[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]

(meteorobs) Cold weather observing

Guys -

Saw this on our Canadian net, thought you might be interested in parts of it.  It's from Fr. Lucian Kemble 
(of deep-sky "Kemble's Cascade" fame), observing from Saskatchewan, Canada.

- Cathy

---------- Forwarded Message ----------

From:	Lucian Kemble, INTERNET:lkemble@eagle.wbmdot ca
TO:	Multiple recipients of list rasclist, INTERNET:RASCLIST@ASTROTECH.STMARYSdot ca
DATE:	12/4/96 11:38 PM

RE:	RASC List: Cold eyepieces and such

Sender: owner-rasclist@astrotech.stmarysdot ca
Received: from ap.stmarysdot ca (ap.StMarysdot ca [140.184.21.2]) by arl-img-6dot compuservedot com (8.6.10/5.950515)
	id XAA23872; Wed, 4 Dec 1996 23:36:25 -0500
Received: from astrotech.stmarysdot ca by ap.stmarysdot ca (SMI-8.6/SMI-SVR4)
	id AAA16722; Thu, 5 Dec 1996 00:33:15 -0400
Received: by astrotech.stmarysdot ca from localhost
    (router,SLmail95 V2.1); Thu, 05 Dec 1996 00:34:13 ast
To: Multiple recipients of list rasclist <rasclist@astrotech.stmarysdot ca>
Sender: owner-rasclist@astrotech.stmarysdot ca
Reply-To: "RASC Discussion List" <rasclist@astrotech.stmarysdot ca>
Date: Wed, 4 Dec 1996 22:43:41 -0600
Message-Id: <199612050443.WAA08293@eagle.wbmdot ca>
X-Sender: lkemble@eagle.wbmdot ca
X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Version 1.4.4
Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
From: lkemble@eagle.wbmdot ca (Lucian Kemble)
Subject: RASC List: Cold eyepieces and such

Hi, good people:

May I offer the following from my own extensive cold-weather experiences
[coldest: -28C; longest uninterrupted session in deep cold at -18C, 4 hours].

How about no heating of eyepieces at all?  I keep all my eyepieces at
ambient temperatures at all times, winter and summer [of course, having the
equipment in a shelter really helps].  Some years ago Dan Lazar of Calgary
made me a lovely box with a plexiglass cover, with appropriate holes in the
wooden base for each of my 8 eyepieces.  This not only keeps the dust off,
but also any dewing or frost.

 Lately I have taken to using the 2 or 3 ones that I use more often out of
the box and laying them on their sides on my cupboard.  I can truthfully say
that I have seldom had problems, unless I leave an eyepiece in the diagonal
and pointing up without using it for some length of time and it begins to
fog up,  Then I simply use my trusty small hair blower to give it a gentle
flow of warm air.  If the dewing or misting is only minor I find that, in
cold weather, I need only fan the thing with cold air, using a glove or
piece of cardboard or whatever.

Of course the air in Flatland is generally quite dry, so I don't encounter
all the dewing and frosting problems that some of you find in more humid
environments.  If, as today when the country is beautiful with frozen fog
all over the trees, indicating higher-than-normal humidity, I do encounter
some difficulty, I have found that the hair blower treatment suffices.

The hair blower also is used, of course, to remove dew or frost from the
corrector plate of my C11 when I forget to put on my dew shield.  But the
best use yet for the blower, one which I never even thought of [DING !!]
until  it was suggested by a non-observer confrere, is for keeping my hands
warm [and, with my diabetic condition and poor circulation, they do indeed
get cold, even with my usual equipment].  For the latter, on the suggestion
of a football coach for the Calgary team, I slather [hey, is that a good
word?] my hands with hand lotion and slip on a pair of surgical rubber
gloves. This creates a moisture barrier - and don't forget that cold hands
usually result from moisture loss through perspiration, even in cold
weather.  Over these gloves i put on a pair of those very light, white,
silver-threaded thermal gloves used by skiers as glove liners.  They really
work !  And they permit manipulation of equipment, drawing, writing, etc.
In between such activity I slip on an extra pair of heavier gloves or mitts.
By the way, mitts and sox made of the same kind of thermal material are
available in good sports stores.

And the hair blower?  Wow, it's great.  I simply slip it into a huge side
pocket of my down parka and hold it with my icy, gloved fingers inside the
pocket, making sure the air flow into the thing is not blocked - I sure
wouldn't want a short circuit and have the jacket catch on fire.  I use low
speed, and the warm air not only heats the hands, but the pocket as well,
which retains the heat a bit.

In spite of all this, and temps still down in the -20'x, the observing has
been the pits since I saw H/B after sunset last Sat. evening [at -28C ! ! !]

All the best,                   Lamplighter

Addendum:     Just after I wrote the above I went out half an hour before
sunset to catch H/B again.  It was a balmy -17C but a light wind made the
chill seem more like -30 !  I tried anyway, set the scope's circles on
Sidereal time and found Vega with no difficulty.  But as soon as I saw it I
knew I would have no luck with the comet.  The hoar frost of today indicated
icing and as a result high ice haze made Vega look like absolute mush -
difficulty even focusing.  So I closed up and came in.  Ah, well, another day...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 
"Qui historiam suam ignorat,
  puer semper manere destinatus"
"He who does not know history
  is destined to remain a child".
            -Cicero

Fr. Lucian J. Kemble, OFM
P.O. Box  220
LUMSDEN  SK  S0G 3C0
[306] 731 3316