The weather has improved after the furious storm yesterday, giving way to lots of puffy cumulus fast moving clouds. Visibility increased by several miles. In the morning I was able to call Taiwanese Morning Doves. They have a slightly different song compared to their American counterparts. It's a mother bird talent I developed after my Indian heritage friend taught me the technique when I was growing up. Becoming more with nature and talking to the early bird Doves is very relaxing.
Tent Results
After the storm, the observatory tent was checked - no leaks or tears, and the inside telescope with 3 coverings remained in good condition. For safety, I did shut off the electricity to the mount and to the computer outlet in case of flooding. Also the small sliding door gap through which the wires pass to the telescope made a fierce howling noise but fortunately no rain came in.
Cloud Gapping
The above photo shows a large gap between the clouds which often occurs at night, making planetary imaging possible for the required short stints of activity. Gaps contain a certain amount of haze and water vapor which has several effects on planetary imaging.
Haze as a Filter
The changing light vapor haze acts like a variable filter and this will undoubtedly become the subject of future wavelength experiments and analysis.
Telescope Mount Work
If this weather holds up without any more afternoon bouts of rain, the telescope will be opened up and work will commence on the Celestron mount. Work won't last long to avoid heat stroke. Maybe the locals can take the heat better than me. I was born on a snow day and raised in cool northern country with snow. Moving to a tropical center does have its advantages however (super seeing conditions) and disadvantages (super heat and humidity).
Work Point by Point
The current temp is 118 deg. F. so the new idea is to work quickly point by point, one step at a time on the mount, solving one issue as quickly as possible, in 5 or 10 minute stints.
Revamp the Ramp - Point Number One
The telescope previously was ramped up on the ledge to gain added inches of space, now deemed dangerous in the event of an earthquake. In the new config, the mount is now flat and no longer ramped. The granite lip is actually containing the telescope mount and helping it to resist from buzz-vibration sliding in the East-Southeast direction.
Duct Tape to the Rescue - Point Number Two
The active water spigot which periodically is bumped which begins the action of flooding the floor was fixed with a good dose of good ol' American Duct Tape. Think of it, it saved NASA Apollo 13 astronauts to build a CO2 scrubber, patched Watney's cracked helmet on Mars (in The Martian), and now provides a good fix for my observatory!
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