Want to build a small observatory

[gallardo]

Hi All,

We would like to build a small observatory in our university. Budget is about 50.000 USD. In a cafe enviroment, we would like to offer online deep sky color images trough several monitors. Since we don't know what to expect from any telescope or system, we are hoping you can set us some guidelines.

Thank you

[EA2007]

All I can say is...good luck!

Which university is it?

[timetraveller]

hi gallardo is your $50,000 dollars to cover everything including scopes mounts/drives camera's monitors etc and were abouts is the cafe in relation to where you are going to house the scopes regards pete aka timetraveller

[John]

Hi,

That is a challenging but exciting project - good luck with it

In the UK we have The Astronomy Centre which may have some similarities with what you are hoping to achieve. Here is a link to their website:

http://www.astronomycentre.org.uk/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=3

No doubt there are similar projects elsewhere in the world who would be able to provide you with information and share their experiences.

John

[gallardo]

50.000 USd is just for the equipment. We can upgrade it later but it all depends on the success of the first phase

[timetraveller]

Thats a pretty good budget for kit you should be able to get a really decent set up for that may i make a suggestion if you can try and source your kit from the uk rather than America the current exchange rate means it will nearly double your budget take a look at the kit from First Line Optics you will find there web site on this forum as they are one of our sponsors they stock great kit and give great friendly and informed advice one other point as you intend to use remote the type of mount you need is going to be critical the mount is almost more important than the optics also think about going down a wireless link route its a lot less grief than loads of lossy and messy cable runs iwish you all the best on your project if you want to have a better chat you are welcome to personal message me here on the forum regards Pete aka timetraveller

[timetraveller]

sorry a quick amendment it should be First Light Optics sorry steve

[gurney]

Can I just ask how come you're building an observatory when there's no one there who knows anything about it?

I mean, I think it's a great thing to do, and will hopefully be responsible for getting a whole generation interested in astronomy - but it seems a peculiar thing to be doing when there's no one there already who knows what they're doing.

I think the first thing you should do is get an advance on that 50k and spend a couple of grand on a decent but portable scope which the team involved can begin learning the basics on while the project unfolds. When the observatory is up and running it will always useful to have a secondary scope available too so you can have more oberving time, and more people observing.

I'm not quite sure about buying from the UK though to be honest. I think you'll end up a lot worse off!

[EA2007]

I will second that!

If your in the US, buy from the US...... don't have to worry about shipping costs and possible damages as much due to long delivery periods and its also greener (astronomers saving the Earth!!)

If I were in your shoes I would seriously consider taking a lot of time to decide upon exactly what you need. I went to a university where their was a telescope housed upon one of the buildings on campus, the scope was good but the weather conditions were very rarely okay so it didn't get much use by the students. I would not buy an expensive telescope if it is only going to get partially used.

I also agree that a secondary scope is also useful, from my experience when observing in a group then students who may not be as keen or interested in astronomy will get bored easily (they're just like kids), so a smaller scope for them to look through and mess on with may not be such a bad idea (the scope doesn't have to be massive or particularly good- as students wear and tear is sure to take its toll)

There is a video on YouTube which is 6 episodes or so in length and features a guy explaining in a lecture seminar how he built a series of telescopes and observatories over the past 20 years...I would consider trying to contact this person as he resides in America and obviously knows what he is doing. YouTube 'Mega Homemade telescope'

Should help! Enjoy

[Paxo]

try and source your kit from the uk rather than America the current exchange rate means it will nearly double your budget

Unfortunately that works the wrong way if you live in the US. Also, there is a trend of costs being vituality the same in pounds as you would pay in dollars in the US, not paying the shipping costs etc, this doesn't make any sense at all.

It is very good advice from EA2007, when your spending this much,take your time and get it right. You might also seek some advice from Astroman, he owns and runs an observatory in Arizona, you could try him for some advice.

Steve..

[gallardo]

Thank you all for your input. Has anybody have an idea about how to distribute the pic to several monitors? We don't want people standing in line to see something.

[ngc2403]

hello

buy a projector and project the pictures onto a white board thats what i do.

what university is it?

ally