I finally did it.
I built an observatory in my backyard
That's right, after 10 years of setting up my camera and telescope for astrophotography each night
I finally have a permanent setup to photograph the night sky.
This 8 foot by 8-foot dome will house my tracking mount, telescope, camera..
and all of the other accessories I need for deep-sky astrophotography.
This project has been in the works for nearly 6 months now.
To actually look back and see the dome sitting here is a dream come true.
The deck, the pier, the footing, and picking up and building the observatory itself has taken about 2 months
Ash and I rented a 12-foot trailer and picked the dome up at the factory - that was a wild day.
If anyone saw a truck hauling an observatory down the QEW last week - that was me.
The observatory is a SkyShed POD. This one is the XL5 version with 5 POD bays.
for things like a computer desk and a beer fridge.
The owner of SkyShed and fellow 'rocker, Wayne Parker and I had a conversation last year
about my current situation of hauling gear in and out of the garage each night
Wayne basically stopped everything he was doing to guide me through this process
and gave me a list of what I needed to do to get me up and running as soon as possible.
So I guess I am a part of the "POD" family now, and there are a lot of us!
Having the observatory is a nice extra..
but don't think it means that I won't be sharing beginner-level tutorials and information outside of the observatory
This observatory will allow me to collect new images on a more consistent basis
It will be running every single clear night, whether I actually hanging out in it or not.
You may have noticed that inside of the observatory is a new telescope mount
This is the Software Bisque Paramount MyT, or "Mighty" mount
This is an observatory-grade telescope mount that will allow me to tap into some serious automation features.
but there is a huge learning curve that comes along with it.
The mount is currently on loan from the supportive folks at Software Bisque
and I'm not going to lie, this mount scares the poop out of me.
Where's the hand controller?
The plan is to mount the William Optics Fluorostar 132 refractor on this mount
But it's an evolving process, and I'm not entirely sure what the final kit will look like
The goal is to have the automation side of things ready to go before winter
Because, you know, I live in Canada
So far, I've spent one clear night here in the observatory.
and it was an unbelievable experience
This dome opening seems to frame night sky as if it were a movie
There's a coziness to it to, having the semi-dome on the one side of you
It blocks stray light, it blocks the wind
you can turn it on the wheels here, it's just the funnest thing ever.
I can't wait to fill this thing with all my stuff
So, I'll be spending a lot of time in here this summer
and I'll share absolutely every aspect of the telescope build out
Oh, and Wayne, if you're watching
I just had one more question about the SkyShed POD
Is it okay if I stand on -
nevermind
I almost forgot to tell you the name of the observatory
It had to be something that represents this channel, and what matters most to you guys