3rd November 2020

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Tuesday 3rd, 10am, 52/51F. Cloudy from the SW and windy but bright. With promises of some teaser gaps in the clouds. At least the wind is from the west which will help to shelter the dome slit this morning.

It took me longer than usual to set up as I had to remove the ratchet straps from the zenith board. Plus the heavy PVC tarpaulin draped over the OTAs and mounting. 

Yesterday's storm became only a very windy day. The rain enough to fill some of my sandwich boxes on the base ring. I had rotated the dome to the SW which had confused the usual, water collection arrangements.

10.20-30 Much more cloud than promised! A bright overcast with hardly any blue. Sun centered and tracking. Still waiting for enough clarity to focus and set the gain. The SE quadrant looks most promising on Gong-Ha.

Found the AR and managed to focus. Then solid cloud and even a light shower!  Captured a single video of 500 frames in 3 seconds 800x600 through racing cloud. Autostakkert couldn't cope. Though a dark spot with umbra and penumbra does show through the mess. 

10.40-11.00. Two layers of cloud as usual but more blue coming. Blue overhead. Cloud continuously over the sun.

11.40 Giving up! When the sun cleared briefly the image was boiling furiously on the limb. Huge saw-tooth distortions of the limb. 

The moment I left the observatory the sky cleared to solid blue and the sun shone brightly. Is it worth returning in the vain hope of a massive improvement in seeing conditions?

15.00 53/51F Back again. Dreadfully soft seeing.

15.15 Lost the sun behind the trees. Small bright flares in the AR as I tried to cling on.

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