MnAstro Forums

Well... Astronomy Life is not looking too happy here for the upcoming Virgo Venture. The Brits are saying the Friday will be super-crappy until 1:00am and Saturday is only slightly better. The Americans are saying 50% cloud cover and possible showers on Friday and Saturday has the cloud cover climbi...

Greetings all, The 2nd 'official' MAS star party is just around the corner! The Virgo Venture is scheduled for the weekend of May 26/27, with Friday, May 26 being the primary night and Saturday, May 27th being the backup. The purpose of the Virgo Venture is to observe 25 galaxies in and around the c...

Greetings all, Congrats to all of you who attended the Messier Marathon last night. We had somewhere around 20 people in attendance - which is great! Lots of new members; lots of old members. Suresh Sreenivasan took first place w/ 53 Messiers - which is really quite good considering that the Brits w...

Yes - it is at cherry grove. Glad you're coming!

Greetings all, The Messier Marathon for tonight – Friday, March 31st – is ON. The weather forecast is not perfect and it will frustrate the serious Messier Marathoner, but should be good enough to want to be under the stars tonight - which is, really, what it's all about! Here are the deets: 1. NOAA...

Greetings all, The weather forecast is looking a bit better for tomorrow night. The Canadians are predicting mostly nice blue boxes; the English are suggesting there will be lots of cirrus clouds, and NOAA is predicting 30% to 17% to 39% to 27% cloud cover for the evening/morning. Saturday looks wor...

Greetings all, Four days out, the weather looks iffy. While the Canadians (Clear Sky Chart) won't predict until Thursday, both the Americans (NOAA) and the English (Clear Outside) are suggesting 'iffy'. Clear Outside is suggesting that there will be a decided break in the clouds between 7:00 pm and ...

Greetings all, The Messier Marathon - and the 'official' start of the observing season is one week away at CGO! Despite challenges with roll-off roofs and cattle, the clouds will open the way for us. I'll be posting weather updates as we get closer to the weekend. Time to dust off those scopes if yo...

Greetings all, The Messier Marathon - and the start of the official observing season - is FOUR WEEKS FROM TONIGHT!!! It's not too soon to begin to prepare for the event (is it ever too soon to prepare to observe?). For more information, check out the Messier Marathon page at http://www.mnastro.org/m...

Greetings fellow photon chasers, The time for the annual MAS Mini-Messier Marathon at CGO is upon us! The dates are Friday, September 30th, with Saturday October 1st being the alternate. Rob Zylka will again be your host for the evening. As with all of the Major MAS Star Parties, this one will have ...

Greetings All, We have star parties at CGO and LLCC this weekend, and a star party at CGO next weekend. If you are planning to attend any of these, please consider letting others know by responding to this thread. As always, check the weather before heading out. There is no official GO/NO GO call fo...

I've been reminded of some prior responsibilities for tomorrow. It is now doubtful I will make it to CGO.

Thanks for bringing the water!

The B.A.D. is a 24" StarMaster Dobsonian, lovingly known as the Big A__ Dobsonian. I don't know who originally called it that, but that's what it's known as. Ken Hugill (Huggy) can shed more light on this. If I'm not mistaken, it was the first large dob to be purchased by the MAS. Now I believe...

Is anyone planning to head down to cherry grove this evening? The skies are looking hopeful.

We now have three separate countries telling us what to do: the Canadiens (CSC), the Americans (NOAA), and now the Brits (clear outside). One things is certain (or at least more certain): when all three agree on clear skies, we have a better chance of having a good night! Last night at LLCC, The onl...

Greetings all, Just a reminder that Star Parties are scheduled for the next two weekends - July 1st/2nd, and July 8th/9th or both CGO and LLCC. If you are plannng to attend, considering adding your name to this thread and encourage your fellow photon-eers to join you. Just remember that no official ...

Greetings, With the advent of the 2013 star party calendar,( and all following years), the MAS board has decided to alter the current policy for determining the Go/ No Go status of star parties at Cherry Grove and LLCC. In the past, the Go/No Go decision was made by the Observing Chair. However, wit...

Greetings all! I'm so pleased that everyone had such a great time at the Virgo Venture! Thanks to Rob for taking over. Chris Setnes asked earlier in this thread about how to improve one's observational logs. I've attached a list of questions that I picked up from the Nebraska Star Party a few years ...

Congrats to all who made last night's Virgo venture a success! Please post some comments!

Greetings all, Everything looks good for the Virgo Venture tonight! Not only are the Canadians and the Americans agreeing on the forecast, but the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency has downgraded the CGO area to 'Good'. There may still be quite a bit of haze on the atmosphere, which will make it mo...

Greetings all,

Due to the smoke issues, I am going to wait to post the GO-NO GO until 3:30-ish. The weather is fine; it's a question of health and smoke. Stay tuned...

The Virgo Venture scheduled for tonight, Friday, May 6th, 2016 at Cherry Grove is called OFF - NO GO . NOAA is calling for 74% chance of rain and a 30% chance of rain. Tomorrow night looks much better. A GO/NO GO decision for tomorrow - Saturday - will be posted tomorrow by 4:00 pm.

Greetings all,

The Virgo Venture for tonight, Friday, May 6th - is called OFF. NOAA is calling for 74% cloud cover and a like chance of rain. Tomorrow night looks much, much better.

Greetings all,

The skies are looking better for Saturday night as NOAA is calling for rain for Friday night. The Canadians haven't weighed in on Saturday yet, but they are agreeing with the Americans about Friday. I'll post the GO/NO GO tomorrow afternoon before 4:00 pm.

I'm fine - I made the mistake of agreeing to attend the Back Mesa Star Party before I realized the it was the same weekend as the Virgo venture.

Thanks for being concerned, Deane!