We are interested in backyard astronomy, and our new house is located in an area of fairly dark skies, with enough land to allow clearing about ¾ acre to build an observatory with a 30° horizon. Our former observatory was squeezed into a quarter-acre clearing, and the surrounding tall trees severely limited the view. These photos show the former observatory and a sketch of the proposed new one.
Dennis finished the burning, and graded the observatory clearing yesterday. This photo is a 360° panorama from the observatory site, and shows the horizon the telescope will see. The north, northeast, and northwest horizons are more obstructed than we had hoped, but overall, the view is much better than at the former site.
This animation compares the new horizon with the old one. It was made before some additional clearing lowered the northern and eastern horizons, so it doesn't exactly match the panorama above.
Compare this picture with the one below it. Most of the pile has been comsumed, and only a couple of stumps remain. This photo gives a sense of the local horizon. The observatory will be located down the gentle slope behind and to the left of the ash pile. A garden will be planted directly behind the pile.
Dennis began burning the trees that were cut in February to expand the clearing so the telescope will have a 30° horizon nearly all the way around
We finished wiring the power and connectivity cables from the house to the observatory area. This photo shows the post holding water and electrical power, with the connectivity cable service head in the foreground.
Dennis dug the trench from the house to the observatory for power, water, and Ethernet.
Mike, Louise, and daughter Miranda marked trees to be removed from the observatory area. Mike sighted through a theodolite set to 30° to identify the too-tall trees, then Louise and Miranda sprayed orange marking paint on them.
Here is the Clear Sky Chart for the new location.
During construction of the new house, the general contractor is using a portion of the observatory area to burn the trees removed during clearing. This photo shows the burn pile and the future observatory site. It's hard to believe that this area will be completely clear in a few months.
The new observatory will be named Hundred Oaks Observatory for obvious reasons.
This is an example of our astronomy photography. Click here to see the former observatory and equipment, plus other astronomy images (opens in a new browser window; close it to come back here).
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