Day 10 - Night Sky Observatory build

The heat wave broke, rain stopped, and a pleasant Saturday enabled me and my friend Tina to put up the six wall sections. 

I spent a little time a few days prior power washing the sections as they have been sitting outside since late March when they were delivered. I removed the telescope from the pier to prevent any accidental damage while we worked moving and assembling the five bay sections and the door.  

Next up is attaching the ball bearing wheels that the dome will ride on. But I am putting that off until the dome is completed which I plan to assemble sometime next week. I also need to schedule some time with 4 or 5 of my friends as they will be needed to lift the completed dome, which is quite heavy, to the top of the walls (if I only had a crane :) ).

M17 in Hydrogen-Alpha light

Final adjustments to the pier and mount have been completed and while I'm waiting for some cooler temperatures and lower humidity before starting the build of the observatory I hooked up my ASI1600mm camera to my GT102 and planned to spend about three nights imaging M17 in NB. M17, the Swan Nebula (Omega Nebula), is a vast star-forming region in Sagittarius where glowing hydrogen clouds are illuminated by hot, young stars.

The clouds (sort of) cooperated, but the Canadian wildfire smoke caused havoc on the sky transparency. I was able to get a total of 29 Ha and 21 S2 subs. Now it looks like the next few days will have significant smoke and then thunderstorms, so I need to pause the full NB capture. But since I had some decent Ha subs I went and processed a Hydrogen-alpha only version of M17. 

M17 - Swan Nebula
July 13-14, 2026 - GT102/ASI1600mm - 2.4 hours integration time

Rendered solely in hydrogen-alpha light, M17 appears less like a familiar nebula and more like a vast cloud of living fire suspended in darkness. The image is dominated by intricate folds of glowing gas, revealing delicate filaments, arcs, and rippling curtains sculpted by powerful stellar winds. Bright knots and ridges trace regions where intense radiation from young stars excites the surrounding hydrogen, causing it to shine with a deep, monochromatic brilliance. Every structure stands out in striking contrast, from dense pillars of obscuring dust to luminous fronts that resemble waves breaking across a cosmic shoreline.

Without the distraction of broadband color, the H-alpha view emphasizes the nebula's raw anatomy. Fine textures emerge throughout the cloud, exposing turbulent pockets, sweeping cavities, and branching networks of ionized gas stretching across the field. The famous swan-like silhouette of M17 becomes a study in light and shadow, its graceful curves etched in glowing hydrogen against an otherwise black backdrop. The result is both scientific and artistic: a portrait of an active stellar nursery where immense forces are continuously shaping and illuminating the interstellar medium.

I hope you like it.

Day 9 - Observatory Build - Polar Alignment

Last evening it was time to do a complete polar alignment (PA) of the mount. With the sky clear (hazy but very few clouds) I set out around 8:30 to get all the equipment hooked up. Since the new mount is located further north from the old pier I couldn't use the network cable directly, so coupled another cable with an adapter which seemed to work to extend it to the new mount location. I had to restart my iPad remote session a few times because of connection issues (probably the coupler and the fact that I now had a very long cable run). But it finally settled and stayed running for the rest of the evening.

Now that the mount is perfectly level on the new pier (never that case for the old one) I should get excellent PA when the job is complete.

I installed my PoleMaster system to the AP1100, downloaded the new drivers and software, and started the alignment run. PoleMaster is a very accurate system for getting precise PA. On my old mount/pier I really didn't bother with it since the pier was never solid and the PA changed a lot - I just used NINA's Three Point Alignment app. But with a permanent setup, PoleMaster is the best option. In about an hour or so of work I locked down the axes on the mount. For grins I ran Three Point Alignment to see what it claimed for the PA values and ALT was spot on with AZI about 2 arc minutes off. Not sure if I trust Three Point Alignment to give me the most accurate answer, but a total of 2' is pretty low. Since it is easy to adjust AZI on the AP1100 I could tweak it later if needed. ALT adjustments are tricky because whenever you tighten the bolts to hold the mount's DEC axis after an ALT adjustment it always moves the AZI position a bit.

Now to try a few imaging runs to see what results I can get with the new pier/mount setup. I mounted my GT102 APO refractor with the ASI533mc camera. I had originally opted to use the ZS61, but it had a lot of flexure due to a single mounting point - not a good idea when you're trying to align a mount. Needed a bit of extra time though as I had to reinstall the auto focuser to the GT102.

First up were the slew tests. I slewed the scope from the park 3 position (pointing to north pole) to various objects in the sky - east, west, near zenith, near Polaris and due south at low altitude. In all cases the objects were within 0.5 degree of center. Keep in mind that an equatorial mount needs to flip when crossing the meridian from east to west and vice versa, yet the objects stayed well within the camera's FOV. This is an excellent result.

Next up, the tracking tests. I slewed to a star near the meridian at the celestial equator. Executed a 60 second exposure run and got perfectly round stars indicated a good start so far. Mind you, I'm not using any active guiding - just the AP1100. Then a 300 second sub. Same result. Finally, a 10-minute sub (longest sub I will ever take in practice) and still, perfect stars! All with no active guiding.

Spent another 45 minutes targeting various stars at different locations in the sky with 5 min exposures and all subs presented perfectly round stars. Success!

Now, it's off to getting the building up ... as soon as the weather is more reasonable (today temps reached 100 degrees with 116 feel-like temp) ... yikes.

Strawberry Moon - Observatory Update

Strawberry Moon

This month’s Full Moon, known as the Strawberry Moon, was at its most illuminated on June 29 at 23:56 UTC (7:56 pm EDT). The name refers to the wild strawberries that ripen this month, and which were gathered by Native American tribes. It was near its farthest point from Earth: 405,254 km (251,813 miles) to be precise, making it a Micro Full Moon.

I was on my way back from Westminster when I saw it rising in the SE, and of course it appeared quite large due to perspective. I was able to quickly capture it with my iPhone while the traffic was very light.

Observatory Update

I was busy all last week at our church's VBS (I am the videographer and Photographer, and I produce a Week In Review video that we show at Sunday's two services) so no astro work!

Tonight I set up the equipment (ZS61 and ASI533mc) on the new pier to align the mount precisely to true north. Of course, Luna and Ayla are there to make sure everything is going to plan. 

Once the mount is accurately aligned it's time to start assembling the building. However, with temps reaching 102 (real feel of 112) later this week I'll probably wait until sometime next week.

Rain and Telescopes don't mix well!

One of the benefits of having an observatory to house your equipment is the added convenience and protection it offers. With the right sensors and software—which I expect to have in place within a couple of months—the system can automatically detect bad weather, park the telescope, close the dome, and shut everything down. That means no worrying about sudden rain.

Last evening, I had the scope set up outside. When clouds started rolling in, I checked the weather radar and forecast. Nothing showed up, and it indicated a 0% chance of rain (or at least I’m pretty sure it did 🙂). I shut everything down as a precaution, but I didn’t cover the scope. Then at 8:30 this morning, a loud thunderclap woke me up—sure enough, a full-blown storm had arrived.

I rushed outside to bring everything in. Fortunately, the scope was parked in position 5, meaning it was horizontal, so the optics weren’t directly exposed. Both scopes also had their lens covers on, which helped. However, the camera, computer, network couplers, mount control box, and power packs all ended up getting soaked.

Since none of the equipment was powered on, I’m hopeful there won’t be any permanent damage. I took everything apart, wiped it down, and moved it into my Longarm Building, where I run a dehumidifier and keep the AC at 72°F. With the humidity at about 40%, I’m giving it a solid 72 hours to dry out.

I had planned to disassemble everything eventually when moving to the new observatory, but this situation pushed that timeline up by a few weeks.

The bottom line: the EdgeHD11 will likely be out of commission for at least two months.

Lesson learned - don't trust the forecast! Can't wait to get the Observatory built.

Venus Occultation - June 17, 2026

A daytime occultation of the planet Venus occurred at approximately 3:47 PM, when the bright planet was gradually covered by the dark edge of the thin crescent moon. Disappearance took a mere 30 seconds for the sunlit portion of the gibbous planet. Conditions were not great as there were a significant number of cumulous clouds making finding and focusing on the pair difficult. I used my wide field WO ZS61 telescope and ASI533mc camera to capture the full diameter of the moon. Image scale of the scope and seeing conditions of the sky made any attempt at capturing detail on the planet impossible.

At 5:10 PM Venus reappeared, but behind a large cloud. Minutes later I was able to capture some video of the planet very close to the bright lunar limb.

Day 7 - Night Sky Observatory build

A beautiful, sunny but cool, day greeted us on Tuesday. Mike T. arrived early with the additional decking boards. I removed the j-bolt template from the concrete pier - took just a little extra effort as the board was in contact with the cement.

In just a couple of hours (give or take) we had the deck completed.

The SkyShed Pier was test fitted to the bolts. One of the holes needed to be enlarged a bit. Pier fit perfectly. I leveled the pier but have to wait until later today or tomorrow for the hardware I ordered from Home Depot.

POD-S assembly should begin soon - probably week after next as I have an engagement all next week.

Day 6 of Night Sky Observatory Build

Today Mike T. and I got a fairly early start, and everything was going to plan. We added the joist hangers around the perimeter and in the center section. Then we started placing the deck floorboards on the northern side of the frame with the plan to be able to pour the concrete into the 16" Sonotube from the deck top to make life a bit easier. Got the first few boards in and then placed the sonotube in the 20" hole and centered it. Off to mix the concrete and start pouring. So far, so good.

Now the 16" tube is quite large, as the specs called for a 14" which I couldn't find anywhere. But the 16" should work just fine. It wasn't until the concrete got to the top of the tube when near disaster struck!! The plan was to backfill the hole around the tube after the column was centered. But the weight of the concrete, coupled with us tamping the concrete down to eliminate any voids in the concrete caused the tube to rupture. The tube fell to one side! There was obviously no way we were going to right it and so we pulled the tube completely out and let all that concrete collapse into the hole. The concrete now settled into one huge footer!! 

Quick thinking ensued and we decided that in order to save the day we would need to add a new section of concrete (about 18" or so) to set up on top of the existing 'new' footer before the original concrete started to set. We quickly headed out for the only Home Depot (about 20 minutes away) that had 16" sonotubes to get another tube and some rebar.

Once back at the site we cut the tube to the required length, pushed it down into the footer about 6-8" and drove five, 48" long rebars into the still wet cement of the footer. We then poured another 3 bags of concrete into the new sonotube. It was pretty much level (just a fraction off) and so we decided to leave well enough alone. I then placed the j-bolts into the top of the concrete column for the pier attachment. Done!

The good news is that the huge footer and rebar reinforced 18" top section might actually be stronger than the planned 16" column - might even be considered overkill. So be it. 

Tomorrow, we place the remaining boards. Then I plan to allow the concrete to cure for 96 hours. By Sunday I should be able to mount the pier for a quick test.

Day 4 and 5 of Night Sky Observatory Build

Days 4 and 5 - completed the footers and the framing of the deck. Friday the complete frame of the deck was completed.

Today the ground cover was placed and the backfilling of the posts. Ready for the deck surface to be completed on Monday.

Day 2 and 3 of Night Sky Observatory build

Yesterday was the day to complete the removal of the remaining grass and to travel to three Home Depots to finally get the 16"x48" form tube (they shipped me a 10" and the 16" tubes were hard to find. Then there were the anchor bolts ... what a task that was to get them. Whew. Started digging the holes.

Today the corner footer holes for the deck were completed and the concrete poured (2 bags per hole). The dig of the pier footer hole took awhile being 18"x 38-40" deep! But it is ready for concrete pour later this weekend. Decided to build the deck first, cut the center hole for the pier and then pour concrete from the top of the deck. This way I can precisely set the footer height to be at just the right height for the pier base to be just an inch or so under the deck floor.

Temps are getting a bit steep here in Maryland, so tomorrow is gonna be a bit uncomfortable (90's). 

 

Groundbreaking on Night Sky Observatory

Today marked the official groundbreaking for Night Sky Observatory. The plot was measured and the stakes were set. I chose to align the east and west sides of the deck as close to true north as possible, using an iPhone app called Theodolite to position the stakes. The alignment is likely not exact, but it does not need to be. I aimed to keep it close because the plot was already oriented that way.

Next came digging the hole. Progress was slow at first because the soil was very rocky, and I hit several stones and medium-sized rocks within the first foot. After that, digging became much easier. Because the concrete pier footing must extend below the frost line, I dug to the full 48-inch depth of the Sono tube. Tomorrow, I will need to shape the hole more precisely once the Sono tube arrives and I can confirm the required diameter, which should be 16 inches.

Every project needs a supervisor, and so Luna was there to make sure everything went to plan.

Tomorrow the decking boards and concrete arrive.