Siting an observatory in the garden

[stevebb]

Hi, we have recently bought a new house in a semi-rural area close to Filey, North Yorks and requiring some help please regarding best location in the garden for siting an observatory.

The "agreed" spot - that the boss is happy with (ie cannot see obs from the house) offers a view from 270° to 120°.

From West to North viewing is ok above 50° (house) (270° to 359°)
Due North to ESE is virtually uninterrupted. (0° to 120°)

Down side is the trees to the south are too high (40') and not mine to deal with so that is going to be a real downer for Orion I think.

Can anyone with "sky knowledge" please help and let me know how good or bad this outlook actually is - more importantly, what large galaxies/nebulas I stand to miss in the 120 - 269° direction. If it is a non starter then please be honest 

I have included a photo of the garden - the green dome is superimposed and where the planned location of the observatory will be built - the direction indicators are spot on and the hedgeline is about 12 feet high.

Is there such a site online where you can enter your observing window and in turn it lets you know what is visible over the course of a calendar year ?

Thanks in advance

Oh, if I tell the missus "we have to move again" there will be some telescope gear appearing on here very cheap and me thinks some surgeons could be learning new "extraction techniques"

[brrttpaul]

can you just use stellarium with your location in it and then look east or north or whatever? I done a similer thing in my backyard and decided east facing was best for me ( I can get a view from NE to SE in it

[steppenwolf]

I have an appalling take-off to the south (South Downs in the way in Wiston) but fair to the east. Your garden outlook 'appears' generally much better than mine. Much of my imaging is done to the east as I capture objects as they rise and pass overhead. I don't think your outlook is that bad to be honest. A good easterly view is magic as far as I am concerned!

[Charic]

.....you have a lot of space there, I would be tempted to just move the dome around ( if that's what you intend to buy - Your  superimposed dome looks  so real) until you find  a suitable spot, be firm with the Boss too!
Your observatory will have a wall height of some description, so as long as the scope clears that, and clears the tree/hedge line, you should be ok .
Remember our Planet rotates, so your not static with any views above , they will follow a path across the sky, you just have to wait a while for them to re-appear. Orion might be ok. 
For me at N57, its as if Polaris is right over my  head ( Northern corner fence post, then look straight up!  with  Cassiopeia and Ursa Major, running around the Pole. This is my main search area,  straight up.

[nytecam]

South [southern Milky Way etc] and east [new stuff rising] are probably the best aspects.   Northern horizon will be overhead some hours [or months !] later.   West is nice for the inner planets and crescent moon after dusk but deepsky objects are then setting and perfectly placed in the previous months high up.

Neighbour's trees block my ESE to south sky with a tiny window in SSW for lowly targets.

Your site looks good to me

Nytecam in London

 

[carastro]

If there is a position you would rather put it,  can you not put a screen/trellis or hedge in the way so it can't be seen from the house to satisfy your wife.

Personally though you look like you have a good viewpoint from that garden, much better than mine, but I guess you might as well position it the best place possible.

Carole 

 

[Owmuchonomy]

Looks better than my Obsy view but I don't run short of objects.  I do miss looking due South (house in the way) particularly in Summer when skies allow but then at this latitude... Orion gets quite high in Winter so I can get that until it starts to set.  As Carole says, I think you need to renegotiate with the management.

[iapa]

+1 for Stellarium, good free app. Others are also available, Cartes du Ciel is another that comes to mind.

I know that there is an app - for Android devices - that you can enter the target and your location, and it will tell you the best time to see it.

I don't use Android so, not sure what it is called. Shouldn't be too hard to find.

 

[Magnus_e]

Another great way of finding objects is DSO-Browser Use the Find objects -> local time to set the preffered date and time.

You also get stats about apparrent size, magnetude and a FOV viewer.

[nucdoc]

When i built my obsy, i used sky safari and walked around locating the lowest stars i could see in all directions, recorded the coordinates and then changed the date to see what i could see at different times of the year

 

mark

[-Dougal-]

Personally I would use a telescope in various areas of the garden to gauge the best location for a month or 2 before setting up your permanent observatory then renegotiate with to wife by suggesting some nice low level scrubs around the outside or other suitable camouflage