Spotted green observatory!

[Rusted]

No idea where this thread should be so I'll start it here.

I was watching a YT canal boating video when I thought I saw a green Pulsar observatory dome in a boat yard in Banbury.

Perhaps I shouldn't mention the name of the boatyard for security reasons but it's right beside the water.

Even visible on Google Earth but not in the 2013 Street View. 

Anyone local know about this dome or why it is in such an unlikely spot?  GRP repairs?

[wxsatuser]

https://banburyobservatory.wordpress.com/

[PhotoGav]

It’s to do with this: http://astrophotographycourses.co.uk/index.html - though I’m sorry to read that they are stopping the courses from September...

[mikeDnight]

Being just a little dim,  I thought you'd seen a new dome cosmetic!  

[Rusted]

Thanks. It seemed a rather unlikely spot to have an observatory.

Shame about the astrophotography courses though. A bit too far for me to reach.

I could have done with a course myself.

As to Mike's interpretation I'd suggest he stays away from the magic mushrooms for a while.

Or at least provide an algorithm to calculate the cooling effect of white spots [of a given number and radius] relative to the overall size of a green dome.

 

[ollypenrice]

It's always exciting when you stumble across an observatory unexpectedly. I did so once while cycling in the vicinity of Alton Towers. It was a fine aluminium affair built by its owner, a blacksmith called Jim Plant, who came over to chat about it. He was an absolutely delightful man and we met up again when he invited me to help him set up a Meade LX200 in an observatory belonging to a Catholic youth organization in Alton village. They'd employed him to erect a stunning Ash dome on the roof.  http://www.ashdome.com/  It was a fantastic piece of work for which Jim had nothing but praise.

Olly

[Rusted]

It can be surprising where they pop up.
I have discovered four different domes seen from quite major roads while out touring.
Had a chat with all of the owners over time.

[JeremyS]

42 minutes ago, ollypenrice said:

a blacksmith called Jim Plant,

A great man. He designed, built and erected a memorial to the early 20th century astronomer, Mary A. Blagg, in her home town of Cheadle. Here he is with it:

[JeremyS]

When I was out cycling as a lad in the 70s I came across an observatory near the village of Wateringbury in Kent. I knocked on the door and met Peter Foley, Director of the Lunar Section of the BAA. I visited him and his wife many times in later years, even observing the moon with his 11.75-inch Fullerscopes telescope.

@Rusted mentioned canals. A few years ago, a chum spotted an observatory on a building near the Shropshire Union Canal's junction with its Middlewich branch in Cheshire whilst touring in his canal boat. Coincidentally the property came up on the market a short time later.

Quite often I do a double-take when driving somewhere new as my brain thinks it has spotted an observatory dome. Invariably it tuns out to be a silo!

 

Edited May 11, 2019 by JeremyS

[JamesF]

I used to see a green dome in a garden as I drove down the road into Hemyock from Wellington, but in the last few years it looks to have disappeared.  I can't find it on Google Earth either.  Never knew who it belonged to.

James

[ollypenrice]

1 hour ago, JeremyS said:

A great man. He designed, built and erected a memorial to the early 20th century astronomer, Mary A. Blagg, in her home town of Cheadle. Here he is with it:

I'm so glad that another SGL person remembers him. Thanks for this excellent post.

Olly

[JeremyS]

1 minute ago, ollypenrice said:

I'm so glad that another SGL person remembers him. Thanks for this excellent post.

I've had the pleasure of visiting Jim and to see his smithy. He is now an honorary member of the BAA. 

There is another picture of Jim on the RAS website alongside another monument to Mary Blagg - to commemorate the centenary last year of her becoming a Fellow of the RAS - among the first batch of women to be admitted. Jim has kept her memory going.

[ollypenrice]

30 minutes ago, JeremyS said:

I've had the pleasure of visiting Jim and to see his smithy. He is now an honorary member of the BAA. 

There is another picture of Jim on the RAS website alongside another monument to Mary Blagg - to commemorate the centenary last year of her becoming a Fellow of the RAS - among the first batch of women to be admitted. Jim has kept her memory going.

All this is good to hear. More thanks!

Olly

[iapa]

These days, you don’t need something as large as a dome to see it on Google maps

i was very surprised to see my pier/mount/OTA visible

 

 

[JamesF]

11 minutes ago, iapa said:

These days, you don’t need something as large as a dome to see it on Google maps

i was very surprised to see my pier/mount/OTA visible

Nothing showing for me, but that's because they're using images that are ten years old  :)  Impressive that yours is visible though.

James