What's going on with the weather?

I think it's because of something called Global Clouding? It's brought on by too many of us buying new gear when we were bored sitting indoors. Since we all know how the weather turns when you get new gear, then we shop because we cant image, and we buy more gear….and so on. It's a vicious cycle

:-)

Frankly, I am surprised that hundreds of us haven't jumped in (i.e. expressed frustration) in this thread.  Here in central / northern New England, it's been clouds, clouds and more clouds for months. 

For clear and Moonless nights, I was able to get to the club site (Bortle 4) twice in December.  In January, I was only able to shoot (twice) from my Bortle 6 driveway (thank you L-Enhance).  One night, two hours north at a dark site (Bortle 3) cut short by - you guessed it - clouds - in February; one night at the club site.  One night north in March (this past Monday).  Otherwise, clouds.

I had such high hopes for new targets this Winter, but here we are into Galaxy Season.  Let's hope for something better ... and soon ....  It has been awfully frustrating.

I had some of the best skies I’ve seen in months last night. So clear my mount guided down to 0.4 arc seconds which I haven’t seen since I bought the mount last November. Then, after 1 1/2 hours of imaging, the northern lights of all things decided to come along and ruin my beautiful, clear night. The ADU just kept climbing when it should have been dropping. It was like trying to shoot under a full moon and I was trying to shoot Lum of a dusty region.

Thats how my year has gone.

As to why… permafrost is breaking, polar ice and glaciers are melting.
The resulting moisture raises up into the atmosphere, forming clouds.
Clouds are rotating as the Earth rotates in that the entire globe is affected.
It used to be better a few years ago, but now it is frustrating indeed.
Since I am growing vegetables I can feel the change ever more intensively.

On top of this, they are cutting trees and fill green areas up with concrete,
set up artificial lights and illumination to attract tourists which are again
coming in their thousands on luxury cruise ships. The others rent cars as we
do not have trains. If you are complaining because you worry about health
and lives especially that of children they criminalize you and call you a traitor.
It is disgusting.

I’m in Michigan, here in the US and I have maybe had 4-5 “full nights” of clear skies since late November. And a hand full of a couple hours of clear evening to get an hour or 2 in before the clouds rolled in and I had to close up the observatory. I agree it does seem to just continue to get worse over the years even for just visual astronomy let alone us imagers.

I agree global warming has a major effect on the world for sure and the more we cut down trees, and pollute the air, the more damage we are doing to the environment. I also agree about lighting! While there are communities here in the US that have strict rules on that I think the government should also put something in place for the whole US to kinda adhere to. 

Just my 2 cents worth.

Dale

Yeah hopefully it gets better soon 🤞

I live in Leeds,England and it's been cloudy or windy almost everyday for the past 2 months especially during the night

I know. That will be interesting to know

Dale Penkala:
I’m in Michigan, here in the US and I have maybe had 4-5 “full nights” of clear skies since late November. And a hand full of a couple hours of clear evening to get an hour or 2 in before the clouds rolled in and I had to close up the observatory. I agree it does seem to just continue to get worse over the years even for just visual astronomy let alone us imagers.

I agree global warming has a major effect on the world for sure and the more we cut down trees, and pollute the air, the more damage we are doing to the environment. I also agree about lighting! While there are communities here in the US that have strict rules on that I think the government should also put something in place for the whole US to kinda adhere to. 

Just my 2 cents worth.

Dale

One statistic from NOAA:

9.5 billion metric tons of carbon into the atmosphere each year by burning fossil fuels, and another 1.5 billion through deforestation and other land cover changes.

Any fool who thinks this won't affect our planet is either evil or simply too stupid to recognize what we're doing.

It’s terrible that’s what lol… only 3 good nights (clear no moon and good seeing) in the last 4 months, not looking too good for the next 4 either right now… I’m sure my new gear came with a box of clouds as it was clear for weeks before I decided to get back into AP… I’ve not been able to get more than about 4 hours on a target yet. And my optics need alignment under stars, but I haven’t wanted to use the time for that so I just live with poor collamation and astigmatism. The struggle is real. And I don’t want to even mention the satellites that photobomb every frame…

Our technologies are no doubt a dual-edged sword.   Though we can image celestial objects better than any other humans in history, we are also destroying the night sky as a natural experience.    It's as though our scientific and technological  prowess has so far outpaced our ethical, moral and spiritual development that we are now capable of destroying ourselves.   We need the natural world, the natural world doesn't need us.   Most governments aren't listening.   The biggest ones are too busy with their addiction to violence, power and wealth.    The contradictions are painful.