Recent udpates about the Burke-Gaffney Observatory relevant to observers.
For more information, follow our group on Facebook: Robotic Imaging at BGO, MRO, & ARO
2024-July-11: The BGO has a new phone number! This toll-free number will ensure more reliable delivery to both Canadian and US phone numbers. Update your contact information to text the number 1-855-488-0029. See the page Text Messaging Help for more information about how to use the SMS interface. Here's an update that I posted to the Robotic Imaging at BGO, MRO, & ARO Facebook group:
BGO Socials Update: (new phone number!)
SMS Text Messaging Interface: BGO has a new toll-free phone number that can more reliably "chat" with US and Canadian phone numbers. If you're using SMS, update your contact! Find the new number here: https://observatory.smu.ca/bgo-useme/text-helpEmail Interface: For (too long), BGO had an issue with sending emails to some accounts, especially those with gmail emails. That issue was finally fixed this morning - I'll be reaching out to some observers individually, but at this point, BGO should respond to all emails without issue.Mastodon Interface: This is a (mostly) reliable interface. There is an occasional bug where some replies aren't successfully sent. It's on my radar.Facebook Interface: The telescope can still can READ all incoming messages just fine and acts on them immediately, but expect all replies to be super delayed, by days+. Again, it's on my radar but a fix will continue to be delayed.In the future, I'm interested in implementing a Bluesky interface and seeing how other social medias can be implemented, but I have many other things in-progress before that can happen!
2023-June-15: BGO is excited to announce support for Mastodon! Users of the social media platform Mastodon can interact with the BGO on its account at @BGO@observatory.social. Support for Mastodon comes as the future the Twitter interface is uncertain. Mastodon is open-source and free of corporate control and without advertising! Observers can request authorization from Mastodon accounts. If an observer would like to switch their main interface to Mastodon, use the #human command or contact the BGO by email.
2023-April-27: A #filters command has been added for all observers to quickly access information about the available filters at BGO. In the Email interface, a new #token command has been added for extra validation between Email users and the BGO. Find more information about how it works in the E-Mail Help page.
2022-October-13: Heads-up: student projects will be starting again soon and will likely take up many hours during clear nights in the next month or so.
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