Mark your calendar for September because that is the best month for viewing in Utah. The monsoon is gone; the nights are longer and still warm. The best view of the winter constellations is at 3 am in September. Don't get discouraged by Utah Astro-weather. This year the wet spring rains and cirrus haze lasted right up until the start of the summer monsoon cloud flow. Some years the spring is dry and the viewing is good. You also need to push the envelope and not just wait around for perfect weather. If the weather doesn't skunk you at least once a year you're not trying hard enough to find the good weather. I've had many sessions where I've talked someone into going out with me to a remote site and have had them leave in a huff at twilight because the conditions were less than perfect. As soon they leave they drag the clouds back to the city with them and I'm alone with near perfect skies. DT --- On Fri, 7/24/09, Brent Johnson <mitaccio@hotmail.com> wrote:
From: Brent Johnson <mitaccio@hotmail.com> Subject: [Utah-astronomy] Starting to notice how horrible Utah skies are To: utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com Date: Friday, July 24, 2009, 9:47 AM
I have been a lifelong resident of Utah, but until recently paid little attention to the sky. Recently I got my first scope and began noticing how often Utah has horrible skies for astronomy. Cloud cover almost every other day. And on the days the sky is clear, seeing is aweful. Is there no hope? _________________________________________________________________ NEW mobile Hotmail. Optimized for YOUR phone. Click here. http://windowslive.com/Mobile?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_CS_MB_new_hotmail_072009 _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com