4.1.20 More sunshine! More plans!

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Saturday after lunch: My return to the observatory coincided with a a total solar eclipse by the house chimney.

14.22 ASCOM denied Skycharts/C-Du-C access to Com 3. I had to restart the laptop 3 times before it would allow me to use C-Du-C! Goto Slews to the sun stop when the meridian is reached regardless of coordinates! If I hit Slew again it will move on. Trying to open ASCOM-AWR properties just locks up the computer.

14.31 Chimney cleared by the sun. Now blowing a roaring gale from the W as the slit rotates into that direction! The seeing has gone to hell! Shame, because it was getting much better just before lunch when it was almost still. I was seeing swirling, magnetic lines and filaments. Now all contrast has gone into a soft, grey, boiling mess. Not much point in continuing. A plane just crossed the sun dragging its vapour trails! A few, small clouds are racing across the sky.

14.45  Sun just above the house roof and sinking fast. I'm giving up!

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