Observatory tour
About our observatory
Please click the images to see a larger version.
Here you can see the observatory in all its glory. Painted a nice shade of british racing green, it blends into the surroundings and keeps the neighbours happy. The concrete hard standing provides plenty of car parking space and a large area for other telescopes to be set up for an evening observing session. The sliding roof is shown fully open here which gives the observing deck access to the whole sky. The white doorway is the main entrance into the observing section of the observatory.
When entering the main door, turning left shows the telescope storage area and the stairs which lead up to the observation deck..
Turning right at the main door shows the equipment storage area, curently curtained off, and the internal door through to the cabin warm room. The green box by the main door is the portable generator unit which is normally placed outside and is used to provide mains power to the observatory when required.
Going through the internal door takes you into the cabin warm room. This view is looking towards the library end with our notice boards, astronomy library, and lots of chairs and comfy seats. This is a great place to sit and chat while taking a break from observing, or simply warming up a bit on a cold night.
Looking the other way in the warm room shows our all important gas fire, cooker and snack preparation area. Many a bacon butty and hot drink have been prepared here. The door to the left leads to the outside world, but often it is not used very much with the main door being favoured more.
Taking the stairs up to the observation deck brings you to the heart of the observatory. This is where we operate the fixed telescopes and here you can see the 12" F5 reflector mounted at the far end of the observation deck. This scope still needs to be properly commissioned, but we hope to have it fully operational by the Winter observing season.
Looking the other way on the Observation deck shows the Meade LX200 pillar and wedge. The 12" LX200 has to be removed from the wedge when the roof is closed, but the wedge is accurately polar aligned, so reasonable polar alignment is maintained when the scope is mounted back on the wedge.
This is why our location is so good for astronomy. Just look at that horizon to the South East.
And how about to the South West? Just as good eh?
less than 1 degree in many directions and never more than 2 degrees from the East round to the South and on to the North West. Who could ask for a better observing site? Maybe Arizona or Australia would be better, but for us here in good old Yorkshire, we are very happy with what we have :-).
Back to the top.