Observatory and garden
Telescope and mount
Roof section open
Deskspace
My Observatory
My observatory is in the garden of our home in Swanage, Dorset, England. It was built to be in keeping with the garden which is Doreen's pride and joy (mine too of course). Consequently I chose a double-roll-off pitched roof on a 6ft x 8ft wooden shed with stone cavity wall as the bottom 2ft. The join between the two roof halves is protected by a ridge capping which, when the first half has been opened, is easily lifted onto the second half which is then also opened. Each roof section rolls out on a bridge runner that slots into the side wall and onto a permanent post. Counterbalance weights make for effort-free opening.
The observatory houses an LX200 10" Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope mounted on a pier constructed of buider's blocks and with a home-made equatorial mount. I also use a CCD camera for most of my observing. This is an SBIG ST7e camera with the Adaptive Optics unit. For colour work I use RGB filters which can be fitted into a holder between the AO and the CCD. I have a selection of camera lenses which can be mounted on a piggy-back bracket on the telescope with the CCD camera attached.
The telescope and the CCD camera are controlled by a computer using my own software for the telescope control. I also use my own software for some of the image processing.
Click on the mini picture to see the big picture
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Observatory and garden |
Telescope and mount |
Roof section open |
Deskspace |