So if you have been wondering what I have been upto these past few weeks…I built a roll-off roof observatory to help me avoid setting up my astrophotography gear each time. Here’s the current state of the observatory(painting is left).
I did a quick trial run with the full setup last week through some gaps in the clouds. This is Messier 26 with the planetary nebula NGC 2438. Total integration time is only 20 minutes. I had the l-enhance filter on and the star colors haven’t been corrected in the image. Just wanted to check if the observatory works fine.
Over the next few months, I plan to automate this whole observatory so that I can control this from anywhere in the world. It would also allow me to schedule a target acquisition list and the observatory should be able to autonomously capture them without my intervention. I will keep this post updated with all developments
This metal roof led to very high temperatures inside the observatory during day time. Over the last few days, it consistently hit 40 degrees C and above so I had to do something to address this.
I found these Aluminium bubble sheets on IndiaMart. One helpful vendor suggested getting these sheets with 8mm thickness for my roof size. These cost about 12 rupees per sq. feet. I duct-taped the sheets to my roof last night on some of the most exposed areas and the temperature has already fallen to 33 degrees which is the temperature outside now. Need to see what happens if I cover the remaining portions of the roof too.
There is also a heat reflective paint available for such roofs and that might help in reducing the temperatures further. I didn’t choose that as I wasn’t sure if I could reach the top most portions of the roof without climbing on top of it.
My home is near to Old Pallavaram, near to hill area. Light pollution is huge. Would it be good to have these kind of setup? Will it help in reducing light pollution and observe clear? I recently bought 8" GSO.
I don’t think having a setup like this is going to help you much other than helping stop the immediate glare from your neighbourhood lights.
The main motivation behind my setup was to have my imaging rig ready to go whenever I wanted to use it. It’s a heavy setup and transporting it to my terrace was difficult and this is what led me to consider building a permanent storage setup on the terrace. It also saves time that would have otherwise been spent on polar alignment, etc.
Hello @parthiiban , just saw your post from a year ago. One thing I want to add is with the dob placed outside, there is a slight advantage in the cooling/warming time required before observation. However, you need to ensure your Observatory is completely dust & insect free. Unlike Siva’s scope, yours is an easy target for dust and spiders to reach the primary or inside the optical tube. You wouldn’t want to wash your primary every couple of years. One other option is to cover the back of the primary when you store it to restrict access.
Unfortunately, with the airport nearby, the only bet to reduce pollution effects for you is filters.
