Thursday, May 21, 2009

The Lance Hill Observatory...


is a far cry from Hubble, but it is my personal backyard astronomical hidaway when the weather is clear (click image to enlarge.)

I became obsessed with amateur astronomy during the summer of 1996 and since then I've learned that the definition of a telescope is an optical tube assembly that is surrounded by electronics and money. So, to allow for efficient use of my new toys, I built the roll-off roof observatory with the help of the Bu Dad during the summer of 1997, which permits the equipment to remain set up and configured for regular use. The robotic Schmidt-Cassegrain scope and astronomical imager (a special low light CCD camera) can even be controlled remotely on my home Ethernet network.

Funny how I've been drawn to things in the dark: caves, astronomy, bats...

1 comment:

  1. We must have built it pretty good for the roof to open and clsoe without any problems after 12 years of use. Thanks for showing it on your Blog.

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