed one partial night with it. I was holding off posting this to see if i could get more time on it but from Sunday I have no Astro-dark until August so thats it. I am honestly starting to wonder if its time to give up on this hobby and look for something more suited to the changing climate. Anyway, this is a bare 3.5 hours on a night plagued by breeze and stronger gusts (not great with this scope!) so not the best guiding. 8" LX200 GPS, Wedged fork mount, ASI 2600MC Edited May 12 by Dmack1 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme Posted May 12 Share Posted May 12 Hope you don't give up David! That's a fine image. Regards Graeme 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Y Posted May 12 Share Posted May 12 Well, I like it! Nice one. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mightymonoped Posted May 13 Share Posted May 13 That’s a nice image! Please don’t get downhearted with a bad season, some of us old farts have had many of them. We may be facing challenges as far as climate is concerned but it’s a golden age as far as Astroimaging technology and it’s affordability is concerned. I could only dream of the standards of Planetary and CMOS cameras that are affordable now, compared to the DIY webcams we were playing with in the early 2000’s. I have personally found that I have ‘cycles’ of interest that wax and wane according to their own calendar but I have always found myself coming back to this frustrating, unique and satisfying pursuit. Wishing you clear skies and always onwards and upwards 😊 Tony 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaDec Posted May 14 Share Posted May 14 That's a fabulous image David - it's such a great scale and so well resolved, you should be really pleased. I can only repeat what others have expressed. This season has been dreadful. I have had one image since 6th Feb and that wasn't worth processing it was such rubbish. Thing is with it, all the crap in the system flushes away when you get a few clear spells and produce images like that one, so please don't stop. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmack1 Posted May 15 Author Share Posted May 15 (edited) On 5/12/2023 at 4:30 PM, Graeme said: Hope you don't give up David! That's a fine image. Regards Graeme On 5/13/2023 at 5:00 PM, mightymonoped said: That’s a nice image! Please don’t get downhearted with a bad season, some of us old farts have had many of them. We may be facing challenges as far as climate is concerned but it’s a golden age as far as Astroimaging technology and it’s affordability is concerned. I could only dream of the standards of Planetary and CMOS cameras that are affordable now, compared to the DIY webcams we were playing with in the early 2000’s. I have personally found that I have ‘cycles’ of interest that wax and wane according to their own calendar but I have always found myself coming back to this frustrating, unique and satisfying pursuit. Wishing you clear skies and always onwards and upwards 😊 Tony 15 hours ago, RaDec said: That's a fabulous image David - it's such a great scale and so well resolved, you should be really pleased. I can only repeat what others have expressed. This season has been dreadful. I have had one image since 6th Feb and that wasn't worth processing it was such rubbish. Thing is with it, all the crap in the system flushes away when you get a few clear spells and produce images like that one, so please don't stop. Thanks for the kind words and encouragement guys. Of course you are all right, this is just a part of doing AP in Britain/Ireland. I'm sure we all go through these periods of questioning if its worth it. But i guess i have too much invested in both equipment and learning to chuck it in. And when it all goes right and you get that image you are looking for, it is one of the most rewarding and satisfying things ever. Edited May 15 by Dmack1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P Holdsworth Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 That's an excellent image David and as other's have expressed definitely don't give up. It has been a really poor galaxy season as I started it with high hopes of capturing M51, M81 & M01 . I only got a completed M51 and half an image on M81 before we lost astro dark up here in Yorkshire. Disappointing to say the least so I started an other hobby for the cloudy nights..........wait for it gelato making 😅 ! With all the cloudy nights I've produced gallons of the stuff ! I bought a proper ice cream maker with its own internal compressor so it freezes as it churns to -24 c . On the odd clear night I've had both hobbies going at the same time.....very satisfying watching the guiding and hearing litres of double chocolate being made in the background lol 🤣 We ought to start a thread on what other hobbies we've all got. If i remember rightly Tony makes is own pizzas ? Anyway there's got to be a break in the clouds eventually and looking forward to some nebula targets. Cheers Paul 20230205_111257.mp4 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaDec Posted May 16 Share Posted May 16 I'm into bread making Paul - can't eat ordinary wheat flour and can't stick the mass produced GF bread, so I bake my own with Spelt flour and even sourdough loaves. Very relaxing, cannot beat the smell of freshly baked bread and delicious into the bargain. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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