This morning I got this one line email from the International Astronomical Union Minor Planet Center: Your site is now code Z72. So Cademuir observatory is now officially recognised by the MPC! In order to obtain an observatory code it’s necessary to observe some minor planets (in the 1000-400,000 range) of varying magnitudes, at least a couple of times a night over at least a couple of nights and record their positions to an accuracy Read more
I’ve already posted this on facebook, so apologies to friends who’ve already seen it! Jupiter taken 12th January 2013, 22:17 : Read more
The latest improvement in the observatory is lighting. I needed something that was low power, needed to be red, needed to be white, preferably dimmable, preferably remote control. There didn’t seem to be anything in the local shops, but I found an LED solution on ebay costing a whole $18.90. At that price I’d have to give it a go! Read more
I’m finally starting to get the hang of this planetary imaging. Still not as good as I’d like but a big improvement on all previous efforts. Two shots taken a little apart so you can see the planets rotation.
Over the past week or so I’ve been sorting out cables in the observatory and testing cameras. Still only on al alt-az mount without guiding, but a good enough setup to try a few things. Read more
I tried taking some deep sky images last night for the first time in several years. Not an ideal setup for my C9.25 – altaz mount, no guiding, no PEC training, no electronic focuser, unmodded Canon 400d and a bright Moon. Given that, I’m happy with the result of 20x30s exposures on one of my favourite objects: Read more
Well we finally got first light! ok it was sunlight reflected off the clouds but it counts!
The first job today was to drill down into the concrete base to anchor in the 12mm bolts in place. The local building suppliers had Rawl R-KEM which is a two part epoxy that comes in a 300ml tube, it mixes in the nozzle so its easy to apply. With the bolts in place the pier was put in place and leveled: Read more
By the end of the weekend I should be able to get first light in the observatory!
The shed part is pretty much complete now. Last weekend I made the door, got the rest of the weathersheeting in place, finished the roof, and got the wood preservative on. I also added a 2×3 to strengthen the beam with the castors so that the ends no longer touch the track; I’ve to do the same to the other side sometime, but as it stands I can move the roof easily with one hand. Read more
In between rain showers I’ve managed to almost get the building work completed on the observatory. Building the support for the roof and rails was easy enough though the beams were very slightly warped; this doesn’t matter too much as it can be corrected by placing the rails in the correct line.
The roof was trickier than I thought. I hadn’t tried to build a roof before and it’s quite easy to get things out of alignment and not straight. It’s not perfect but more than good enough for my requirements. Read more