As a dedicated observer of variable stars, I try to observe on every clear or mostly clear night.  Here in Michigan, that amounts to 120-160 nights per year on average.  Driving out to my observing sites, setting up, observing, tearing down, driving back home and then typing out and emailing nightly reports can begin to seem like a full time job instead of an enjoyable hobby.  In the winter, when the nights are long and the skies are clearest, this also means enduring temperatures and wind chill below zero.  A permanent observatory has been a dream of mine on many a clear, cold night.

My original plan was to construct a roll-off roof structure so that I would still be able to see the entire night sky.  However, after a particularly clear, yet windy January night, observing on the grounds of Stargate, my astronomy club’s observatory, the benefits of a domed structure became quite evident.  Outside, exposed to wind chill approaching –20F, the conditions were unbearable.  Inside the dome I was able to remove my gloves.  I was sheltered from the wind and stray light from passing automobiles and I didn’t have to worry about dropping some small part or my pen in the 6” of snow that covered the ground outside.

I purchased my observatory from Boyd Observatories on February 19, 2000.  I was able to stack the fiberglass cylinder sections in the bed of my pick up and transported the dome (also fiberglass) on a flat trailer.  All the hardware fit in a box on the passenger seat.  I got the pieces inside the barn at my father's place just as a major snowstorm hit.  I was understandably anxious to assemble the observatory and try it out, so the next day I assembled the cylinder in the barn.  I was able to do this by myself in about 90 minutes.  All the holes were pre drilled and it all fit together nicely.  After plowing the snow from the turnaround drive, my father and I slid the cylinder onto a 2x4 truss, hooked a chain to it, and dragged it with a tractor to a somewhat level spot on the drive.  We carried the dome over and popped it on the cylinder and bang… instant observatory.

Upon seeing it for the first time, my step-mother commented that it looks like R2D2 from Star Wars.  The name seems to have stuck.  Before constructing the pier for the scope and pouring a concrete pad, I wanted to use the observatory to work out the bugs and determine the optimum position and height for the equatorial wedge.  Fortunately, that night it was clear enough to polar align the scope and do some observing.  It became apparent right away that I needed to get the axis of the fork arms higher or the view closer to the horizon would be lost. Unfortunately, if I raised the whole assembly higher this would prevent me from being able to sit while observing (one of the advantages of owning a SCT) and I’d need a ladder to see into the eyepiece when the telescope was pointed more or less level.

I decided to raise the floor instead!  I did this by filling the bottom with 4" of tamped gravel, an inch of slag sand and paving bricks.  With over a ton of materials holding down the cylinder it should be able to withstand our ferocious spring storms and tornadoes.  I also laid pavers around the outside to keep mud and debris off the cylinder and to give me dry ground to approach the door and to do maintenance and cleaning of the outside.

The pier was made from a 7' steel pole, filled with sand.  There is an oversize plate on the bottom to prevent it from settling, two 32" deadmen a couple feet underground to prevent it from twisting or leaning in the hole and a custom welded and pre-drilled plate on top to attach the equatorial wedge to.

After trenching and installing electrical service to the dome site it was finally time to set the pier in the ground.  I had noted the compass position on the tripod and the offset from magnetic north so I would be sure to get the pier pointed in the right direction when we set it in the daytime.  So, with compass in hand I set up a string line to mark celestial north and the level of the bottom of the observatory cylinder. We nudged the pier down into the trench, lined it up and buried it a couple inches at a time, compacting gravel around it all the way up. The electrical boxes were wired about 20" down and then the pier was buried the rest of the way.  At this point it was about an hour before dark and I was getting anxious to set the wedge on the pier and line it up on the celestial pole.

Darkness finally settled in.  I placed the wedge on the pier and started to adjust the azimuth.  CRAP!  Somehow my compass reading had been off about 5 degrees too far east and I didn't have enough travel in the adjuster to compensate for the error.

The next day I began digging out the pier.  Chipping through 30+ inches of compacted gravel is not fun-or easy.  We got down to the deadmen and used a 5' pry bar to twist the pier in the hole to line up with the string line we had marked on Polaris the night before and reburied the pier.  About the time we were finishing up, a friend stopped by to chat and inquire about the project.  Somehow the conversation wandered to therapeutic magnets and their dubious benefits.  My wife convinced me last year to try them for my feet.  I'm fairly convinced that they are the reason for my feet feeling a lot better these days after a hard physical day.  My feet were the only thing on my whole body that didn't hurt the night before, BUT.....!

Yep - it dawned on us all at the same time, that I had been wearing the magnets in my boots while adjusting the string line and taking compass readings to set the pier the first time.  Can you say "Doh!"  My dad is now calling me "twinkle toes".

Having a permanent observatory away from city lights is a dream come true.  The dome protects the scope and me from wind and stray light.  After a quick twenty minute drive, all I have to do is open the dome, uncover the scope, turn on the power and I'm observing. Observing through a slot takes a little getting used to, but the advantages far outweigh the alternatives.  I had to reorder my observing program to more or less hours of RA instead of by constellation.  However, the dome can be rotated quickly with one or two fingers so it hasn't slowed me down much at all.  I'm still able to do an observation every two minutes or so.

Another advantage I've found is that I'm more likely to make the trip for a short observing session in questionable weather because I don't have to consider the time invested in setting up and tearing down if conditions deteriorate.  I just cover the scope, close the dome, turn off the power and drive home.

I'm very happy with my observatory. I f you are interested in a quality built fiberglass observatory, you should check out Boyd Observatories at http://www.boydobservatories.com/.

R2D2 Observatory