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Winter seeing in the suburbs



 
 
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  #1  
Old July 21st 03, 02:56 PM
Geoff
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Default Winter seeing in the suburbs


I am in the suburbs of Melbourne Australia in my first year of having
a telescope.

Is the seeing always so rotten in winter? Viewing Mars at just 200x
looks like a red marble at the bottom of a pot of boiling water.

In the warmer months a while ago I got the occasional good glimpse of
Jupiter in short periods of good seeing but now viewing Mars seems
hopeless!

Would the heaters in houses in my street be the cause of this?
  #2  
Old July 21st 03, 08:04 PM
bwhiting
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Default Winter seeing in the suburbs

Also make darn sure that your scope has cooled down to the ambient
outside air temperature before critical observing....
also never hurts to re-check collimation
on set up.....also, if using a truss-type, make sure your own
body heat is not entering the optical line while observing.
Set up on a grassy field, not asphalt or cement...and as you
stated, don't look over houses or buildings where daytime heat
can re-radiate back off the roof at night.
FWIW,
Tom W.




Geoff wrote:
I am in the suburbs of Melbourne Australia in my first year of having
a telescope.

Is the seeing always so rotten in winter? Viewing Mars at just 200x
looks like a red marble at the bottom of a pot of boiling water.

In the warmer months a while ago I got the occasional good glimpse of
Jupiter in short periods of good seeing but now viewing Mars seems
hopeless!

Would the heaters in houses in my street be the cause of this?


  #3  
Old July 21st 03, 09:30 PM
Mike Simmons
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Default Winter seeing in the suburbs

Al wrote:

Usually the viewing is much better during the cold winter months than
summer.


Not here in Southern California. Our worst seeing occurs in winter. I
think generalizations about this are impossible since it varies with
climate and location.

Mike Simmons
 




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