CGO This weekend Aug 2/3

[heinerv]

Well, tonight isn't looking too good for weather, however, who knows. I'm planing on going tomorrow night. Let's hope that the forecast doesn't get worse. If you do go down tonight, a couple of points. First, the power post on the west side is working.'
Second, the BAD shed has be removed. However, we have not had time to saw off the tie down bolts sticking out of the concrete slab. Be careful, they will be a tripping hazard.
Third, the 12" telescope in the new observatory is not quite ready for use. Also, the south flip down panel still needs work. And finally we would like you to attend a training session for rolling off/on the roof so you fully understand how it works before you use it on your own.
Fourth, if you want to use the BAD there are no problems. Just open the new observatory, walk back to the double doors, open and we have rods on the bottom of the door to hold them open in place. You can now roll the BAD out and power it up with an extension cord back to the new observatory. If you are unsure, we are having a BAD training session next weekend.

[gunnar2]

I may go down tonight and bring a friend looks partly cloudy. Slightly better forecast for tommorrow

[Enberg]

I'm looking at tomorrow night (Saturday). I might try JCasby tonight since it's a shorter trip in case the weather doesn't cooperate.

[heinerv]

For those who went down on Friday Aug 2, how was it. Still planning on tonight, Saturday.

[SEmert]

I'm planning to come down tonight (Saturday) as well.

[Deane Clark]

Saturday night was a bit disappointing. It really looked like it was going to clear up on the weather sites before I went down, and there was tantalizing clear sky to the N and W most of the night, but this stubborn broken cloud cover seemed to park itself over CGO. I think I had to wait a half hour for a long enough clearing over Polaris to align my mount.

I stayed until about 1:00 AM, but it didn't get any better. Besides clouds, it also got foggy. Luckily, the area around Sagittarius was clear most of the time. If you have to make do with sucker holes, that's a pretty good one. Still the best night of the year so far for me - that's what kind of year it's been.

[Enberg]

Saturday night could've done with a tiny bit of breeze. As it was, slow-moving clouds drifted in and out, and eventually dew and ground fog were a nuisance. Transparency was average, and seeing was pretty good. I logged about six objects on my list for binocular deep sky objects. We locked up and left about 1 am when the fog took over.

For anyone coming to star parties in the next few weeks, there is a marked detour just north of Cherry Grove - the observatory location is before the section that is being repaired, so we count as "local traffic only" - just drive on past the signs.

[heinerv]

Don't use me for evaluating when to go to CGO. It's obvious that Friday night was better. We did get the tie down bolts on the BAD pad cut off, so that hazard is gone. Maybe next weekend. Remember we have BAD training scheduled then.