New Astro Photos From Feb. 18!

New photos taken using the medium format tracking rig:

These were all taken late Saturday the 18th. (maybe one weekend off?) Exposures were ranging from 20-30 minutes. The tracking rig is in it's final iteration here with enclosed drivers and external battery power for the camera. The [camera] requires the battery to open and hold the shutter, and we were getting 5-6 shots per battery... per expensive, non-standard battery! There are some trails in these images, but that's likely due to performing the Polaris alignment a little hastily. Please see the highlights below, but the entire slideshow is on photobucket.com.

Latest Sage Observatory Updates

It's been a while since the last sage update, but here's where we stand now:

• The observatory structure itself is 99% complete


• There are now several devices monitoring and archiving environmental data


• The dome rotates properly and is controlled via computer


• The shutter has been rebuilt and the open/close mechanics are close to done


• There are several webcams up and accessible via the website


• The SAGE website itself is now hosted on a more modern and reliable computer


• The scope fork is mounted on proper bearing supports in the building

Here's some highlights of the above...

The roof from outside:

Showing the old shutter installed as well

The roof and mechanism from inside:

There are three of these semi-floating support columns mounted along the walls in a roughly equilateral arrangement. Each column has an identical(ish) drive motor and gear reducer on the end with power supplied to all columns simultaneously. The metal hoop was rolled for us in three sections and then welded together on site.

The Sage Website & on-site data gathering

The new sage website has a more modern layout and style. There is also an 'at a glance' summary of local conditions on the left column. The updated site still shows the original webcam, but also includes the user controllable 'obs-cam'. Along with the new webcams there is also a device for measuring cloud cover which has it's reading posted to the site. This new sensor also allows us to take another outside temp reading, in addition to the data gathered by the weather station. The last new sensor is a third webcam inside the observatory. This camera is NOT accessible via the web for now, but may be put on the site in the future.

That's it for now, but we'll keep updates coming more frequently...

From The Ground Up

Back in 2008, the building of sage observatory began. The designer and boss-fellow for this whole project is my dad, Steve. My brother Matty, and myself, Drew, have been the doing the majority of the build work, and some minor design, along with my pops.

From the very beginning of this build, Steve had a very specific idea for the layout. The basic plan was a rotating dome on top of a round, stud wall, building. The telescope would mount on 2 piers aligned with the north star. These piers would have to be poured in concrete along with the foundation, but insulated from vibration through the floor. The basic building design would follow standard stud-style construction over a poured foundation.

The pad itself is an octagon, with the piers poured in cardboard tubes and wrapped in foam rubber where they intersect the foundation. The foundation is reinforced with rebar for strength, and to resist cracking in the future. The edges of the foundation are 12-16" deep by 12" wide footers, and the center is 4-6" thick.

The walls are 2X6 stud construction with laminated, 1-1/2" thick, curved plywood top and bottom plates. This allows for plenty of space for wiring and insulation. The walls are be sheeted with 3/8" plywood, inside and out. The top and bottom plates 3/4" plywood, cut and over-lapped, then laminated together. In theory this gives a continuous top plate, and the bottom is interrupted only by the door opening

The roof, or MEGA-DOME, is constructed very similar to an older fiberglass boat. There's a bottom main section, built like a narrow slice through a sphere. On top of this will be long ribs, much like the longitude lines on a globe. There are two 180 degree full ribs, which are double thickness, to act as 'keystone' and as tracks for the main shutter. The shutter itself will be another laminated plywood construction, both for strength, and lightness. The entire dome and shutter assemblies are fiber-glassed on the seams and coated with polyester resin. The entire dome assembly will rotate on driven wheels mounted to the inside of the walls. These wheels will drive a circular 1-1/2" round steel tube, much like a roller coaster track, that's attached to the inside of the dome.

This will, someday, be a fully functioning, modern observatory so provisions have been included for power, temperature control, networking, and internet. The power will be provided by solar panels, wind generators, or a combination of both. The walls have cabling runs for AC power, 12V DC power, CAT5 for LAN, and extra CAT5 for possible control circuitry. There will be a power storage bank, probably lead acid batteries, along with AC inverters and possibly 5V for some of the other electronics. There will be three drive motors for dome rotation, and another two to control scope axis. The 5 motors will have a control computer: probably an old laptop running some flavor of Linux. Some clever control software will control everything, and input will actually be via wireless wiimotes.

Next time: construction begins...

Dark skies and plenty of time...

Out in our neck of the woods, the nights are as dark and clear as you'll find in California. This makes for amazing opportunities for astronomy, sky gazing, and even the occasional star party. Our place also happens to be the perfect place for a larger observatory with a serious size telescope. This blog is here simply to chronicle the planning and building of Sage Observatory. We've come a long way in building it already, but there's still much to do. A short recap: As of May 1, 2010 the building itself is up, the dome is in place and covered, the piers for the scope are in place, and the track for the dome rotation system is tacked in place. Keep watching for a history of the blog up till now. Until then, here's Sage as it stands...