Best weather app for AP in Singapore

[cytan299]

Hi everyone,
I used to use Astrospheric to check whether the sky will be clear for AP. Unfortunately, AP doesn't work in Singapore because the satellites it uses doesn't cover here. (Well, at least the free version deosn't). What's the best app to use in Singapore?

Thanks!

[jwqw8]

I rely on live images from the Himawari-8 weather satellite (https://www.data.jma.go.jp/mscweb/data/ ... p?area=ha4). Forecast apps are pretty hit-and-miss.

[cytan299]

I rely on live images from the Himawari-8 weather satellite (https://www.data.jma.go.jp/mscweb/data/ ... p?area=ha4). Forecast apps are pretty hit-and-miss.

Thanks! Looks like a great resource.

I've been here for the last three weeks and it's been raining or cloudy and raining or cloudy and raining or cloudy ... what are the best months to even think of doing AP?

cytan

[bernardchew]

There was reasonably good skies around southern skies on 29-04-2024 from about 10pm to 1am. I manage to make a few quick snaps of a few objects in the vicinity.

All taken with Askar FMA180 Pro with UV/IR filter on ZWO585MC (non-cooled), unguided.
Mount: iOptron CEM26 with ZWO Asiair Mini.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/r3hbBWbv8Sz8mstE8
Omega Centauri (30s)

https://photos.app.goo.gl/HjXS5iP8qsWv52yv9
NGC5128 (30s x 20) - Livestack

https://photos.app.goo.gl/aPNc9Yz9XG7mGdac6
M4 (30s)

https://photos.app.goo.gl/CpF5Tush19gMLb4U6
M24 (30s x 10) - Livestack

[cytan299]

Hi Bernard,
Thanks for sharing.

I'm curious how did you anticipate that the skies would be good? I was looking at the weather predictions on Monday and didn't see any clear sky predictions.

Also, have you marked the ground previously for Polar Alignment or have a semi-permanent setup ? 3 hours isn't that much time to set up from scratch and then do PA.

cytan

There was reasonably good skies around southern skies on 29-04-2024 from about 10pm to 1am. I manage to make a few quick snaps of a few objects in the vicinity.

All taken with Askar FMA180 Pro with UV/IR filter on ZWO585MC (non-cooled), unguided.
Mount: iOptron CEM26 with ZWO Asiair Mini.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/r3hbBWbv8Sz8mstE8
Omega Centauri (30s)

https://photos.app.goo.gl/HjXS5iP8qsWv52yv9
NGC5128 (30s x 20) - Livestack

https://photos.app.goo.gl/aPNc9Yz9XG7mGdac6
M4 (30s)

https://photos.app.goo.gl/CpF5Tush19gMLb4U6
M24 (30s x 10) - Livestack

[bernardchew]

If the iOS weather app’s precipitation map suggests light or little cloud cover for the night, I check the skies every 1-2 hours to see if skies are mostly transparent. I find that the equatorial weather here is just too changeable for any forecast to be reliable predictor of clear skies. If the skies are bad by midnight, I just give up and go to bed. It also helps that I recently (and intentionally) moved to a place where I have access to a roof terrace and hence do not have to travel elsewhere to observe. So setup and polar alignment with compass and Asiair takes about 15 minutes and after that I’m ready to start. A nice bonus is that the roof terrace is high enough so that street lamps are no longer a problem

Oh, btw, the iOS weather app suggests that most of Singapore should be clear of precipitation (ie rain) tonight between 10pm - 2am. Whether that means totally clear skies or not, will have to wait and see

[cytan299]

Hmmm, I only see cloudy skies although there's no precipitation tonight ...

Screenshot 2024-05-01 at 7.13.22 PM.jpg

I guess I'll have to have some experience to gauge whether the sky will be clear or not.

Thanks for the heads up that ASIAir is able to do PA without seeing Polaris. That's something new I learnt. I was planning to set up a pointing model after a rough PA. But that may take an hour to do even with a simpler Dec-Arc model. My initial setup will be in my yard but my balcony may be a possibility. I really won't know until my stuff arrives in June.

cytan

If the iOS weather app’s precipitation map suggests light or little cloud cover for the night, I check the skies every 1-2 hours to see if skies are mostly transparent. I find that the equatorial weather here is just too changeable for any forecast to be reliable predictor of clear skies. If the skies are bad by midnight, I just give up and go to bed. It also helps that I recently (and intentionally) moved to a place where I have access to a roof terrace and hence do not have to travel elsewhere to observe. So setup and polar alignment with compass and Asiair takes about 15 minutes and after that I’m ready to start. A nice bonus is that the roof terrace is high enough so that street lamps are no longer a problem

Oh, btw, the iOS weather app suggests that most of Singapore should be clear of precipitation (ie rain) tonight between 10pm - 2am. Whether that means totally clear skies or not, will have to wait and see

[PETER LOO]

Hi Bernard & cytan, yes indeed it is possible to do AP with just partially clear sky. (We can't image the whole sky all at one go anyway, unless using fish eye lens) so at worse, some subs may be discarded if found to be affected by the changing sky condition. cytan's Astro Physics Skymodelling is good. But then in fact Bernard's ASIAIR all sky polar aligment is also classified under pointing model polar alignment. With precise mechanical parts and high degree of equipment orthoganality couple with more iterations, one can achieve extremely precise polar alignment. Also, Bernard's Live Stacking images of the Globular Cluster Omega Centauri and Radio Galaxy CentaurusA are pretty impressive (High degree of clarity and good snr), well done !

[bernardchew]

So much for the iOS weather app and our Meteorological Service. A few hours after I posted, the forecast for the night changed from partly cloudy to cloudy, and it actually started raining at 11.30pm