21.05.2020 Milky sky and cloud.

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Thursday 21st 10.30[CET] 66/60F bright but rather cloudy at times.

The first image is spotty from over-sharpening despite none being applied.

10.42 added the 1.6x T-S GPC for more scale. Soft, but quite detailed.

Thermal seeing steadying. With occasional still moments but not very sharp. Now stacking 100 of 1000 frames.

11.15. The seeing, or perhaps the camera, has become misty and glistening on the monitor. The camera has reached 41C. External case temperature on 26C. The results after stacking in AS!3 are awful! Barely recognizable smudges!

Only ImPPG can rescue them. Which isn't the point at all! They should at least look presentable after stacking. I have opened all of the doors to try and get a draught going to clear out any warm air in the dome. The sky is white with thin cloud. Now I have a visible stream [like water] rising diagonally across the monitor image!

It is so bad that I can't identify the disturbed area any more. Complete waste of time trying to capture anything in these conditions!  I have fitted a solar foil filter over the D-ERF to see if it cools things down without having to close the dome or stop tracking the sun. I have moved the hot car which was parked under the viewpoint from the observatory to the south. Still no obvious difference in the seeing.

15.00 Went in search of the small prom, at 10 o'clock, with dim arches on either side. Changed to the PST BF to avoid excessive gain with the LUNT B1200S2.

The seeing improved after that though with some cloud.  So it was back to the AR again. There is fascinating complexity and great beauty in this disturbed area. I just wish I could do it real justice with my images.

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