Thanks for the heads up!
I’ll be there tonight … plan on coming out early
Last night was near perfect! Alas, tonight’s forecast is not looking as good.
Weather Underground is showing some clouds, to moderate clouds. If so, could be good for visual observing! Astrospheric is showing a few clouds around sunset, clearing as the evening progresses.
I think I’ll come out tonight. Probably get there about an hour before sunset. If the weather clears, I may be there most of the night trying to capture the disintegrating exoplanet, BD+05 4868 Ab. I’ll bring my eV2 for the science observation and am thinking I’ll bring out my Celestron Origin again tonight. I got some very nice images with it last night!
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Agreed … last night was amazing. After a minor hiccup, I began my final imaging session around 0400 and left around (nautical) sunrise. Looking forward to this evening
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I’ll be out there tonight.
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I think we’re going to be ok. Cloud cover is moving south of CRO. The front is just about to pass over CRO. Rain is way west yet.
I’ll be giving Bill Farrer his final checkout on the C14. Then I’ll open the dome and run the 30" for members and guests, unless someone else does.
All Regular members and their invited guests are welcome!
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CRO is open!!! Come on out!
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I am not going to make it tonight after all - hope the viewing is spectacular for you guys!
We had about 9-10 members at CRO last night! It started with a few clouds and was a bit breezy, but after about an hour it cleared and the wind died. It was that way the rest of the night. A great night for viewing!
Marv did some training on both the 14" and the 30" and Bill is now a trained operator with the door code. Thanks Marv!
JBro got some shots with her S50 and did some visual observing with her Nexstar 8".
I got 6 hours of data on the disintegrating exoplanet, BD+05 4868 Ab, and am uploading it now to SETI. It was a worldwide effort, with folks checking in from multiple countries posting that they were recording the exoplanet. Hopefully we had at least one Unistellar telescope recording during the entire 22 hour window for capturing data.
I also did a science observation of the potential nova T CrB, and hopefully captured 40 minutes of data of the third interstellar object we’ve ever detected, Comet 2025 N1 ATLAS (3I Atlas).
I got several good images of nebulas with my Celestron Origin while I was doing the science observations with my eVscope 2. I’ll post those to my Astrobin account after I wake up.
I finally ran out of juice about 0500, closed up, and headed home.
All in all, it was one of the best All Members Nights at CRO we’ve had this year!
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I was thinking about going out last night but as lousy as my sleep has been of late it better be a GOOD night! The forecasts didn’t give me much confidence that’d be the case, so I didn’t go.
Thus, naturally, when I pulled up the all-sky cam about 10PM before bed and again at 5AM when I got up the sky looked perfectly clear! 
Probably would have total overcast if I’d showed up so… My sacrifice for your enjoyment?! 
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Thanks for all your citizen science work last night, Mitche! Fascinating to us all!! Disintegrating exoplanet. Wow!!!
Bill Farrer got his final checkout, and ran the C14 for members the rest of the time members were on site. Congrats, Bill!
Chris Varner went through the checklist process with me on the 30", then dug into the DSC manual and gained more experience with the controller. He brought up Saturn when it was high enough, and wowed the members and guests. We shut it down together and left the facility to the all-nighters.
The sky was cloudless after 10, but i thought the transparency was poor.
Still, everyone was pleased with both the visual and astrophotography that took place. That’s the nice balance all regular members can experience at CRO.
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I wasn’t sure how the night was gonna be, but I went anyway. When I go to CRO, I have alternate plans for CRO or another (photo) location. It’s not wasted time & effort
Thank you, Marv, for the time you spent with me and the C14 over the past few months. Your effort is sincerely appreciated. I have been well trained and feel very confident going forward. Getting Saturn in the eyepiece was quite a surprise, I was attempting to view Neptune. Had a pretty decent view of numerous star clusters, the Cat’s Eye Nebula, Ring Nebula, Dumbbell Nebula, Lagoon Nebula. I really enjoyed the talk time I had with everyone
**Seestar S50 drivers: Before I left SATURDAY morning, I saw this horse running around…
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Thank you for your sacrifice, Joe! I almost didn’t go either, since I’d been out there most of the night before and the conditions looked marginal for imaging. But sometimes those marginal nights turn out fantastic! And, sadly, sometimes they don’t.
Wow! Very nice image of the dark horse with that teeny weeny scope, Bill! It’s amazing what it can capture. I hope you got a lasso on the wild horse!
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Aaaaah. The coffee finally stopped brewing. Nectar of the Gods.
Here’s a couple of pics from last night, courtesy of Jeremy Macy. Thanks Jeremy! I get so focused on getting images of the night sky, I usually forget to take general shots of events.
Marv on the 30"
Several folks watching me trying to capture some data for SETI.
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I’ve gotten several requests for copies of the images I took with my Origin last Saturday. So here’s one image of the Pacman Nebula I took, plus my Astrobin site where you can see more from last weekend, plus other images I’ve taken in the last few years. Those images are available for download, but I request you attribute them to me if you republish them somewhere. If you want to publish them for profit, please contact me about that.
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The next OKCAC All Member night at CRO is on Saturday, Sep 20th.
Sunset is at 7:33pm and it is a New Moon.
If you’re planning to come out, please post on here that you are going. I will not be going out for this one or the next one. Several Club members will be at the Okie-Tex Star Party.
We need at least one CRO member that is not going to be at Okie-Tex to volunteer to open CRO for both All Member Nights in September.
If you can do so, please post on here that you will open the observatory for our non-CRO club members and guests. If no one volunteers to open, we may have to cancel, no matter the weather, as a lot of our most active CRO members will be in the panhandle both Saturdays.
I’ll be happy to open CRO for All Member Nights 9/20 and 9/26, about an hour before sunset…unless it’s going to rain, or another CRO member gets there before i do.
Clear skies to all the Okie-Tex attendees!
Marv
Thanks Marv! We’ll be there in spirit from the panhandle!