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 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! (7/04/00): Disaster befell the observatory project in late June when a massive rainstorm hit the area and flooded the hole that was supposed to have been a basement by now. The project will have to be delayed by a few weeks to let the water drain off and allow the sun to bake the ground hard again. The hole was dug in April and essentially nothing has happened since then, and now it'll be a few more weeks before work can proceed.
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-1100 mount. This will be the mount for the second pier in the observatory. Now if I only had a telescope ...
FLASH! (09/20/00): Today a 20' x 51' 4" concrete slab was poured in the hole, which forms the floor of the basement and the footings for the block walls. The concrete blocks for the basement walls and the building foundation will be delivered soon. See the "current status" image below.
FLASH! (10/27/00): Another gigantic deluge dumped huge amounts of water on the observatory site; the slab is covered in what appears to be about half a foot of water and mud. This will necessitate further delay to allow the water to drain; then we can clean off the slab and try to press ahead.
This is what the observatory looked like on October 7, 2000, a couple of weeks after the basement slab was poured. Compare this to the hole as it looked when first dug. The actual size of the slab is 20' x 51' 4".
On September 20, a floor slab was poured for the basement, after redigging for the footings (the first set of footing trenches were filled in by mud in one of the deluges that has suddenly become an every-other-week occurence at the observatory site). Four-foot lengths of rebar were inserted into the concrete around the periphery of the slab to tie in the block walls.
As of October 28, the third 5" rainfall of the year hit the mountains; the bottom of the basement excavation is once again full of water, covering the slab in mud. Only about 3' of the rebar is visible above the water. I didn't have the heart to take a picture. (The rain will, of course, cease just as soon as the building is finished.)
The concrete blocks for the basement walls and building foundation (3,900 of them!) are due to be delivered next week, but the rampway down the hole is badly eroded - the forklift would not be able to negotiate the slope. Not to mention, of course, the fact that they're not going to want to drive in a foot of water at the bottom.
And more rain is on the way - I'm going to stop calling this the desert and start calling it a rain forest.
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Terry R. Friedrichsen
terry@venus.sunquest.com