Clear nights in January are a precious thing if you are an astrophotographer living in South Central Texas. The night-time cloudy season in San Antonio starts in mid- to late-January, and once the clouds roll in, it is typical for us to have to wait until late-June before we can string together two or more clear nights in row. So when the 7-day forecast in January shows good imaging weather, you have to get out and image since it will probably be your last opportunity for the next 5 months. I put the string of clear January nights to good use...25+ hours on Jellyfish, 10 hours on M81/M82, and 3 hours collecting RGB stars for
California,
Horsehead and
Heart Nebula.
As expected, the clouds have been relentless since late January, but I've managed to still collect some data. In February/March, I took advantage of ChileScope to gather data on southern targets. In April, I managed to sneak in one night of backyard imaging to put first light on my new telescope (SCA260). In May, I travelled to west Texas for the Texas Star Party and got some imaging time on several nights. Now it is late June and the forecast is finally showing a string of 4 nights with clear skies. Time to get busy again with data collection
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