My interest in astronomy dates back to the time when I, as a third-grader, got a copy of Fred Hoyle's Frontiers of Astronomy. I read it over and over, practically memorizing it, fascinated by the idea that we could actually figure out what was going on inside a star, an object that was just a tiny pinpoint of white light.
It wasn't too long after that that I got a small telescope; later, as a high-school freshman, I got a larger telescope. It wasn't too long after that that I wanted an observatory so I wouldn't have to lug the thing in and out of the house!
Lo these many years later, the time for an observatory has come. After a protracted search of the numerous places in the southwest desert that qualify as near, at, or in the middle of nowhere (so the sky will be nice and dark at night, that's why), but still within shouting distance of utility service, land has been procured. What follows is the chronicle of the transformation of 40 acres of high desert into my vision of astronomical nirvana.
So, like Dorothy, we begin by putting one foot in front of another as we follow the treacherous road to The Emerald City (or at least an observatory with electricity and indoor plumbing :-).
FLASH! (3/17/00): Ten months on the waiting list has finally paid off - I've been allowed to place an order for an Astro-Physics 1200GTO mount. Delivery time is sometime this fall; unfortunately, the observatory will be nowhere near completion when it arrives.
FLASH! (07/26/00): An order was placed today for a 400mm (16") Astro Optik LOMO Hypergraph, which will be the main imaging instrument at the observatory. Delivery time is 10 - 12 months; at the current rate, the observatory will not be ready when the telescope gets here.
FLASH! (08/24/00): I placed the winning bid on Astromart (a used astronomy equipment forum) for a slightly used Software Bisque Paramount GT-1100B mount. This will be the mount for the second pier in the observatory. Now if I only had a telescope ...
FLASH! (11/29/00): The Astro-Physics 1200GTO mount I ordered 'way back on March 17 has finally arrived! Somehow, it looks out of place sitting on the floor in the library - I sure hope this observatory gets done soon!
After three days of intense activity, this is the Bunker Ranch Observatory, lit by the sun peeking through clouds, on July 12. You're looking toward the southeast, so the rolloff support columns are in the foreground. Towering over the slab in the background is the actual observing building itself.
Note the dark, threatening skies - we had to stop work several times this week in order to wait out lightning in the area. Something about lightning and hanging onto 10-foot-high steel made everybody a bit nervous.
Hmmm ... clouds, rain, lightning - observatory. Is it just me, or does everybody else see a contradiction here, too?
Compare this to:
In the middle of the building, you'll note that the concrete forms are still in place around the stairwell block wall. This is because they are doing double duty in supporting a temporary roof to keep the seasonal monsoon rains out of the basement, lest it turn into a swimming pool.
To the right, you can see the welder's trailer-mounted rig. All of this steel is firmly welded together to form a solid structure to withstand the occasional 100 mph winds that can come through this valley; that can put a tremendous amount of pressure on the building siding.
The largest steel members are the 40-foot 6x6x.250 steel tubes running horizontally in the foreground - these support the roof as it rolls off the building, and weigh 761 pounds. It didn't take much mental arithmetic to figure out that we were going to need some mechanical help unloading the truck bringing the steel and more help hoisting it into place. So a boom truck was engaged to do the lifting; this greatly enhanced our fear of lightning with the boom sticking up 60 or 70 feet into the air!
The roof trusses can be seen laying in a stack behind the frame; it won't be long now and we'll be ready to enclose the building!
The really big news is that the observatory has finally found a name. My builder tells everybody who asks that he's building a bunker, in reference to the buried basement. A while ago, he presented me with a sign dubbing this site the "Bunker Ranch". So it seems most fitting to name the facility the "Bunker Ranch Observatory".
Next up: rolling the roof
Return to The TRF House of Astronomy
The TRF Housing Tract Home Page
Terry R. Friedrichsen
terry@venus.sunquest.com