As you advance in astronomy you will find yourself surrounded by equipment, books and atlas’s. You may be able to take over a room in your home, if space allows it. Setting up equipment may take up to an hour before you begin observing depending what you have to set up.
Would it not be better to have everything already set up and raring to go, so all you have to do is switch the power on? Of course it would be. This where a home observatories come in.
The practicalities of building one’s own observatory in your garden will depend not only on size of your garden, its aspect but also other members of your household. They may not be amused if your new observatory takes up all the garden or leaves them nowhere to sit out in the sunshine. So planning must go into where and how big this observatory is going to be.
There are many off the shelf observatories on the market but these can cost a lot of money, even going into the thousands, or even tens of thousands, of pounds. It would work out much cheaper if you could build one yourself. That way you can build it to your specifications. If however, you don’t really know how to go about building one then the following books will guide you in that direction. They describe the different types of home observatories and give clear plans on how to go about the job. One thing they cannot help you with is your DIY skills. If you are good at DIY then you should have no problems. If you aren’t then you may need to get the help of a friend or relative.
As I have mentioned on other pages no prices are shown as costs can vary from one outlet to another. I have linked to a site which I believe offers the best price.
| Building a Roll-Off Roof or Dome Observatory by John Stephen Hicks This book is part of the Patrick Moore series of books on the subject of building your own observatory. The author, Stephen Hicks, guides the astronomer through all the pitfalls of building one’s own observatory. This book is written with USA regulations. However, the topics he covers are relevant in all countries. His topics include: Local By-laws Where to locate the observatory How to tailor the observatory for your need Tools and equipment required Possible variations in design Step by step plans and pictures on constructing the observatory |
| Setting up a Small Observatory, from concept to Construction by Patrick Moore This book is similar to the one above but is written for the British astronomer, but like the first its content is easily interpreted for astronomers in other countries. Here the author goes into the requirements for making an observatory and the local by-laws which could have an affect on your plans for your observatory. He discusses what you need in your observatory and also how to go about powering it. N.B.The author of this site strongly suggests that if you are planning to have a direct power supply to your observatory then it is wise to consult a qualified electrician before proceeding with laying of cables etc. |
