Singapore's worst astro weather ever

[starfinder]

For the record, I think we in Singapore have been going through one of, if not the, longest stretches of atrocious weather, astronomy-wise.

It has been very hazy nearly every day since the beginning of September to now, 6 weeks and running, thanks to the endless smoke pollution from our couldn't-care-less southern neighbour. Add to that, I reckon there is a lot of water vapour in the air, both near ground level and in the upper atmosphere. I've not seen any mid blue sky in the daytime since then, and at night, the sight of constellation stars is a fading memory. Nearly every night all I see is grey, grey and more indistinct grey, though it sometimes clears a little to reveal Jupiter, the Moon and Venus nearer dawn, albeit still surrounding by a fog of haze.

For those who've just arrived in Singapore, rest assured that this is unusual weather. Though we get smoke pollution haze from our couldn't-care-less southern neighbour once every 2 or 3 years in around August and September, this year it has been particularly bad and prolonged. They couldn't-care-even-less this year.

Sigh... I hope our sunny skies return soon! This is supposed to be a tropical isle! Let's all sing our childhood song for this:

Singapura, oh, Singapura,
Sunny island sets in the sea.
Singapura, oh, Singapura,
Pretty flowers bloom for you and me.
Come along join the song in merry singing,
Blend our voices,
Join in the chorus.
Singapura, oh Singapura,
Pretty flowers bloom for you and me.

Yes, let's hope it's not just the pretty flowers blooming, but the stars shining too!

[superiorstream]

Well,with weather like that,you can only photo the SUN!

[shirox]

well look on the bright side, at least we have some time to do some equipment maintenance. hahaha

[Mariner]

I agree man. The skies above central Yangon was much better that what we have here these past few weeks...

[Gary]

Singapore is going through a Fifty Shades of Grey weather phase. :p

[orly_andico]

heck the sky above central London last October was better than any 6-week stretch here...

[yltansg]

It was also very bad in Punggai this weekend Agree with Mr Chia that solar imaging is still possible, but also quite rare to have clear blue skies in the day time.

[Airconvent]

Be patient, the NE Monsoon will start in the next few weeks. And that will extinguish the fires plus blow the smoke the other way.

[rcj]

agree with starfinder whole-heartedly. It has been many weeks of either haze or passing clouds. it's difficult to even do decent imaging here in SG lately. It's the same in Malaysia as well. Two straight sessions of cloudy skies in Punggai for past two months. Perhaps it is the new mount curse too! Hope for clear skies soon! Meanwhile, back to doing other stuffs....

[Mariner]

agree with starfinder whole-heartedly. It has been many weeks of either haze or passing clouds. it's difficult to even do decent imaging here in SG lately. It's the same in Malaysia as well. Two straight sessions of cloudy skies in Punggai for past two months. Perhaps it is the new mount curse too! Hope for clear skies soon! Meanwhile, back to doing other stuffs....

Now we know the culprit!