Olympic Lump

My poor couch cushions have taken a beating these last few weeks with all the Olympic TV coverage and the higher sun angles washing light and heat into this small cabin. I just haven't done much lately. Coffee with Baileys, comfortable couch, warm sunlight, some curling, a little x-country skiing, a long nap followed by a meal, then repeat in the evening, this schedule would kill a normal man.

However, There is some observatory news.

Dan from Poly Dome called today. During my visit in January he had informed me that every so often they end up with a blemish in the manufacturing process and we could save some money if there was one in the spring run. Well it looks like we lucked out and we're going to get one! Nothing structural, he called it a bump and he will set it up and have it ready to pick up the end of March.

With that news it's time to build the 10x10 foot observatory. With the days getting warm enough to work in the storage building, I plan to build it on top of a set of heavy caster wheels so we can easily move it around the shop. It will be completely built, painted, dome installed and tested, then dismantled and trailered behind a 4 wheeler to the top of the hill in the spring.

Bad news from Meade

A Meade Technician informed Jim that his 6" telescope sent in for repairs a few weeks ago is not worth fixing. We are disappointed, and right now we have plans to replace it. This scope was going to be a star party special. He was told that the repair cost would be more then buying a new one and Jim had told then just to throw it away, but it's Mead's policy to return it. I was very glad to here it's coming back. Any salvageable parts will be saved and the telescope body will make a nice mail box or driveway marker sign for the observatory.

Well gotta go, cocoa water is ready, Bailey's is waiting and the Olympics are on.

Imaging Course at Thunder Bay Observatory

More Internet research produced this link to Thunder Bay Observatory there I found the header Astronomical Imaging Course Spring 2010. After reading over the course description off went an email to "astrorandy." This site could be just what we need, we have to learn it all, not only CCD imaging but observatory start up and shutdown, telescope setup and operation this site could even save us from damaging our scope during set up. Randy's reply email was very positive, he will get back to us as more people sign up and he seemed excited to hear about our observatory and also asked if we want to collaborate on projects. One project he suggested is the All Sky 24/7 sky cam, this system is used by mutable observatory's to triangulate objects to determine speed and direction. Jim and I had previously discussed getting involved in research,and our understanding is that a properly set up observatory flows data like water and the more people with access to this data the better.

Other then that, just more research and reading, Jim sent 1/2 the books my way so the highlighter and reading glasses are back at work. As a true beginner I have found Patrick Moore's Practical Astronomy Series to be very helpful.

I knew two thing about astronomy at the start of this project

1. Astronomer's do it

2. Look in the small end of the telescope

I have looked at the moon through a kids telescope on a wood tripod and have a few star charts in the pontoon boat where my wife and I actually at times think we know what were looking at, so with that little astronomy background I get a ton of information out of every book I pick up.

I also have started watching this Clear Sky Chart from the BWCA

You can view the full page at:

Boundary Waters Canoe Area

Clear Sky Chart

Legend Page

Spend some time on this page and it will show you how to read the chart. It also has some great links for stars and weather. You might also enjoy the Clear Sky Home Page, it's a very funny and informative read "run by those very cool guys at the Canadian Meteorological Center". We will sign up for our own Murmur Creek Observatory Clear Sky Chart later this spring.

Up the hill on snowshoes

It's a good thing I'm light on my feet (some say cat like) or the couple of feet of snow might have killed me. I slipped on my snowshoes and trudged to the top of the ridge for some photo's, a few GPS marks and some work with the Topographic Abney Level to determine line of sight in degrees above the horizon. This photo is looking south from the approximate observatory site, the ridge line in the distance is about a mile away, in the valley below sits Deer Yard Lake and just past that far ridge is lake Superior.

This second photo is looking north, the ridge line in the far background is over two miles away with Pike Lake and Murmur Creek in the valley below.

I'm very happy with the site. A few weeks back I was thinking about putting it lower down the hill so it would be closer to the house and cheaper all around in building cost. When I discussed this idea with Jim, he pointed out that observatory's belong on the top of a ridge not half way up, and in this case I think he's right. Jim also got the opportunity to see his telescope in person and have his own "Holey Shit!" moment. Now the size of the project is starting to sink in and I'm glad to say his commitment only seems to get stronger.

My Brain Hurts

So far the learning curve for this project has been all over the board and it just jumped up from steep to straight up. I have spent some time over the last few days reading and highlighting in the 76 page Meade manual that came with the scope. Meade could have saved me a few highlighters by just printing the entire manual on orange paper, cause that's what it looks like now.

Before I headed back up north I couldn't resist unpacking the tripod for a look and wow is this thing huge! It was easy to see about 10 ways to pinch your fingers clean off your hand during setup. I had to see and get a feel for how comfortable I'd be with the mounted scope. Jim is coming up later this week and I know he would love to set up his new telescope but it just didn't make sense to bring it up here now. I'm glad I let it in the cities.

A few things I know for sure: the scope will have to be mounted on a equatorial wedge for photography; we will use the one star polar alignment and we have to learn celestial coordinates in right ascension and declination, for when we permanently mount our telescope. It's smart mount system and the mount will learn about, and then correct for any systematic pointing errors, regardless of the cause. So I'm thinking that last part means this telescope will get smarter the more we use it. Our bet is that in less then a year it turns into Hal from 2001, A Space Odyssey and tricks us into going outside and then won't let us back in the building.

Now you know way my brain hurts.

I'm still working on the heated building design, it's down to about 6 styles including a fancy storage build plan from Menard's. Pat and I would like something unique but it will also have to deal with heavy snow loads, have a door that is easy to shovel out and room enough to take off winter clothes. Jim and I will be up the hill later this week trying to finish the surveying and nail down the site, I will post photo's later, till then.

Happy winter from Deer Yard Lake.

Two days without playing and fondling it.

It'a been two days since the pallets arrived. You can't believe how tough it's been to not just rip everything out of the box and start playing. The only thing stopping me is that Jim is the owner of a 6" Meade telescope that was knocked over on a tripod after only a few nights of use and we don't need repeat of that event. This new scope is so large and heavy I would never consider mounting it on a tripod. I have used this analogy with a few people, in my eyes it's like balancing a 10 grand bottle of wine on a ski pole. (The 6" Meade that took the fall is being repaired by Meade and will be back in 6 weeks and used for star parties.)

Jim has increased the size of the observatory's library considerably and I believe this will shorten up our learning curve so we can make the most of our good clear night Skies.

The list of books.

1. Astronomy Hacks: Tips and Tools for Observing the Night Sky.

2. The 100 Best Astrophotography Targets: Monthly Guide for CCD Imaging with Amateur Telescope.

3. Digital SLR Astrophotography.

4. Astrophotography for the Amateur.

5. CCD Astrophotography: High-Quality Imaging from the Suburbs.

6. Digital Astrophotography: A Guide to Capturing the Cosmos.

7. Deep Sky Observer's Guide.

8. Handbook of CCD Astronomy, 2nd Edition. (Cambridge Observing Handbook for Research Astronomers)

I'm sure that Jim is on Amazon's Christmas card list after this order. And, after reading the titles, I'm thinking there is a CCD camera in the observatory's future. I'm also finishing the book Don't Know Much About The Universe on my IPOD which I found to be a greatI title, because I don't know much at all. It also has the best Quote I've seen in years, "Education is not the Filling of a Pail, it's the Lighting of a Fire" W.B. Yeats. I intend to paint this on the observatory's wall.

The telescope arrived today

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I knew Jim had ordered a 14" telescope and from my research I was aware that in the telescope world that's a pretty big telescope. Well in reality, I didn't have a clue! When the truck backed up the drive way, I was glad to see it had a lift gate because I did know the telescope weighs over 200 pounds. When the driver opened the door revealing only 3 pallets left in the truck, one small, one big and one huge, I should have guessed ours was the huge one. I placed it next to our snowblower to show scale so maybe you can get an idea of size. The top box is the tripod, bottom box the scope.

After opening the telescope box the holey shit factor flooded over me. The 2nd photo shows the lid off the box and you can see a small black circle on top of the scope, this is the lens cover from my camera, hope that helps you understand just how big this scope really is.

A few other things have fallen into place too. First, the electrical service. Jim had his electrician do the math and he is OK with the run footage. All we will have to do is run a large gauge cable up the hill. He indicated that a 1.0 aluminum 3 strand UPD with a #4 USE ground should do the trick and he will get back to us with the price per foot for the wire.

I also emailed Dan at Poly Dome to inform him we will be going with his dome and we're looking for a March or early April pick up date. I need to call him tomorrow and verify the material list for the building the dome fits on. The warm room size and design is still up in the air. I have looked over a lot of photos of small storage building, garden sheds, playhouses and saunas, but I just can't make up my mind yet and want Pat's opinion.I know she doesn't want some crappy looking box up there and it will also have to work well in the winters deep snow.

Just trying to cover all the big items early...

Made my trip to Rodney's, his shop is always full of very cool airplanes in all phase's of restoration along with other planes in the shop for their annual maintenance or other assorted projects. Being a very noisy person it is great fun for me to look around and I always learn something every time I'm there. My initial thought was that I could cover a dome skeleton and shutter doors with an airplane cloth skin covering and save a pile of money in construction costs. Rodney gave me a short crash course on how it's applied and a rough idea how many years it might last, and we both came to the quick conclusion that for the money, the Poly Dome is the way to go.

My next stop was at Arrowhead Electric, our local co-op. Depending on where we put the observatory it could be a long cable run to my existing power meter and I don't know how far I can go. Their advice was to check with an electrician which, I have to say, wasn't much help. I then asked about a new service just for the observatory and was told that charges for a new service are billed at an actual time and materials rate. His best guess was between $4500 and $6000 for a 500 foot service that puts us only 1/2 way up the hill. I would also have to pay another $35 a month service charge, which equates to monthly bill of $70 before buying any electricity at all. So I guess a trip to a local electrician is important because this might be a very limiting factor on the site selection.

We now have a Telescope

The blog is now current with all data up to date.

I drove back to Grand Marais today and found a 72 page Instruction Manual for a variety of Meade Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescopes in my mail box. Jim had downloaded, printed and mailed it to me late last week. While I was reading away my phone lit up with a call and checking caller ID I saw it was Jim, he was calling to inform me we now have a telescope!

I had never seen Jim poorboy anything and this is no exception. We have a 14" Meade LX200GPS Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope with the Autostar II Controller, wow I'm very excited to unpack and fondle it next week when it arrives, till then I have some more reading to do.

While I'm here, I'm going to put the material list together for the 10 X 10 foot observatory building and take it down to the local lumber yard and have them give us a bid. I'm also going to the Devils Track Airport to visit Rodney, who is an airplane restoration artist that I want to consult about building the dome. I'm 99% sure he will say we can't build a dome cheaper then the $2500.00 price that Polydome quoted us, but I do want his opinion.