We are interested in backyard astronomy, and Mike makes photographic images of deep-space objects such as this one. Visit our astronomy website to see additional images and equipment details. (Page opens in a new browser tab or window. Close it to return here.)
Our former observatory (left photo) was squeezed into a quarter-acre clearing surrounded by trees that severely limited the view. But our new house has enough land for a clearing with a 30° horizon. The new observatory is 45% larger and has a much better view.
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This is a 360° panorama from the observatory interior in 2018, and shows the horizon the telescope sees. North is a bit more obstructed than we had hoped, but overall, the view is much better than at the former site.
Here is the new horizon compared to our former site. The expanded viewing area is dramatic.
The remainder of this page shows how Dennis, our general contractor, prepared an area for the new observatory in 2010. But it was 2017 before we found time to ubuild it. Click here to see that project.
Here is the Clear Sky Chart for the new location.
During construction of the new house, Dennis is using a portion of the observatory area to burn the trees removed during clearing of the house site and driveway. 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.
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.
Dennis dug this trench from the house to the observatory for power, water, and Ethernet.
Louise and Mike laid the pipe and cables in the trench from the house to the observatory area, and Dennis backfilled it. A 4x4 post holds water and electrical power, and the gray service head has connectivity cables.
In February, we hired workers to clear additional trees because the original clearing left a horizon that was higher than 30° in too many places. Today Dennis began burning those trees.
Dennis finished the burning, and graded the observatory clearing yesterday. The left photo shows the burning in progress. Compare the right photo, where most of the pile has been comsumed, and only a couple of stumps remain. This photo gives a sense of the local horizon looking north and east. The observatory will be located down the gentle slope behind and to the left of the ash pile.
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Updated May 23, 2023