68 replies to this topic

[BJS]

Perfectly clear all night. Light wind and lots of dew lol. Halo around Venus and Jupiter. Seeing was not the best unfortunately. Hopefully that improves over the next few nights.

[CHASLX200]

Cloudy here every nite.

[Napp]

Looking clear again tonight.  A bit less haze than last night.  

[CHASLX200]

Hope the seeing better down there . My water temps on the gulf are mid 50's and makes the seeing very bad.

[Knasal]

It’s great. Clear for awhile tonight. Best night may be tomorrow.

[reddog1972]

For those wondering about the weather at WSP for the final few days:

Thursday - windy but clear most of the night (went to be around 3:15am so I can't vouch for later than that)

Friday - clear and very calm and dewy until 11pm and then the entire sky clouded out in what it seemed was less than a minute.

Saturday - every single weather forecast app said moderate/heavy clouds and fog/haze.... it was clear and calm all night long with a ton of dew.

 

Another great event in the books - and already looking forward to next year!  A massive shout out to everyone at SCAS for hosting this incredible event!

[DeanS]

GREAT WEEK!!!!!!

 

Thanks SCAS!

[Darren Drake]

How was seeing for planetary viewing?

[DeanS]

How was seeing for planetary viewing?

Awesome several evenings.  Best view ever for me of Jupiter and Mars.  And easily saw the pup with my 160 refractor with 4.5mm which put it at 258x.

Edited by DeanS, 04 February 2025 - 05:55 PM.

[Bob S.]

Awesome several evenings.  Best view ever for me of Jupiter and Mars.  And easily saw the pup with my 160 refractor with 4.5mm which put it at 258x.

Dean,

 

I was watching the Clear Sky Clock during the event and am wondering about how much actual viewing time was available for the entire week. I surmise that you may not have stayed up until the enth moment of every decent night but it looked like there were only a couple of nights where one could get in maybe 5 hours of good viewing and of course wind is always a concern given how slight that spit of land is? Is that an accurate guess of what was available? Back in the day (early to mid 2003-2012) when I could do all-nighters, the weather at Summerland seemed to support more clear nights. 

 

BTW, my most incredible views of Mars were at the WSP and one year at about 950x in a 32" telescope and another in a 25" telescope, where we were able to observe the orographic clouds that had formed in the Martian atmosphere in the 32". Truly an amazing lifetime experience. 

 

If someone else was at the WSP that can answer the question I posed to Dean, please weigh in on approximately how many hours over the course of the starparty presented decent viewing. I understand that for our Northern astronomers, simply being in the Keys is inherently wonderful in terms of warmth. For us Floridians, we experience much milder winters so I am trying to ascertain the old saw if seeing wise, "the juice was worth the squeeze". 

 

Bob

Edited by Bob S., 09 February 2025 - 09:44 AM.

[WillR]

Dean,

 

I was watching the Clear Sky Clock during the event and am wondering about how much actual viewing time was available for the entire week. I surmise that you may not have stayed up until the enth moment of every decent night but it looked like there were only a couple of nights where one could get in maybe 5 hours of good viewing and of course wind is always a concern given how slight that spit of land is? Is that an accurate guess of what was available? Back in the day (early to mid 2003-2012) when I could do all-nighters, the weather at Summerland seemed to support more clear nights. 

 

BTW, my most incredible views of Mars were at the WSP and one year at about 950x in a 32" telescope and another in a 25" telescope, where we were able to observe the orographic clouds that had formed in the Martian atmosphere in the 32". Truly an amazing lifetime experience. 

 

If someone else was at the WSP that can answer the question I posed to Dean, please weigh in on approximately how many hours over the course of the starparty presented decent viewing. I understand that for our Northern astronomers, simply being in the Keys is inherently wonderful in terms of warmth. For us Floridians, we experience much milder winters so I am trying to ascertain the old saw if seeing wise, "the juice was worth the squeeze". 

 

Bob

Every night I was there was clear pretty much all night with varying amounts of low haze on the southern horizon. But I could see the Southern Cross every morning as well as alpha and beta Centauri. This was 4 nights, Monday through Thursday, and I observed at all hours and have the exhaustion to show for it.

 

No wind the first 3 nights, but varying amounts of dew. The last night was quite windy with no dew. No rain all week. 
 

I don’t know how much better conditions could be. If you are looking for affirmation for a decision to skip it, I am sorry to disappoint you. If I was home in the northeast, I would have been lucky to have one good night this time of year and would have frozen my a** off! 

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[Bob S.]

Will,

 

Thank you for the more detailed report. Being that Summerland Key is so tiny, it appears that the weather forecasts and reporting tend to be fairly inaccurate and did not describe what conditions were like on the ground. As an "old timer" from days past to the WSP, the disruption to the Key from catastrophic hurricanes and the lack of vegetation and more comfortable accommodations have been a personal concern. It appears from your report that things are definitely looking up (pun intended).  

 

With the variability in weather, those of us in West Central Florida this year experienced the coldest couple of months during the beginning of the Season that we have had to endure since 1977. My snowbird neighbors were frankly pretty miserable as were us locals with how far down the cold fronts hit Florida in the later part of 2024 and early part of 2025. Thankfully, we may only experience one more freezing night between now and Spring/Summer if history is any guide (my pool man is a real weather watcher as he has to work with water in cold conditions if they exist and hates it). 

 

We are in the process of moving back to North Florida and they experienced record amounts of snow in the Panhandle! Good gracious, talk about weird. I remember only one time in 35 years in North Florida where I could make snow angels on my back deck in less than a half and inch of snow. However, I also remember about freezing to death at Chiefland Astronomy Village one Winter probably about 12-14 years ago, only an hour North of Crystal River, FL when the thermometer went down to 16 degrees Fahrenheit and we were out looking up. I shivered mightily with an old friend, Jack Heurkamp of MallinCam sales and other friends who were also gob struck by the cold. 

Edited by Bob S., 09 February 2025 - 11:21 AM.

[Knasal]

The clear nights didn’t stop Thursday. It was clear Friday night up till about 10:30pm or so, and then some clouds rolled-in but it cleared again late. On Saturday, every forecast I saw showed clouds, but it did clear, according to what I heard. Facing the start of a long drive back to Wisconsin on Sunday, and the prospect of clouds, we packed up on Saturday afternoon.

 

It’s rare you get clear skies every night of a star party. I’m usually lucky to get 1/2 the nights at any given event.

 

It was a great year to attend. I really enjoyed my time there, and many daytime adventures, including taking the Yankee Freedom to the Dry Tortugas National Park. If you’ve not made the trip there to see Fort Jefferson and hear and see the story there, it’s worth it.

 

It was also great meeting many of you, my friends, on this thread who attended and others. Thanks to everyone who helped put this on!

 

Kevin

[SNH]

Every night I was there was clear pretty much all night with varying amounts of low haze on the southern horizon. But I could see the Southern Cross every morning as well as alpha and beta Centauri. This was 4 nights, Monday through Thursday, and I observed at all hours and have the exhaustion to show for it.

 

No wind the first 3 nights, but varying amounts of dew. The last night was quite windy with no dew. No rain all week. 
 

I don’t know how much better conditions could be. If you are looking for affirmation for a decision to skip it, I am sorry to disappoint you. If I was home in the northeast, I would have been lucky to have one good night this time of year and would have frozen my a** off! 

Glad you guys had such a good time! I was rolling around on the floor when I heard that you could see the Southern Cross every morning!

 

Scott H.

[WillR]

Glad you guys had such a good time! I was rolling around on the floor when I heard that you could see the Southern Cross every morning!

 

Scott H.

Rolling around on the floor? Why, pray tell?

[SNH]

Rolling around on the floor? Why, pray tell?

I basically throw a tantrum every time I hear that the Southern Cross is visible just a few states away since I desperately want to experience that magical feeling of seeing it faintly over the ocean. Keith Rivich once saw Eta Carinae in binoculars from the 10th-floor of a hotel in Houston and again, I would have loved to experience that fleeting view. Maybe one day, but for now, I'm always thrilled to hear of such sightings from others because it rekindles my dream.

 

SH

Edited by SNH, 10 February 2025 - 10:55 PM.

[WillR]

I basically throw a tantrum every time I hear that the Southern Cross is visible just a few states away since I desperately want to experience that magical feeling of seeing it faintly over the ocean. Keith Rivich once saw Eta Carinae in binoculars from the 10th-floor of a hotel in Houston and again, I would have loved to experience that fleeting view. Maybe one day, but for now, I'm always thrilled to hear of such sightings from others because it rekindles my dream.

 

SH

Get thee to the WSP and you will see it. Or the Caribbean for a mid-winter break!

[Keith Rivich]

I basically throw a tantrum every time I hear that the Southern Cross is visible just a few states away since I desperately want to experience that magical feeling of seeing it faintly over the ocean. Keith Rivich once saw Eta Carinae in binoculars from the 10th-floor of a hotel in Houston and again, I would have loved to experience that fleeting view. Maybe one day, but for now, I'm always thrilled to hear of such sightings from others because it rekindles my dream.

 

SH

The hotel was in Galveston, 60 miles south of Houston, right on the beach. Eta Carina was a nice bonus but the real prize was seeing the top 3/4's of the Southern Cross. A lot bigger then I thought it would be!

[SNH]

The hotel was in Galveston, 60 miles south of Houston, right on the beach. Eta Carina was a nice bonus but the real prize was seeing the top 3/4's of the Southern Cross. A lot bigger then I thought it would be!

Thanks for the correction! I thought it was farther south, but couldn't remember the name of the city.