University Small Roof Deck Observatory

When i built my roll off roof observatory i covered the roof with ondura a corrugated asphalt material.

University small roof deck observatory. Building a small observatory is not all that hard. There is plenty of friction between the 2x3 surfaces that one person can hold the roof section in place while a second person folds the hinges up and screws them into the lower rail of the roof section. The 2 2 meter inside diameter provides plenty of space to operate up to a 14 schmidt cass or a refractor 1400mm long. The roof is powered as a included feature with a center mounted rack and pinion drive.

The peaked roof has a ridge vent covered with a piece of ondura intended for this purpose. For building the roof frame i used a 2 x 6 for the main cross beam and used a 2 x 4 support to level and hold in place. The manufacturer sells a shaped foam insert to close the ends of the ondura and drastically reduces the openings for bugs. I followed the plans from skyshed for the the gable and roof construction again using deck screws.

Unlike half dome designs nexdome is a classic observatory dome with more than 100 degrees of shutter opening allowing you to point your telescope to the zenith while remaining shielded from stray light and wind. Both areas are equivalent in width and length. A dome is much more complicated but still can be done with more careful planning. The roll off roof observatory design can go up against different style that when nitty gritty right can ooze a cutting edge feel.

Main features roll off roof observatory design. To secure the roof i first attached the hinges to the observatory walls then laid the roof section in place in the closed position. I build the gables on the ground and then attached them to the secured roll off slider. In july 2017 the original telescope and instrumentation was replaced with a state of the art 17 reflecting telescope with ccd camera mount and counter weights to enhance the capabilities of the observatory.

The observing area roof rolls off onto support beams that are positioned over a warm room area. The telescope camera and retracting roof can all be controlled remotely via the university network. The entry area and storage space for the campus observatory is carved out of the machine room on the 5th floor of brookens library. If the spruced up deck were ever used as a general event space we would need an adjacent staging area and i dream about the possibility of a small classroom to teach astronomy labs in next to the observatory.