Though Okie-Tex doesn’t start for 2 more days, and very tired from helping to set up, it was so nice tonight that I fired up my Origin and took a quick image of the Pacman Nebula.
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Very nice, Mitche.
I love star trails like that.
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Winds were gusty tonight, but nowhere close to as strong as predicted. It’s actually calm right now, but I’ve got to get some sleep and can’t stay up to take advantage of the calm. Here’s the Bubble and Cave Nebulas I got with my Origin this evening. Used a nebula filter.
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Keep em coming! Those are all awesome 
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We had the high winds I was expecting last night hit us. And the sky was hazy at best, and often obscured. But I still managed to get a couple of images. Here’s the Trifid Nebula and the Heart Nebula. From my Origin. Too windy for my other, lighter, smart scopes.
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The forecast was terrible. Probably no rain, but steady winds over 20mph, with gusts up to 45mph. Clouds moving in after midnight!
Well the forecasters got it wrong again!
We had calm winds all night long, not even any dew. We did have some lightning in the west, and it was partly cloudy about 0100, but overall, it was a good night.
I have no images to post, not because of the weather, but because I had multiple equipent failures. I tried to get the Squid Nebula, Sh 2-12, with my Origin, but even after two hours, nothing really appeared in the image.
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We had (have) near perfect conditions tonight.
And I had more success with equipment. Here is IC 5146.
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We had another great evening, until about 0130-0200. Clouds started moving in and I went to bed. I got up about 0430 to a heavy mist. Blah day today. Cool and low clouds. More drizzle and probably some heavier rain this evening.
My eVscope 2 is DOA until I can replace the battery.
I fixed the storage problem on my Odyssey and did a lot of science observations last night.
My Origin is running great! I did a 6 panel mosaic (a new feature) with it last night, of the Heart Nebula. 30 minutes. A 3 hour session that ended just as the clouds were moving in.
Here’s the mosaic. Needed a longer exposure, but not enough time.
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M-33 Triangulum Galaxy by chris varner, on Flickr
This shot was taken in Kenton, Oklahoma on Oct 14, 2026 at the OkieTex 2026 Star Party.
Equipment:
1624 mm AT8RC OTC
ZWO-183 MC Pro Camera
720 mm Meade Newtonion Guide Scope
QHY-5-II-M Mono Guide Cam
Camera Configuration:
Cooled to -5 C
Gain set at 100
9 - 300 s Subs
1 - 900 s Sub
Integration Time: 1 hour
Software:
NINA
PHD
PixsInsight
Adobe Photoshop Elements
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Wonderful images, ALL! Thanks!!
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Milky Way Fireball by chris varner, on Flickr
I’ve never seen one of these with my eyes. I’ve seen shooting stars, but I’m always looking for a car with annoying headlights when it is actually a fireball.
This one occurred at 3:49 am on October 11, 2026 at Camp Billy Joe near Kenton in Oklahoma’s Panhandle. It was taken with a Nikon d5600 using an 8mm Fisheye lens, an f3 AR, and an iso of 25600. Up is North and right is West.
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All of these are great. Thank you.