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Hell all
 I am also looking forward to some clearing.  As soon as I finished
the  observatory roll off roof the rains started and it rained and it rained. I
was thinking I should of built an Ark instead! I was able to get the roof open
the last 3 days and even though the seeing was bad, the sky was washed out by
the moon and random clouds moving thru it was the first chance to go out and be
up and running in 15 minutes instead of setting up some place else for an hour
or more!
 By the way thanks to all for answering questions and help in
the design of the observatory. Â Next stage is the addition of the wine cooler,
Keganator , etc.
Best
Ed G.
From:
southern_maine_astronomers@yahoogroups.com
[mailto:southern_maine_astronomers@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Paul
Howell
Sent: Wednesday, July 08, 2009 4:02 PM
To: southern_maine_astronomers@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [southern_maine_astronomers] Unusual seeing
Hi Everyone -
Well we certainly have paid a price for the stubbornly (!)
persistent low-pressure system that has made its way (at a walking pace) from
Ontario to us over the past month. However, there is a silver lining.
Atmospheric seeing (the wiggling of starlight that messes up
detailed views of things) correlates very well with the jetstream. Typically,
we in Maine are more or less directly beneath the jetstream and we have the
seeing to prove it. Premier places like Arizona, southern Florida, and Hawaii
typically are well away from the jetstream.
Starting tomorrow night, we get a rare treat. The
dissipating low pressure system will move off into the gulf of Maine (taking
its clouds with it) and block the jetstream for a day or two. For that
period, we stand to get Arizona, or even sea-level Hawaii-esque seeing. I have
attached two jetstream forecasts, one for the start of tomorrow night (0h UT,
7/10) and one for Friday (0h UT, 7/11).
If you have been itching to get that great view of Saturn in
the early evening or Jupiter later on, this might be a good time. Of, if you
are an imager, perhaps now would be a good time to try imaging that small
planetary nebula at long FL!
-Paul
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