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The locals say it's El Nino. I've been in Southwest Florida for 22 years and this is the wettest, cloudiest winter since I've been here. It's called the dry season because it rarely rains between December and May. Either way, it's quite frustrating because I wait all summer (the wet season) to image all winter. Mike |
4.13
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| Only in hobby for three years, so experience is not definitive. However, reviewing my dated target folders show that I was out 1-3 times a week three years ago, and the past 12 months shows that number has been reduced to 1-3 times a month. Some of that is due to being more discerning about weather conditions. More generally, the reduction in outings has been affected by a higher number of overcast nights, and others showing a high haze that obscures most stars despite being “clear” out. The summer’s Canadian fires certainly contributed, but this kind of observation has continued this winter. |
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I just got back to astrophotography after a 10~13 year break, I can guarantee there has been fewer clear nights in the last 3 months here in Queensland, Australia, than I used to get per month in 2011... I do however live in a sub-tropical zone and it's our summer here, so it is the rainy season, and we've had cyclones within 500/600km of us which heavily impacts on the weather here too... I guess another factor for me too is, prior to taking my break, I was in my mid 20's and had no kids... Now, in my mid-late 30's, 2 kids, very mentally straining job etc, there have certainly been nights where it was cloudy at 9:30pm, so I've not bothered to set up, and when I walk outside at 11:30pm it's crystal clear, by which time I'm ready for bed... So, between the weather being undeniably worse, my motivation to get setup and 'wait the clouds out' being much lower than it used to be, the fact that I have a 10 and a 12 year old that will be at me at 6:30am searching for entertainment, and a job that requires a high level of focus... I have probably not made the most effective use what clear sky we've had either. What I've noticed to be far more annoying than than the 3 fold increase in cloudy/rainy days/nights, is that when we get a clear night, my images get hit by satellites FAR more than they ever used to... I had 10 distinct trails through 1x 300s sub a few weeks back... It was crazy... I'm very much looking forward to Feb/March when our weather here calms down, we typically get 15~20 clear nights per month during those months, and usually clear from April through to about September. |
9.48
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Assuming climate change is at least partially to blame for the upward trend in forest fires in Canada and the western U.S., I have to say it has hurt my imaging with a resounding "yes." I lost more than 90% of possible imaging time between May 1 and Sept. 15 in 2023 to smoke here in upstate NY. On top of that, excessive rainfall in the late summer made it nearly impossible to image anything without water dripping off all my gear like 5 minutes after sunset. My local airport had the highest rainfall ever recorded since record keeping started in 1824. Thankfully, October through December were productive (because climate change turned those months into the new September-November). 2023 was the worst year for astronomy since at least 1989 when we had a similar summer in the northeastern U.S.: one clear night in June, and that was all she wrote (before the smoke kicked in). I think 2023 was worse, in retrospect. Every year from 2018 to 2023 has trended worse for clear skies at my location. Most of my imaging gets done in March-April and October-December any more, and I have to engage in one of my other pastimes for the rest of the year. Maybe El Niño will cut us a break in 2024? Or maybe I will once again do a whole lot of indoor activities while orange sunlight comes through the window in between 100-year rain events? |
2.41
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No, climate activists are affecting my astrophotography. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-quebec-man-pleads-guilty-to-setting-14-forest-fires-forcing-hundreds/ |
11.14
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Sean Mc: And firefighters too: https://edition.cnn.com/2023/07/21/us/arizona-firefighter-arson-charges/index.html |
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| The weather pattern is definitely different from 30 years ago when I started astrophotography, but I think I can cope with that. What I can't do much is light pollution. It's getting problematic for me, and preventing me from taking certain types of images. |
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| The cyclical nature of nature isn't an issue. But those fires in Canada sure messed us up for a couple of months though. |
