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| The roll-off is wood, screws and shingles |
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| The domed observatory is fiberglass construction |
The Domed Observatory
The domed observatory is a 7 foot diameter fiberglass cylinder topped with a manually rotated fiberglass dome. It sits
on several tons of compacted gravel and has a carpeted paving brick floor and a brick apron around the outside to facilitate
maintenance and grass cutting.
This observatory does an excellent job of blocking wind, stray light, glare from the moon and helps prevent dew or frost
forming on the lenses of the telescope. Just getting out of the wind makes observing in winter much more bearable when temperatures
are well below freezing.
Because observer and telescope occupy the same space, this observatory is not heated. That would destroy the view
as heat escaped out the dome slot, much like the effect of heat rising off pavement on a hot summer day.
| Roll-off in the open position |
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The Roll-Off Observatory
Rather than struggle with the cost and complexity of automating a domed observatory, it was decided
early on that the CCD scope would be housed in a "simple" roll-off type observatory. Unfortunately, every time I sat down
to design the building it became more complicated and expensive. In December 2006, materials were ordered and construction
began before any more 'feature creep' could occur.
A few guiding principles helped determine the final design. Mainly, it had to look as much like a cute
garden shed as possible, it had to have a separate control room to house the computer and accessories, and the roof had to
be made as light as possible so it could be rolled open manually.
First light occured in April of 2007.
| Telescope and CCD are controlled from here |
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Observing Program
The current observing program consists of hundreds of known and suspected cataclysmic variables.
I'm slowly getting closer to my goal of leaving the CCD scope unattended for long periods, doing time
series observations, while I monitor hundreds of CVs visually with the other telescope.
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| Where is Imlay City, Michigan? |
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The Site
The observatory is located near Imlay City, Michigan. This is still a rural area that offers fairly dark
skies without having to be completely out in the 'boonies'.
The Milky Way is easily visible in the summer and fall and the Andromeda galaxy is a naked eye object.
The observatory (and my house) sit on top of a hill overlooking a small lake to the west. The property is bordered on
the north and east by a horse farm and to the south by 60 acres of soy bean fields.
Although Michigan winters can be brutal, with sub-zero temperatures and snow covered ground, dry arctic high pressure
systems parked overhead can bring nights of exceptional seeing.
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| Janet is used for visual observations |
The Telescopes
The Meade LX200 is a computerized 'go-to' Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope.
Telescope #1, Janet, is a Meade Classic 12" LX200 .
This scope is permanently mounted in the dome on an equatorial wedge attached to a steel pier. This scope is used
primarily for visual observations of variable stars. Janet is named in memory of Janet Mattei, long-time Director
of the AAVSO, and a strong proponent of visual observations.
It is operated by the handset shown in the picture. The only additional equipment used is a joystick attached to the
handset for slewing, electric focuser, for vibration-free focusing, a full set of dew heaters and my collection
of Televue eyepieces.
Telescope #2, Arne, is a newer Meade 12" LX200 with GPS. It is housed in the roll-off observatory and mounted permanently
on a custom, heavy-duty steel pier. This scope is equipped with an SBIG ST-9 CCD imaging camera. The telescope and camera
are operated by a computer in the control room portion of the roll-off observatory.
Arne is named in honor of Arne Henden, one of the world's finest photometrists, current Director of AAVSO, mentor, friend,
and the person most responsible for my turning to the 'dark side' of CCD observing.
| Arne collects data with a CCD |
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