Questions re more permanent setup

[dmahon]

I recently moved house and am planning on staying some considerable time (fingers crossed).

The annoyance for me with this hobby is the setup time, so a fixed pier with a cover on the scope, or even better, a full-on observatory, would make things more enjoyable. The strip-down time isn't as bad, but is still a hassle.

Is it feasable to start with a pier, leaving the mount (and preferably scope, camera, et al) attached to it under cover for a week or two at a time, and then later on build an observatory around it (or just shove a pod over the top)?

What factors do I need to take into account? I'm not going to be able to have 360 degree line-of-sight to the stars, as I do have a lot of trees around the garden and my wife would throw a wobbly if I put a shed right in the middle of the lawn. I will be having some of the trees cut back a bit, but I will still have to lose around 1/4 of the sky no matter where I site the pier - which part would you loose (my preferred location would see me losing NE to SE). How much do I need to cut back the trees - what is the lowest altitude worth bothering with given typical seeing conditions in the UK?

[barkis]

The best aspect I reckon, would be south centred on your local meridian. any access ether side of south to the east and west with a clear view to the horizon, plus the availability of the high latitudes to the North Celestial Pole.

With that amount of sky at your disposal, you will at one time or another, have access to almost all of the Northern Hemisphere objects, icluding Deep Sky, Planets, Satellites, Aurora, Comets, Meteors. More than enough to keep an avid astronomer busy.

If you have minimal Light pollution, your Imaging career,if you intend doing that, is OK too.

For imaging, a fixed pier is recommended, but not essential, although setting up will be much easier, and the mount would be aligned permanently to the Celestial pole.

With adequate covering, the mount could remain outdoors, but I would recomment the Optical units be taken indoors after a session. A roll off roof Observatory

is a popular enclosure, and if you have the space, then it is well worth the effort to build one. Many Many have been built by SGL members, and lots of help and pictures of said obsies are available on this forum.

Hope this is of use to you.

Ron.

[Bizibilder]

I would suggest holding back for a while and simply observe from your garden. By moving your mount around from night to night you will soon find the best/worst places to eventually put it. Trees can be a pain but don't forget that the sky "moves" over time so you should be able to get a view of everything you want to over time (weather permitting!). You will also have to consider street/neighbour's lights and how best to avoid them.

When you start to build go for it! A good solid pier is a godsend and can be built first - possibly with a properly paved or concreted area around it (you don't want to be tripping over in the dark or sliding around on mud!). Then a proper observatory - there are dozens of designs described on this (and other) forums. Most folk convert sheds of some sort, whilst the wealthy just buy a dome and plonk it down!

[dmahon]

The best place to put it is undoubtedly in the middle of the lawn, and that is generally where I set up at the moment - which is fine with the tripod, but would possibly result in instant divorce papers if I put a shed there! I don't have the luxury of trying everywhere out either, as I will need to reduce the height of some trees. I'm planning on being quite severe only on the specific ones that would get in the way. At present, the trees prevent any realistic trial of different spots.

The majority of light pollution comes from the East, which is another reason in favour of living without the NE to SE quadrant - if I have to chose one quadrant, I suppose it may as well be that one.