Shibby

Well, now I agree with you. The Swiss plant is only a pioneering step - as I said, in 500 years time (if we're still around) who is to say what's possible?

I'm afraid you're being short-sighted. At the moment, we cannot. But what about in 100 years time? 500 years time? You simply cannot predict what our race will be able to achieve (nor, admittedly what our ambitions to achieve will be). In fact, even today, some have started building large-scale plants to scrub CO2 from the atmosphere: https://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/air-scrubbing-plant-begins-operations/

Unfortunately, I'm not going to make it to SGL this year - got lots of other travelling planned and not enough leave available! Planning to attack the sky with a double-barrel are we? I won't get the obs finished before it gets "dark", I only seem to find a couple of days a month so it's sloooow progress.

A few doubters here, but the fact is that nobody can predict the future. Yes, Earth is our current home, but once the continent of Africa was our home. As a race we have a history of colonising and I see no reason to doubt that, some day, in the distant future, we could colonise the galaxy.

Oh, no. Cost going up again... For my obs, I was only planning on adding extra stud+ply and insulation to the warm room, but maybe I should do the scope area too. So, the vapour barrier: is this to prevent moisture from inside getting in to the walls? Where would this moisture come from, just the air? And the insulation would be to stop it getting too warm in there? Perhaps keeping out the creepy-crawlies is reason enough.

Really nice, great work. I can't get enough of this nebula, always enjoy looking at images of it.

Very nice image, Rob. With the new season starting, I'm itching to get going myself - however, the "observatory" is still technically a "shed" and I plan to focus on finishing that first! I was thinking the same... this lens almost makes those 22-panel mosaics feel pointless!

Epic! Now add Oiii and Sii, please ;-)

Superb detail and very nicely framed - great job!

Now you've gone and got this thread banned in China! (ref)

Although I agree with what everyone's saying - that building your own shed is probably a better way to go, it is possible to convert the right shed. This is what I'm doing. It's important that the shed is sturdy - mine has thick walls with overlapping corners and substantial roof joists, which I have re-positioned slightly to give me the correct opening. I have added internal corner pillars which help take the weight of the roof, as the runners are fitted to the outside walls. It's still a work in progress, so who knows what problems I will encounter, but it seems OK so far... I'm not posting my build thread until I have made more progress! PS: I erected it as a normal shed first, then started converting.

Looks like a great start - I'm interested to see how the professionals do it. I can certainly see the advantages.... One day for all the foundations? It took me about 2 Months!!

Epic is definitely the word - spectacular image! I must check out that software for the future

Awesome - cracking details.

I realised my post sounded a bit confrontational - not the intention! I didn't mean to suggest that nobody can predict the weather by looking outside, nor that a forecast is always correct. However, most people (including myself) cannot predict the weather by looking outside and the forecast (e.g. met office, 7Timer!) can do so pretty reliably most of the time (even if it doesn't feel like it at times). If I wish to know whether to go to bed or wait up for a few hours in the hope of some clear sky, a forecast is my only option! I also sometimes try and "pre-book" a night in when a forecast shows good chance of a clear night over the following few days!