Lesson Learned: The Southeast U.S. is not the best place weather-wise for astronomy.
I knew going into this venture that the weather in this part of the county is not optimal for amateur (or professional) astronomy. Until I built my observatory, however, I never really paid that much attention to the actual number of clear nights over the course of several years. Prior to having the observatory, I simply hauled out the telescope on the nights that were clear and took advantage of it. With the observatory, I find myself now constantly checking to find a night that IS clear and planning accordingly. It's maddening.
As we sit here on March 12, 2015, I can count the number of clear nights on one hand thus far this year. As we enter springtime, the prospects don't improve that much, but hopefully there will be a few opportunities here and there. Since I'm not traveling as much over the summer this year, I plan to take advantage of as much time as I can.
Until then, if Mother Nature would be so kind to provide me with just a few clear nights here and there, maybe once a week, I'd be happy.
I knew going into this venture that the weather in this part of the county is not optimal for amateur (or professional) astronomy. Until I built my observatory, however, I never really paid that much attention to the actual number of clear nights over the course of several years. Prior to having the observatory, I simply hauled out the telescope on the nights that were clear and took advantage of it. With the observatory, I find myself now constantly checking to find a night that IS clear and planning accordingly. It's maddening.
As we sit here on March 12, 2015, I can count the number of clear nights on one hand thus far this year. As we enter springtime, the prospects don't improve that much, but hopefully there will be a few opportunities here and there. Since I'm not traveling as much over the summer this year, I plan to take advantage of as much time as I can.
Until then, if Mother Nature would be so kind to provide me with just a few clear nights here and there, maybe once a week, I'd be happy.
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