Design
I bought the
book "More Small Astronomical Observatories",
edited by Patrick Moore, and
spent some time in the internet learning from the experience of other
amateur astronomers.
The choice
between a dome type observatory and a roll-off roof one seemed obvious to
me. The dome observatory provides a better shelter against the wind and
humidity and that was one of my main objectives since I live in a quite
windy and humid area.
After a long
consideration and always aiming for a cost effective and functional
solution, I decided to base the design on standard sizes of plywood arcs cut
out from plywood sheets.
I started the
detailed design of the observatory in Autocad.
After several essays,
checking and re-checking the scope dimensions and its accessories (guidescope,
dew shield, pier) I intended to use inside the observatory and after checking for
local availability of the necessary parts, I decided to apply the
following dimensions:
Base:
-
diameter: 2350 mm
-
height:
1500 mm
Dome:
-
diameter: 2400 mm
-
height:
1100 mm
The 50 mm
gap between the base and dome diameters was necessary to
allow for the installation of a wheather skirt to seal the area between the dome
and the base.
|