Once you open the roof, the *air* inside your observatory will come
to outside temperature in a few minutes. What you have to worry
about is the heat capacity of the materials in your walls and floor.
The walls and floor themselves have to come to the ambient
temperature or you'll have air currents. Wood is good; concrete
isn't.

Ideally, you would keep the inside of the observatory at the expected
outside nighttime temperature at all times. But this would require
active controls. It's easier to just open your roof at sunset; by
the end of twilight you'll probably be pretty good. If not, a big
fan will probably do the trick.

I wouldn't worry about the equipment. So long as it stays dry you'll
be OK. Although some of the electronic items probably shouldn't be
*operated* above 100F; storage is probably OK; check your user's
manual.

The thing that will cool the slowest is probably the primary of your
telescope. That big fan above would probably be a big help here,
too; just point it at the scope and wait.

(Caveat: all the above is from theory; my observatory isn't even
started yet :-(

Bill Arnett
http://www.seds.org/billa/
"Science is a way of trying not to fool yourself." -- Richard Feynman

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