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Hot take: cloudy nights are better for astrophotography than clear ones
Two weeks ago I had a perfectly clear Tuesday night, moonless sky, thought I'd finally get that Andromeda shot I've been after. Spent 4 hours out there fighting with tracking issues and dew on the lens, ended up with maybe 20 usable frames. Then last Thursday it was supposed to be overcast but I got a break in the clouds around midnight, grabbed 45 minutes of steady data on Orion before they rolled back in. The detail in the nebula from that short window blew away everything I got from that clear night. Am I crazy or does anyone else have better luck when conditions look worse on paper?
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fiona_west211mo ago
That 45 minute Orion shot sounds like a fluke if I'm being honest. I mean, I've had plenty of nights where a quick gap in clouds gave me okay results but nothing that really beat a full clear night. Maybe it's just me but I'd side with @jade517 on this one - your clear night probably had some bad atmospheric junk going on that you didn't catch. I've been in the same spot where I blamed clear vs cloudy but really it was just bad luck with the seeing conditions.
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vera_johnson91mo ago
Honestly, "blowing away everything" from that clear night is exactly how I'd describe it too. There's something magical about catching those windows of steady air between clouds.
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Sat here reading this and had to set my coffee down. You got Orion nebula detail out of a 45 minute gap between clouds that beat four hours on a clear night? That's either a miracle or your clear night had some serious atmospheric problems you didn't notice. I've had similar luck once with the moon through thin cloud cover, but never the whole nebula shot.
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