Setting up a community observatory

[Unicronicus]

It occurred to me the other day as to why no one has ever thought about setting up an observatory here, on the Isles of Scilly, with the dark skies that we have due to our low level of light pollution. I know I have only just started with astronomy but I am very keen to start the ball rolling with some kind of permanently positioned observatory that could house, say, 10 people at a time.

Since I am new to astronomy and setting up any kind of business/project at all, I was hoping some of you might be able to help me with this endeavour. Key points I would need to know are:

A) What scope, mount, observing method to use depending on my budget or grant received? I have seen telescopes like these http://www.obsessiontelescopes.com/telescopes/25/ but I'm not sure how user friendly these are when it comes to finding and tracking an object (as opposed to an EQ/GOTO mount)

What to house the telescope assembly and other equipment in to cater for 10 people? I'm thinking more of a permanent block building supplied with electricity with a dome on top. I have seen the 'garden' type observatories but they are too small, flimsy, and it needs to be secure!

C) How to go about getting planning permission, possible sites to facilitate the observatory.

D) How would I go about getting funding for such a project? I need to know the possible routes I can take to achieve the funding I need to build something of this magnitude. I was also planning on trying to earn a living out of this, like bookable tours, opportunity for proffesional photographers to use their own cameras, merchandise/souvenirs etc... I was also wondering how one could help the astronomy community and the likes by doing exploratory work for them on a regular basis?

Is this a pipe dream? Am I punching above my weight and should gain more experience first before taking on such a project? I just feel that the islands are missing out on something that we should be encouraging.

[Unicronicus]

Sorry, the emoticon with the shades is meant to be a 'B'!

[tekkydave]

Regarding D) - if you can add an educational aspect e.g. schools, young people, disabled facilities you might improve your chances of funding. You should try the national lottery for a grant. They tend to only fund capital type projects like this. I know an amateur movie-making club that got £3000 to buy a video projector and digitize their film archive to DVD.

[Peter Drew]

This is "do-able" but a tough undertaking for someone with little experience as you claim to be as yet. I achieved a similar pipedream but I was already an experienced amateur astronomer and a professional telescope and observatory manufacturer and had the backing of a large number of other enthusiasts. The most important starting point for me was purchasing the site, it is a long term risk setting up on land that is rented or available on a current owners good will. The Astronomy Centre was built by collective effort without financial borrowing or grants, this has taken 30 years but is free from "strings attached" or debt.    

[saac]

As Peter said above I suspect that securing a site should be your priority.  Approach landowners/council/farmers/commercial organisations see if anything can be gifted/loaned - doesn't need to be a large patch.  Lottery grant as was mentioned looks best route but I suspect they would want to see some mature and detailed plans.  What about fundraising within the community?  If it is to be for community use then get the community involved from the outset.  You may be able to convince some builders/craftsmen/technicians to gift some time and expertise for the build.   Be prepared to get lot's of knockbacks too!     As for the scope I personally would not go for a big Dob as the main scope - something like a Meade LX90 (12 inch) pier mounted would be my choice for general community use/ease of use - but I'm no expert, others may be better informed.

[ronin]

Problem with the land aspect is that the Isles of Scilly are owned at least in part by the Duchey of Cornwall and it is from them that you may need to get permisson and the right to build. I am not sure where the Council of Scilly comes into it all, it seems a little vague.

Scilly has a population of about 2,200 that is a small number of people, Tresco is about 1500 to 1800. That is very small and not really enough to run a business on. I find about 1 in 500 or 1 in 1000 are interested in astronomy to any extent, and that extent may be small.

Consider the number on SGL that do AP now and not really visual, it has grown a lot, in effect all the AP'ers are lost to you. You have dark skies that are good for AP. I (anyone) can take their ED80 out and go imaging for 2, 3, 4 etc hours, not really possible at a commerical observatory, cost for one thing.

Assuming that my "requirements" are like others that do astronomy I want to look through a scope at objects that have aroused my curiosity, I do not want to stand in a queue to take my turn at something you have decided on. I also want to observe for 2 or 3 hours, not a turn of 2 or 3 minutes.

I suspect that somewhere the idea of "tourists" has come into the thought. Problem is that in the summer the skies remain light, observing will only be feasible from about 10:00PM to 2:00AM. I was at an observatory Wednesday and even at 10:00 the sky was really too light to observe, I think less then 10 stars were actually visible at that time. When Scilly has long dark skies it does not have tourists.

A large dobsonian is not really applicable to an observatory, people turning up for the first time will have no idea how to use it and will very likely see nothing. You might want a large dobsonian, but it is not a business item. How does an interested 7 year old use a 20" dobsonian???

Another aspect is that people will half expect to see a telescope controlled by something like a tablet or smart phone these days, especially the interested 7 year olds. I think that Celestron or Skywatcher are offering this now on some of their scopes.

[Knight of Clear Skies]

As a toe in the water you could try showing people what they can see through your current scope, or preparing some public presentations on astronomy. This would give you a better idea of what you can offer people and whether you enjoy doing it. In terms of the viewing experience, it's difficult for people to use a telescope for the first time when they have no clear expectation of what they should be seeing. I spent a few hours (on and off) showing people the Sun through a solar scope and Jupiter through a 12" dob, at the Caradon Observatory open days. Although I did my best to explain how to use the focuser not everyone managed to see anything. This wasn't a big deal, I tried my best and most people managed a decent look, but I'd have been very uncomfortable with charging for the experience. Next time I'll try and slow people down and emphasize that it's tricky if you haven't done it before.

In terms of a business, I'd say the commercial potential is rather low. You'd have to factor in the weather, there simply aren't that many good viewing days in the UK over a year. Also, there are many astronomy clubs in the country run on a non-profit basis which offer a great deal for a nominal membership fee. Generally speaking, money goes in and makes astronomy, not the other way around.