*
Sunday 26th 15.40 69/65F The sky cleared to blue sunshine. As soon as I was set up it became overcast and windy. Large plates of cloud are crossing from the west with blue in between.
I had better not waste any time if the seeing will actually support imaging.
Unbelievably steady to start with. Had the 2.6x ready in the camera but the scale was too large for all the surrounding detail. Changed to 2x and then 1.6x.
16:10 and the seeing is already going off. The dome acts like a turbine
when the wind blows. It whizzes around the inside of the dome!
16:10 and the seeing is already going off. The dome acts like a turbine
when the wind blows. It whizzes around the inside of the dome!
The wind was blowing the telescope around. At first I thought the cloud
plate had cooled the earth. Making for better seeing, but no.
So I removed the GPC and went naked camera. The contrast was much reduced. Captured some videos for the record and then placed the 1.6x GPC back in. Just in time for another huge cloud plate and rain shining in the air in the dome.
17.41 Still here, hoping for some late, better seeing before the trees swallow the sun. Still quite cloudy.Focusing is not responding with obviously sharper images. The seeing has gone soft.
17.58-18.58 Seeing still not settled. And so it went on until nearly 19.00. Capturing videos and swapping GPC as the wind rose and fell and the seeing changed. Most of the cloud cleared towards the end. A few filaments were winding like snakes in the vicinity of the spot. The umbra became more triangular in form. With the suggestion of protrusions on the flat, southern side.
The moon is in the south. Managed a couple of videos before the clouds rolled over. I'll leave it tracking until, or if, the clouds clear.
*
No comments:
Post a Comment