Tag observatory

Checking out the Celestron

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The Celestron C-11 telescope immediately after installation on the observatory mount, pointing straight up during balancing efforts.

Last night we finally had an opportunity to check out the C-11 in the observatory. The 24-year-old scope had languished in storage for maybe a year or more after daytime collimation efforts without real world tests.

The black tube of the telescope points up, through the red-illuminated dome interior, towards a mostly-cloudy sky. Our First Quarter Moon shines brightly through the clouds. A bright speck of light is visible above and to the left of Moon; it’s planet Jupiter and clouds closed in before we could take a look through the telescope!

The sky was mostly clear until, of course, we opened the dome. Viewing Moon through “sucker holes” between clouds, things looked great. We attached the DSLR and shot some tests; things looked okay, if a bit dark through the viewfinder, though not outstanding. Clouds closed in solidly before we could reinstall an eyepiece and take a really critical look. We closed up. Checking the images on the computer we discovered all of them out of focus.

There is the possibility the camera did not interface well on the telescope. Perhaps the atmosphere in those sucker holes was shaky. We’ll check again and collimate on the next clear night.

A little extra … domy

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The gray observatory is surrounded by accumulated and drifting snow. The dome itself wears an extra dome of accumulated snow.

Recent arctic-air frigid weather has brought real winter weather to our region for the first time in a few seasons. Snowfall over the past 48 hours amounted to 10 or 12 inches of light, flaky, fluff. Nighttime below-zero low temperatures have erased any thought of going out; skies have been cloudy, anyway, preventing guilt and regret. So the dome remains sealed though pointed to the south for midday solar observations. If we ever see Sun again.

Snow, sunshine, and a nuthatch

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First Winter: Stella-Luna with a coating of snow, some of which is sloughing off, closed up and waiting for the occasional day or night with clear skies.

With overcast skies, overnight temperatures of about 9°F, and five-plus inches of snowfall over the past 48 hours, we’re pretty much buttoned down. Of course, changeable as weather is, they’re forecasting sunshine tomorrow, and 47° with rain by Thursday! Yeah, you saw “sunshine” mentioned but we have a healthy level of doubt where clear skies lately are concerned. In the meantime, there is snow to shovel and birds to watch… Oh! That’s a red-bellied nuthatch!

Observatory interior showing the telescope mount without telescope, the instruments having been stowed awaiting better sky conditions. After some test runs we’re still deciding on which scope might be designated as the “permanent” observatory instrument; some shopping is also happening.

First snow

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The observatory, with a dusting of snow on its dome, sits with a background of snow-encrusted trees. Lake effect snowfall resumed after this photo was made.

The first snow of the season arrived overnight producing, for the observatory, a beautiful daytime scene. Ground heat cleared the pavers around the structure but continued cold weather will change that — we’ll likely have to start shoveling soon. Several days of snow chances lie ahead with clear skies are expected during the day on Thursday, November 13.

Clear night, Moon bright

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November 3, 2025 — The air was still and the moon so bright and clear tonight, we had to open up the observatory long enough to take a peek and a pic! Moon was 92% illuminated in its waxing gibbous phase, lighting the landscape around us, no flashlight required. Technical: Askar 103 APO telescope, TeleVue Powermate 2X Barlow, Canon EOS 5D Mk. 4 DSLR, single exposure.

It fits! Pretty much.

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October 20, 2025 — So how well does the Meade LXD75 6-inch achromat fit under the dome? Actually, pretty well! Shooting the sun this afternoon was (outside of seeing conditions) not bad. The scope is about four feet in length, not counting imaging and observing add-ons, and the objective end swings well inside the dome. Access to the eyepiece and camera was good. Not much room to get past the visual end, however, so we’ll see! Main thing is, it fits. Pretty much.

At long last, here we go!

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A big blue canopy set up to provide shade for work assembling the observatory dome that sits beneath it. Once assembled, the dome, weighing in at 350 pounds complete, will need to be manually lifted, moved, and placed atop a yet-to-be-assembled curved base wall.

The big Saia freight truck pulled up in front in the early afternoon July 10. The ready-to-assemble (RTA) observatory had arrived on two pallets weighing about 625 pounds each. After struggles getting it off the truck, aided by its very helpful driver, and with unexpected help from a neighbor, we stowed the base wall components in the garage. I moved the dome halves myself to a patio space adjacent to the observatory site where they are to be assembled.

Withering hot weather and a severe summer cold (ironic?) halted progress on the observatory dome assembly for several days. This afternoon, July 14, hoping to dive into the work tomorrow morning, I set up a canopy for sun protection. The portable shade along with a good electric fan ought to help extend the day’s work time until I can’t stand the heat!

At long last, here we go!

Arriving at last!

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It has been a long, and bumpy road but, at long last, our SkyShed POD-S observatory structure is arriving! Delivery is set for tomorrow, July 10, via freight truck. Wrangling the large and heavy parts of the RTA (ready-to-assemble) building from street to site will be challenging but I think / I hope I can manage it. One looming problem: once put together, hoisting the assembled dome to rest upon the round base wall is a task that I’m uncertain how we’ll accomplish — the thing will weigh 350 pounds! I’ll need several strong people to help lift the dome but don’t know where they’ll come from.

In the mean time, I’ve assembled a collection of tools and materials required for the assembly, the building permit is in place, and so we forge ahead.

It’s SkyShed Observatory’s POD-S

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Rendering of a small, white, domed observatory on a black background. Image Credit: SkyShed Observatories.
A design rendering of the SkyShed POD-S Mark 4 – Tall observatory. Image Credit: SkyShed Observatories.

Following the evaporation of our first observatory deal we revisited our pre-purchase research from two years ago. We quickly settled upon the SkyShed Observatories POD-S Mark IV in this project reset. Today we placed our order and paid for the ready-to-assemble kit.

While we were originally hoping for fiberglass construction, the POD-S is built from double-walled polyethylene — much the same as plastic garden sheds. The material actually provides some advantages over other construction but presents an interesting issue: daytime IR heating. It seems white poly is translucent to infrared light (solar heat rays) which causes the interior to heat up. We chose a light gray color which, while not the classic choice for a dome or observatory, we are told will allow less of interior heating, as it blocks more IR than the white color reflects. This flies in the face of the usual reflective white or metallic silver specified for observatories but those buildings aren’t made of polyethylene.

We don’t have production or delivery schedule information at this time (the order’s brand-new) but there are other things to do such as acquiring a new building permit, pulling electrical wire to the telescope pier site, building a warm/control room in a nearby shed.

Good News / Bad News

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The bad news is that the deal we made for an observatory building is dead after two years of waiting. We received the news via email this morning. The final straw was that the manufacturer was unable –due to factors outside of his control– to ship the finished package! At a financial loss due to packaging costs, he canceled the deal and will issue a refund. The problem was so bad for him, he’s leaving the US market entirely!

The good news is that we have selected a product we had researched two years ago, along with our original choice. Ironically, we originally bypassed this manufacturer because it was going to be two years before their product could be shipped. Now they ship in 6 to 8 weeks!

We’ll post pictures and identify the new choice once we’ve closed that deal. We’re actually feeling pretty good about this. Except for the time lost not having an observatory.