West coast seeing

I recently moved to Vancouver BC from Quebec which is quite a bit further
east.
What I have noticed is that more often than not the seeing is rather nasty
out here. I am rarely able to enjoy views at 60 to 120x of the moon without
signifcant "wobbles and shimmers". Decent views of Saturn and Jupiter have
been rare.
The one time I did notice good seeing was the only time I travelled east to
Abbotsford (about an 1 hour drive east from vancouver) and saw Saturn at
120x and above.

QUESTION:
Is this type of seeing normal for the North west coast?
Does the seeing normally improve as one travels away from the coast or was
this just a fluke?

I'd like to hear your opinions.

Waz

waz wrote:
I recently moved to Vancouver BC from Quebec which is quite a bit further
east.
What I have noticed is that more often than not the seeing is rather nasty
out here. I am rarely able to enjoy views at 60 to 120x of the moon without
signifcant "wobbles and shimmers". Decent views of Saturn and Jupiter have
been rare.
The one time I did notice good seeing was the only time I travelled east to
Abbotsford (about an 1 hour drive east from vancouver) and saw Saturn at
120x and above.

QUESTION:
Is this type of seeing normal for the North west coast?
Does the seeing normally improve as one travels away from the coast or was
this just a fluke?

I'd like to hear your opinions.

Waz

Waz,
What is your latitude and longitude, closer the better.
d.

waz wrote:
I recently moved to Vancouver BC from Quebec which is quite a bit further
east.
What I have noticed is that more often than not the seeing is rather nasty
out here. I am rarely able to enjoy views at 60 to 120x of the moon without
signifcant "wobbles and shimmers". Decent views of Saturn and Jupiter have
been rare.
The one time I did notice good seeing was the only time I travelled east to
Abbotsford (about an 1 hour drive east from vancouver) and saw Saturn at
120x and above.

QUESTION:
Is this type of seeing normal for the North west coast?
Does the seeing normally improve as one travels away from the coast or was
this just a fluke?

I'd like to hear your opinions.

Waz

See varies from location to location, date to date, time to time. Some
places get better as the evening progresses; that's the usual trend, but
it isn't a hard and fast rule. Some places have good seeing while a
mile or so away it's normally bad --- Table Mountain and Ford
Observatory near Wrightwood, CA come to mind for this situation. and of
course certain times of the year places have better chances for good
seeing than others.

Even local conditions affect seeing. Grass and trees, if they're not
tall, offer good prospects for seeing, everything else being equal.
Concrete, asphalt, and to some extent dirt and rock are worse, often a
lot worse.

Hopefully after you give your location more precisely (the city you live
in should be sufficient), then someone in your area can advise you as to
where to go and not to go.

waz wrote:
I recently moved to Vancouver BC from Quebec which is quite a bit further
east.
[snip]

David Nakamoto said on May 4:

Hopefully after you give your location more precisely (the city you live
in should be sufficient)

Now, I have come to expect that Americans are woefully ignorant of the
geography of the rest of the world (including or especially Canada),
but I've just watched two different people ask waz what city he lives
in, and he told you in the first line of his original post.

To answer waz (since I live in Vancouver), the seeing has been
especially bad this year, I think. But generally it's not so great
anyway, I suspect because of turbulence from the mountains and from
Vancouver Island in particular. The prevailing wind and weather
patterns generally come in from the west, usually from Hawaii or
therabouts.

Victoria has a professional observatory, which may mean it has better
seeing, but I can't find any historical data about that, and I don't
normally check the clear sky clock for Victoria.

Dan Mckenna wrote:

waz wrote:
I recently moved to Vancouver BC from Quebec which is quite a bit further
east.
What I have noticed is that more often than not the seeing is rather
nasty out here. I am rarely able to enjoy views at 60 to 120x of the moon
without signifcant "wobbles and shimmers". Decent views of Saturn and
Jupiter have been rare.
The one time I did notice good seeing was the only time I travelled east
to Abbotsford (about an 1 hour drive east from vancouver) and saw Saturn
at 120x and above.

QUESTION:
Is this type of seeing normal for the North west coast?
Does the seeing normally improve as one travels away from the coast or
was this just a fluke?

I'd like to hear your opinions.

Waz

Waz,
What is your latitude and longitude, closer the better.
d.
49 North, -123 west

Vancouver BC.

Ernie Dunbar wrote:

waz wrote:
I recently moved to Vancouver BC from Quebec which is quite a bit
further east.
[snip]

David Nakamoto said on May 4:

Hopefully after you give your location more precisely (the city you live
in should be sufficient)

Now, I have come to expect that Americans are woefully ignorant of the
geography of the rest of the world (including or especially Canada),
but I've just watched two different people ask waz what city he lives
in, and he told you in the first line of his original post.

To answer waz (since I live in Vancouver), the seeing has been
especially bad this year, I think. But generally it's not so great
anyway, I suspect because of turbulence from the mountains and from
Vancouver Island in particular. The prevailing wind and weather
patterns generally come in from the west, usually from Hawaii or
therabouts.

Victoria has a professional observatory, which may mean it has better
seeing, but I can't find any historical data about that, and I don't
normally check the clear sky clock for Victoria.

Sadly, I think your comment about the seeing here in Vancouver is correct...
it probably is not all that good on average. This agrees with the few times
I have bothered to use my scope in the city (I'm near UBC, lots of trees
then water).
Maybe I'll have to start getting used to leaving the city for ALL of my
observing (lunar and planetary as well as deepsky), which is a real
turn-off.

I wish you "still air" and clear skies.

Waz

waz wrote:
Dan Mckenna wrote:


waz wrote:

I recently moved to Vancouver BC from Quebec which is quite a bit further
east.
What I have noticed is that more often than not the seeing is rather
nasty out here. I am rarely able to enjoy views at 60 to 120x of the moon
without signifcant "wobbles and shimmers". Decent views of Saturn and
Jupiter have been rare.
The one time I did notice good seeing was the only time I travelled east
to Abbotsford (about an 1 hour drive east from vancouver) and saw Saturn
at 120x and above.

QUESTION:
Is this type of seeing normal for the North west coast?
Does the seeing normally improve as one travels away from the coast or
was this just a fluke?

I'd like to hear your opinions.

Waz

Waz,
What is your latitude and longitude, closer the better.
d.

49 North, -123 west

Vancouver BC.

Waz,
Yes the seeing at +49 -123 would not be so good as
you are located 1.6 miles off shore in Boundry bay.

Try dry land.

Dan

waz wrote in news:N_w6g.17614$cZ3.58@clgrps13:

I recently moved to Vancouver BC from Quebec which is quite a bit
further east.
What I have noticed is that more often than not the seeing is rather
nasty out here.

You're too close to the ocean for good seeing. Try planning a session more
than 50 miles away from the coast. You'll be amazed at the difference.

waz wrote:
Ernie Dunbar wrote:

waz wrote:
I recently moved to Vancouver BC from Quebec which is quite a bit
further east.
[snip]

David Nakamoto said on May 4:

Hopefully after you give your location more precisely (the city you live
in should be sufficient)
Now, I have come to expect that Americans are woefully ignorant of the
geography of the rest of the world (including or especially Canada),
but I've just watched two different people ask waz what city he lives
in, and he told you in the first line of his original post.

To answer waz (since I live in Vancouver), the seeing has been
especially bad this year, I think. But generally it's not so great
anyway, I suspect because of turbulence from the mountains and from
Vancouver Island in particular. The prevailing wind and weather
patterns generally come in from the west, usually from Hawaii or
therabouts.

Victoria has a professional observatory, which may mean it has better
seeing, but I can't find any historical data about that, and I don't
normally check the clear sky clock for Victoria.

Sadly, I think your comment about the seeing here in Vancouver is correct...
it probably is not all that good on average. This agrees with the few times
I have bothered to use my scope in the city (I'm near UBC, lots of trees
then water).
Maybe I'll have to start getting used to leaving the city for ALL of my
observing (lunar and planetary as well as deepsky), which is a real
turn-off.

I wish you "still air" and clear skies.

I had a friend who came from near that neck of the woods, and she said
that she preferred the overall seeing in Southern California over where
she was before. I'm certain it was the Pacific Northwest, probably
around the Seattle area.

Sincerely,
--- Dave Nakamoto
========================================
Miller's Daughter --- There, I was visited by a bizarre, strange imp of
a man.
Sam Shovel --- Pee Wee Herman?
Miller's Daughter --- Not THAT strange.

elaich wrote:
waz wrote in news:N_w6g.17614$cZ3.58@clgrps13:


I recently moved to Vancouver BC from Quebec which is quite a bit
further east.
What I have noticed is that more often than not the seeing is rather
nasty out here.


You're too close to the ocean for good seeing. Try planning a session more
than 50 miles away from the coast. You'll be amazed at the difference.


Living a mile from the Pacific in So Calif, I can confirm that. For
anything but casual viewing I must head for the hills (mountains) or
deserts. Eventually we will move, and that will be a factor in where we go.

Phil