This is the next installment on the cloud detection project. This time I am starting to test out hooking up an MLX90614 or two to an Arduino and try out pointing it to the sky in the aim of get some interesting results.

Just as a friendly warning: calculations done here are rough and ready - don't write to me to say that the cat died because of some experiment based on anything shown here. It's all at your own risk, however, just remember the great Mr Churchill's wise words:

The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes.

With that in mind, onwards with the experiments...

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This project has its roots in a discussion I had a while back with a friend who is a keen amateur astronomer. He had been complaining to me about how he thought that there was a distinct lack of cloud free nights in our corner of Northern Lincolnshire. In fact, he suggested, the weather was so poor that it was hardly worth having a telescope at all.

Okay, so maybe that last sentence was a little exaggeration, but his argument certainly got me thinking - how many clear nights are there in the year? Being a bit of a skeptic, I am sure that the night sky is clear on many more nights than my friend suggests.

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