Astronomy and Astrophotography

[hills]

hi all

I am a keen archer and use a 60x spotting scope to view the target, so after reading this thread I tried aiming my spotting scope at the moon and took a couple of shots with my cheap digital camera. I was not expecting it to work at all but got this:



I think I might have to get into this!!

[Gina]

It's certainly interesting but beware of the "black hole" closely approaching your bank account!

I'm currently building a permanent concrete pier to take my telescope and will later add a "shed" for an observatory. Since my interests include astrophotography which involves capturing images with long exposures, I need a very steady support, so I've invested in an expensive mount. This will not only hold the telescope very steady but also accurately track objects across the sky as the earth rotates. For astro-imaging, a good mount is considered the most important part of the setup.

Here are some pics.

Location of observatory marked by red dot.

obs-location.JPG

"Before" view - location marked by bit of wood.

obs1.JPG

Hole dug out for really solid foundation for the pier.

Hole.JPG

Hole and spoil heap. A lot of digging and all by hand! Spread over several days.

Hole2.JPG

[hills]

Hmmm telescope hey, that's a great idea...

Here's a shot with the same cheap digital camera through my telescope. I fear that black hole might be getting closer!!



I'm keen to see your set up as it progresses, keep us updated!!

[Gina]

Nice shot

Been working on the metalwork that goes inside the pier. Here are some more pics..

1) Hole with reinforcing metalwork and some concrete in the bottom.

Hole+rebar.JPG

2) Adding the threaded rod that will go up to the top of the pier and take the mount fitting.

Pier-Metalwork.JPG

3) Showing how the pier casing fits onto the metalwork. I'm planning to add galv strip to the bottom plant pot to go into the base concrete. Pic to follow (after I've done it).

[Gina]

Here's a cross section diagram of the pier top fitting. The bottom of the mount is shown in black at the top of the diagram. The fitting consists of two mild steel plates 250mm diameter by 10mm thick. To fit the profile of the base of the mount, I'm using an aluminium plate as a spacer. The mount is attached to the top plates by a 12mm bolt with washer and spacer. The lower steel plate will be attached to the 4 14mm threaded rods shown in the pics above (shown in blue in the diagram). The two plates are connected by 4 14mm bolts and nuts (also shown in blue in the diagram).

Pier-Head3.png

[werribee_au]

Looking good!

Your cat looks rather intrigued

[mike]

Here is a video of saturn i shot with a web cam.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aa-5nyd_IJo

[geoffw]

Nice shot

Been working on the metalwork that goes inside the pier. Here are some more pics..

1) Hole with reinforcing metalwork and some concrete in the bottom.[attachment=2]Hole
2) Adding the threaded rod that will go up to the top of the pier and take the mount fitting.
3) Showing how the pier casing fits onto the metalwork. I'm planning to add galv strip to the bottom plant pot to go into the base concrete. Pic to follow (after I've done it).

What about a picture of YOU Gina hefting the spade!

[Gina]

What! And break the camera!! I'll see what I can do

[Gina]

I guess it's time I posted an update about this. Much thinking, head scratching and planning plus discussion on an astronomy board and everything's changed . I've decided to go for a full observatory and warm room with roll off roof in the form of a double shed. It will be going right in the SE corner of our plot with just enough room to get between it and the fence to paint it. As a result the pier construction got no further than I showed a while back and is now planned for nearer the corner. I have been preparing the site, using a rotavator to break up the soil and carting it off in the link box on the tractor. Putting it in places we want building up, so no need to get it carted away.

I'll collect up some drawings and photos and post them shortly.

[geoffw]

Sounds a great project Gina!

[Gina]

Well I certainly bit off a good big mouthful when I took up this pastime! Time it certainly takes, plus a good dollop of cash! Should help the long winter nights though

[Gina]

Here's the plan - position of obsy roof when rolled off is shown dashed.

Obs-plan-simple.png

[Gina]

Been digging out the observatory site and hope to start pouring concrete soon. Apart from taking the level of the whole area down, there will be 7 deeper holes. One for the pier base and six for concrete pads to support the beams that support the floor joists. I have now dug the pier base hole and one of the six.

I'll post some photos soon.

Perhaps more relevant to these forums is that I've got my Windows XP box working again and running Cumulus. http://ginad.org.uk/weather/index.htm I'm also getting the weather webcams going again. I have the south facing one going and have moved it round a bit to cover most of the observatory site. You may even catch the odd glimpse of me at the site Direct link to page :- http://ginad.org.uk/weathergd/Webcam.html

[nking]

I see a still of you but it would be better if you streamed the video so we can see you hard at it I expect that ground is still a bit hard even with the rain we've had in June so you take care and bend those knees