Domesy is rosy

[nytecam]

Couldn't resist taking a couple of shots of my rose clad obsy in the bright sunlight this afternoon with my pic of Dumbbell from Monday - next two days overcast and rain forecast

[laser_jock99]

Does the vegetation keep the obsy cooler in summer?

[teleskopjo]

any particular reason why you did not subdivide the dome 'ribs' equally on each half-hemisphere? You still have the same amount of cuts to do as the guy who subdivided into 6 ribs on either side for instance.

[teleskopjo]

Does the vegetation keep the obsy cooler in summer?

It definitely should - it has been proven experimentally that vegetated walls lower the temperature of the walls behind them (or rather they shield it from direct sunshine)..

[Carbon]

Beautiful setting for your obs!

[olawelin]

That looks really nice, are there two of them?

[Keiran]

That looks amazing, its like your own little secret hide-away, I really like that.And that M27 is impressive too

[nytecam]

Hi and thanks for the interest and queries. My dome dome build is @ http://home.freeuk.c...avin/mydome.htm Apart from 2 in my garden, I've done 3 other domes but never a 'shed' - I like to be completely protected and dew free !

A timber build is good for minimising heat build-up and planting the perfect shade material to keep it cool in summer [if we get one!]. The dome in plan is essentially octagonal eg 8-sided from uncut 500mm wide ali sheet from scrap dealer but to make up to the required diameter for my 12" Meade SCT I used small fillet pieces as in figure below.

A single sheet of unframed ali forms the shutter which seals against a plastic garden hose lining the aperture. The lightweight shutter is lifted off with a boathook and parked internally against the walls when observing. Domes - the only way to go

[Gina]

Ah yes, a dome is a "proper looking observatory" I agree but... as I see it there are two disadvantages - it needs to be turned during an imaging session, I presume and advertises that it contains expensive astromomy kit and maybe a laptop and other computer related stuff. And that's in addition to being more difficult to construct.

[Gina]

I did consider building a dome when I decided to build an observatory, amongst the other many designs. I looked at the design and building problems of each design carefully. In many way I would love to have a dome - as said above, better protection from the weather eg. wind and dew and the ability to leave the scope pointing where the target is for multi-night imaging of an object. Then there's the all round view without any obstruction from the observatory itself. I have found with my obsy that the roll off roof does obstruct some otherwise usable sky to the west. With this sort of building there is bound to be some obstruction in one direction as I see it. It all other respects I'm very pleased with mine.

The main problem with building a dome was the round track I found. Many people seem to get some form of iron or aluminium bent round to form a circle but that needs heavy construction work either costing significant money with a professional fabricator or heavyweight bending machinery. I guess it would be possible using wood by building a large steaming plant to steam pieces of wood into a curve. Many decades ago when I was young I made a small wooden sailing dinghy this way.

[nytecam]

Ah yes, a dome is a "proper looking observatory" I agree but... as I see it there are two disadvantages - it needs to be turned during an imaging session, I presume and advertises that it contains expensive astromomy kit and maybe a laptop and other computer related stuff. And that's in addition to being more difficult to construct.

Hi Gina - I think we've been down this route before which I already answered - my DIY obsy homepage linked below explains. Contrary to your opinion domes are not difficult to build if kept lightweight - some confuse massive structures with strength but this nonsense and trap for the unwary .

You do have a point about dome rotation and long exposure AP but that doesn't apply to me - I just give the dome a shove when aiming in a different part of the sky and keep my gross exposures typically less than 5min. My M57 below from Monday night in late twilight has had an extremely brief 20s exp but still shows the central two stars and hints at the faint field galaxy. OK I'm not a perfectionist [i don't need to be in my SN searches] but I'm mystified by the long exposures routinely used on the forum with seemingly little to show for it. This must be very frustrating for newcomers to AP learning their way.

[laser_jock99]

I've done 3 other domes but never a 'shed' - I like to be completely protected and dew free !

On the contrary I like to be 'out there' and under a full open sky. My obsy's only function is to speed up set up times. When the scope and cameras are doing their stuff I'll be stood inside (or maybe outside) gazing up or scanning with binoculars. Meteors, satelites, UFO's - you really could miss so much tucked up inside a dome!

[nytecam]

On the contrary I like to be 'out there' and under a full open sky. My obsy's only function is to speed up set up times. When the scope and cameras are doing their stuff I'll be stood inside (or maybe outside) gazing up or scanning with binoculars. Meteors, satelites, UFO's - you really could miss so much tucked up inside a dome!

Yep - we can all 'step outside' our domes anytime we like - there's no rule that says you can't For the 'Eros pass' last Feb I set-up scope+cam to take a pic at 5min intervals and left the obsy to get on with it thus..

[nightvision]

......... OK I'm not a perfectionist [i don't need to be in my SN searches] but I'm mystified by the long exposures routinely used on the forum with seemingly little to show for it. This must be very frustrating for newcomers to AP learning their way.

That is an interesting comment, what are the fundamentals that allow for the shorter exposure results you are getting? (Are you using the the scope with the Fastar set up for something like F2 on a large sensitive CCD?)

[nytecam]

That is an interesting comment, what are the fundamentals that allow for the shorter exposure results you are getting? (Are you using the the scope with the Fastar set up for something like F2 on a large sensitive CCD?)

Hi Tony - I use an unfiltered OSC on M12+FR @ f/3.7 - the link on my sig has sample pics. The gross exposure on three dozen DSOs shots = less than 90min. Below some from Monday night in M27[60s], M57[20s] and Blinking PN[5s]