IC410 in Auriga (click to enlarge)

Emission nebula IC 410 lies about 12,000 light-years away in the constellation Auriga. The cloud of glowing hydrogen gas is over 100 light-years across, sculpted by stellar winds and radiation from embedded open star cluster NGC 1893. Formed in the interstellar cloud a mere 4 million years ago, bright cluster stars are seen just below the prominent dark dust cloud near picture center. Notable near the 7 o'clock position are two relatively dense streamers of material trailing away from the nebula's central regions. Potential sites of ongoing star formation, these cosmic tadpole shapes are about 10 light-years long. (Text source: apod.nasa.gov/apod)

The Veil Nebula (Click to enlarge)

The Veil Nebula is the remnant of a supernova explosion that occurred about 5 - 10,000 years ago.
It is located 1,400 light years away in the constellation of Cygnus. (Text source: apod.nasa.gov/apod)

M27: The "Dumbell Nebula" (click to enlarge)

Known by the popular name of the Dumbbell Nebula, the beautifully symmetric interstellar gas cloud is over 2.5 light-years across and about 1,200 light-years away in the constellation Vulpecula. The hydrogen emission is seen as rust-red (H-alpha) and ionized oxygen shows up in fainter bluish hues. (Text source: apod.nasa.gov/apod)

Completed Facility

Here's a front view of The Robservatory, which rests on an elevated, octagonal deck, facing south.

Slide-Off Dome Capability

The initial configuration was for a rotating dome. However, it soon became apparent that no matter the dome position, the sky directly overhead was obstructed. In order to overcome this limitation, a rear platform was constucted. When the dome is opened, it can now be slid completely off, gliding with little effort along three tracks made of synthetic decking material. The sky overhead is now competely accessible.

Inside The Robservatory

Imaging is done with an ATK 314L+ cooled CCD camera (upgraded from 16HR shown) on a TMB92 f5.5 triplet-apo refractor with a Televue .8x focal reducer/flattener.

The guidescope is a Televue Pronto, with guiding via a StellaCam3 video camera.

A dual screen laptop is used for image capture and guiding.

The mount is a Losmandy G11 (upgraded from GM8 in photo).

Octogonal Deck

Here is a shot of the framing for the octagonal deck on which The Robservatory resides.

Pier Construction

My brother Richard helped me pour almost a ton of concrete to create a super-stable pier on which to place the telescope mount. The pier was completed on April 19, 2008. Thanks, Rich!