I will open CRO at 5pm
Hopefully the rolloff roof and C14 will be useable.
All regular members and their invited guests will be welcome, no matter what!!
Come see the facility your dues contribution help make possible!!!
“Here are the heavens all joyfull,” Alcina (Handel)
After initially temporarily securing the roof after the strong winds, more stringent temporary repairs have been made on the roof. It is usable for All Members night Saturday, 3-22, providing we do not get strong winds again. Permanent repairs could be made as early as next week. Do not be surprised by some small holes in the roof where the sheet metal was ripped up. We do a great job of covering the scopes under the roof after use, and need to continue that. Thanks to the CRO Committee for the quick response on securing the roof panels after the damage was discovered and the more stringent repairs made today.
Ron M.
Excellent news, Ron! I am well aware of the small holes in the sheet metal, and will exercise every caution opening the C14 Observatory. Hearty thanks to the CRO members who furthered the temporary repairs!
I will open CRO at 5PM, clouds or not. Winds will be taken into consideration.
All members and their invited guests are welcome to experience the facilty., as always!!
Clear Skies!!
Weather permitting, I’ll open and operate the C14.
Thanks, Marv!
I will probably not be able to make it, but trying to arrange my schedule so I can come out for a least a bit.
Life has been crazy lately. I thought it would get calmer after I finally managed to sell my old house, but it’s gotten crazier, not calmer.
Im planning on going. Heres to clears skys.
Dru A
CRO is open!!
Temperature is 76. Skies are mostly clear. But the wind is from the south at 15-25 mph. Ran thru some blowing dust on the way out.
Will do maintenance and wait to see if the wind dies after sundown. The rolloff roof and/or dome will NOT be opened if the wind stays strong. But come out to see the facilities.
But it looks like clearer skies until after midnight. However i will be leaving long before that.
Thanks for being there to open tonight. I myself was thinking I’d be there too, but honestly just too tired.
How’s the grounds look? About time to mow?
CRO is closed.
We had 4 brand new members, plus Dru come out. Amazingly the wind died from about 8 to 9:30. For a full hour and a half, skies were clear.
I showed the new members around and helped Dan and his grandson with their AVX. Dru shared his astrophotography with Kevin and Carly.
Clouds started coming in from the SW. Skies got lighter from city reflections. The wind picked up and got chilly, so guests packed and left.
I did not open the rolloff roof. Members had their own scopes and set up on pads.
I ran the shopvac all over the 14" room floor to pick up the majority of dirt deposited by the dust storm.
Marv Halsey
You’re a champ, Marv! Glad they got a little bit of viewing in!
Our Messier Marathon is scheduled for the All Members Night at CRO this next Saturday, 29 March.
I’ll start this by saying the forecasts are not good. Partly to mostly cloudy all night. Clearing at Dawn. So be prepared for the Messier Marathon to be postponed, though we might get a little bit of regular viewing in right after sunset. But for the Marathon, we need clear to mostly clear skies the whole night.
Sunset is at 1954. (7:54pm). Sunrise is at 0723. The Moon sets at 2032, but is a new moon at 0.2%, so will not be a factor in any veiwing.
Temps will be in the 70s in the evening, going down to the low 50s at dawn. If it does clear, these will change, and will probably be colder. As always, dress for at least 20 degrees colder than the thermometer indicates! If you’re doing the Marathon, you’re going to be out all night, not moving much, and will have little, if any, time to go inside to get warmed up. Dress for mid-winter, not spring.
I will not be able to make it this weekend. Non-CRO members, ensure that a CRO member has volunteered to open CRO before you leave! It’s devastating to drive all the way out there only to find the gate locked!
The club will be awarding certificates again this year for the Messier Marathon. The criteria will be the same as last year. I’ll need to dig that out and will post it later today or tomorrow.
Please check back here for updates.
What Mitche said about the Messier Marathon. It’s an all-night challenge; but the weather doesn’t look favorable.
I will open CRO for all regular club members at 6:30. I will not be staying for the Marathon, so unless there is another CRO member to stay and lock up, regular members shouldn’t plan to stay the night.
Hopefully we’ll get some good viewing time in like we did last Saturday before the clouds rolled in and the wind came up!!
Clear Skies!
Thanks again, Marv, for volunteering to open CRO!
Messier Marathon 2025
(probably won’t occur this Satruday night, but we’ll use these for whenever we manage to hold it).
We will award club certificates for participants in the Messier Marathon at CRO tonight.
We’ll have four categories:
Manual Telescope
Go-to Telescope
Binoculars
EAA
In each category we’ll have 3 levels of accomplishment:
50% (55 objects observed)
90% (99 objects observed)
100% (110 objects observed)
To receive a OKCAC certificate submit your observation sheet to: observingcoordinator@okcastroclub.com. Certificates will be handed out at the meeting following the submission.
The club rules are simple. Observations must be completed in one night. Record your observations on an observation sheet (doesn’t matter which one you choose). Submit your observation sheet to the email address above. You must indicate at the top of the sheet what category you completed. For EAA observations, you must record an image of the Messier object, in addition to completing the observation sheet. Those should be posted on an online site for everyone to view and enjoy!
Observation sheets are available at CRO, though I’d recommend finding one online that you like, downloading and printing it before you go out. There are numerous sheets online you can find and print.
Tom McDonough has very generously provided a link to his Messier Marathon resourses at Messier Marathon Charts
I will NOT BE COMING OUT to open CRO tonight for severe weather reasons.
I suggest cancellation of the event to another date.
NWS:
This evening, the approaching wave aloft will bring additional lift
to the area. Thus, storm chances are expected to increase around
sunset. Elevated instability with MUCAPE values in excess of 2500
J/kg and bulk shear of 40 to 50 knots will be present across central
and into eastern Oklahoma. The BEST chance for storms will be along
the intersection of the cold front and dryline in northern Oklahoma
(roughly NORTH of I-40 and WEST of HWY-81) around 6-8 PM. Initial
single cell storms may develop, but with time are expected to grow
upscale along the frontal boundary late tonight into north central
Oklahoma (EAST of HWY-81 and NORTH of I-44) between roughly 8 PM and
midnight. The main threat with storms will be very large hail up to
2 inches in diameter with steep lapse rates and strong buoyancy.
expected, but damaging wind gusts also remain possible.
Travel to or from CRO may be hazardous, especially after dark.
Marv Halsey
I’m seeing that as well, thank you for the update!
ALL MEMBERS NIGHT FOR TONIGHT, 29 MARCH, IS CANCELLED!
I agree. The chance of hail is enough to completely cancel!
Please pass this on to anyone you know that doesn’t watch the forum! I’ll change it on the calendar.
Hopefully we can do the Messier Marathon on 19 or 26 April!
The next All Members Night is this Saturday, 19 April.
Sunset is at 2011.
Sadly, the forecast right now is for thunderstorms, so I doubt it will occur. Please keep checking back here to see if the weather cooperates or not.
Great news! Thunderstorms are no longer in the forecast for Saturday!
Of course it’s still predicted to be completely overcast and rainy all night.
ALL MEMBERS NIGHT FOR 19 APRIL IS CANCELED!
I don’t see any reason to wait to the last minute to cancel. Forecasts are usually pretty accurate 24-48 hours beforehand, and all the ones I’m looking at show completely overcast skies all night. Plus the NWS has issued a flood warning starting this evening through Sunday evening.
Hopefully next weekend will be better, but the long range forecasts for it are iffy, at best.