"Roll-Around Roof" Observatory
Whitepeak Observatory, Tacoma, WA

"There's nothing quite so nice as observing from your own observatory!"

This is an observatory with rotating roof that is my own design. It answers specific needs:

1) Protection from wind and the abundant stray light at my urban location.
2) An easy to build angular structure with no curved surfaces or compound angles used in construction.
3) Protection of the observatory interior and ancillary items (laptop, library etc) from the efffects of dewing while observing. (this is a heavy dew area.)
4) Lightweight, weatherproof and inexpensive construction. Total cost was under $1000.
5) Ability to easily rotate the roof manually.

I consider this project to be a complete success.

Note, January 20, 2006: After 14.5 inches of rain since Dec. 19th 2005, not *one drop* has found it's way into the interior of this structure.

Here are some images taken after construction was completed. Construction images are linked on the bottom of this page.

Exterior, closed position

Exterior, open & rotated

Exterior, elevated view, open position

Interior view

Jupiter and Moons; First light's first image

LPI, prime focus, meade ar-5. 14 stacked images, 6-19-05.

Construction details Back to main page