2012 sucked for observing

Over the last 20 years I've averaged around 35 nights of dark sky observing per year. In 2012 I had 18 nights of dark sky observing and 5 of those were partially cloudy. 8 of the nights were smoky. Two of the nights were outstanding and I'll remember them for a long time so all is not lost. Here's how it breaks down for the year:

January - 1 night
February - 0
March - 0
April - 3 nights
May - 3 partial nights
June - 0
July - 2 partial nights, one full night
August - 7 nights, all smoky
September - 1 smoky night
October - 0
November - 0
December - 0

The two outstanding nights were in January (Mauna Kea) and April (Likely Place, northern California). For the first time since 1986 I had no decent nights in Oregon, and that's the rub - I live in Oregon!

Bad luck I know, but I just need to have a little fit and get over myself ! There, I feel better now...

I couldn't agree more Howard!! 2012 was probably one of my worst years in a long time for observing (though it was probably the best year in other regards)

I did manage a week of observing with Jimi and the 48 in February. Mark Friedman & John Spack(both members here) came along for that trip so that was definitely my highlight of the year.

Generally speaking, this years conditions and schedules just didn't allow me to get out nearly as much as I would have liked. In 2011 I managed to get out to our site in Western Illinois every dark moon period from March thru November. This year was much much worse. I managed 5 trips to our dark site this year with the last being this past October :( The nights we did get out we did have pretty good conditions though.

2012 was a banner year for our family as my wife and I had our first child, a baby boy. So I guess it really wasn't too big a surprise that observing would take a back seat for a while. 2013 should be a big year. We have some big plans for DSA as well as this forum. We plan on attending several major starparties as well as NEAF again, so I'm really really hoping that 2013 is a better year of observing than 2012!

I hope that holds true for all of us!

It hasn't been any better here in western Kentucky this year. I was just recently discussing the possibilities of moving up in aperture (18" to 24"), but my wife politely asked "Why?..." She continued by reminding me of the constant complaining of not being able to observe when my schedule allowed due to the weather.
Maybe she's right....:(
Oh well, hopefully 2013 will bring all of us more clear and stable nights!!

Howard,

Since last May it has been the worst weather for observing here in West Texas in the 8 years I have lived here. I am usually glad to have a cloudy night every now and then so I can get some rest but not this year!

Lets hope for better conditions and plenty of sleep deprivation in 2013 !

Even here in Northern Italy it was an "annus horribilis", I observed only 8 nights while in 2011 I watched 22 times!
I hope that 2013 will be better weather conditions ... and bring me a bigger dob. :D
Ciao.

Hi!
It seems to me that I live on another planet.
I have 243 observing sessions this year in my logbook. Of course not all of them are deep sky sessions. But anyway 2012 is my best year so far. I saw many new comets, supernovae, solar and moon eclipse, Jupiter occultation, meteor showers and so on.
But I'm also looking forward for 2013…
Vic

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Vic

Hi!
It seems to me that I live on another planet.
I have 243 observing sessions this year in my logbook. Of course not all of them are deep sky sessions. But anyway 2012 is my best year so far. I saw many new comets, supernovae, solar and moon eclipse, Jupiter occultation, meteor showers and so on.
But I'm also looking forward for 2013…
Vic

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Hi Vic,

Great to hear someone has had some good luck! Congrats! :celebrate:

Excluding November and December (yes, we DO get clouds in Cyprus sometimes), it has been a great observing year, the highlight being of course the transit of Venus.

This has been a year of intense learning for me, being a noob and all. Looking forward to those cold but clear nights of January and February and whatever else 2013 will bring :)

And for the end-of-the-world believers, the end of the world is in 4 years from now . Apparently the Mayans did not take into account leap years :thinking:, so we get 4 more years of astronomy fun :P It is amazing to what extend people will go to fuel their passion for conspiracies!!!

2012 Was a terrible year for observing. Logged 231 observations in five session, all of them in the first five months of the year. Had to cancel a planned astrovacation to southern France in late March due to urgent family matters. Decided to not plan any observing runs after May until I had my observing guides published. The day after I published my father passed away. The past two month skies have been cloudy. 2013 will be better, much better.

Yes, 2012 was one of the worst observing years for me. Maybe in the spring there were a few good nights but the rest of the year,...... :angry:

Only one highlight this year and I can't even say that on this deep sky forum. (Jupiter occultation :o)

Wow, other than Vic's I'm not feeling so bad about my year. Out of the 47 occasions/days where I was able to use a telescope I was able to use my new 20" on a total of 27 evenings/nights of deep sky. I wasn't able to make as much headway on the Herschell 2500 list as I had wanted but I am up to 1537 now. It's the lower to the horizon ones that from my latitude have been difficult. On the other hand in one week stretch in early September I logged 13/15 Palomar Globular clusters as well as a handful of extra galactic globs including the brighest one in NGC 147. I also managed 2 components of Einstein's Cross on two occasions. Many more Hickson groups have been crossed of my list. Getting the 20" this year (that my wife pressured me into buying) has been wonderful. It's not about quantity but quality and this has been a quality year.

Bill

I had a decent year too. I completed one observing pin from the Astronomical League that I started years back and also completed a more recent one. I was able to observe the transit of Venus from the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville. The Perseid meteor shower was nice this past August. Looking back I had 7 observing runs under dark skies this year, so that is about average for me. I am good to make it one night a month for deep sky observing. I have been really busy this year so I haven't done much lunar/planetary observing.

Observing-wise, 2012 was a terrible year, with mostly hazy skies, when it wasn't outright cloudy. Still, I had a good night now and then and I got lots of new, nice equipment, so altogether, it wasn't bad.


Clear skies!
Thomas, Denmark

Well, I am sorry to hear that, Howard and others for whom it did. For me it didn't. No transparency records were broken here, but the year was among two of my most productive ones so far. In June and July I was too busy to go observing, but I think I only missed the worst of our perpetual summer haze. In all other months I managed a good outing to my remote dark site for an average of two clear nights, which for me is good. All March I was in Australia and that included 10 mostly clear nights of new-moon observing from the essentially pristine skies of the Red Centre. That alone, even apart from the exotic southern perspective, amounted to a decent observing year in Appalachia ;) In addition to seeing a goodly number of new southern objects, this year I finished the Caldwell list, finished (the first round of) sketching structure in the Messier galaxies, and saw all Herschel's discoveries in Cygnus, Pegasus, and Perseus, and much besides.

Wow Howard! Are you used to observe about 35 times per year??!?
It's an impressive value!

My best was in 2008: 24 times.

This is my year, a good one, without clouds and a good seeing for almost every night I spent under the starry sky.

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Originally Posted by davidem27

Wow Howard! Are you used to observe about 35 times per year??!?
It's an impressive value!

My best was in 2008: 24 times.

This is my year, a good one, without clouds and a good seeing for almost every night I spent under the starry sky.

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Hi Davide,

Yes, I've averaged around 35 nights a year for almost two decades, with about half of those nights coming in July, August and September. Hopefully 2013 will be closer to my average because my telescopes are becoming depressed sitting in my basement under a tarp!