Eat your heart out,
Skydome. BHO's main observatory is open from spring through autumn. The
roof rolls back via winches onto support rails at the rear. Inside are the
observing area, gear room and computer/warm-up room.
Meet
the "big Eye" guy. A computerized 11-inch Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope
(SCT) lives in the main observatory. It is mounted on an 8X8 steel pier.
A second 4-inch refractor is often mounted on top of the SCT and used for
widefield observing of star clusters and galaxy groupings.
Close friends can get
even closer. The observing area handles a dozen guests comfortably. Despite
the fact that we are exploring outer space, gravity still rules. So bench
seats invite space travellers to "take a load off" while awaiting
a look through the telescope.
Warm up to the computer
room. Thanks to the computer, we can preview deep-sky objects and shift
time to another season. Thanks to the heater, we can warm up on chilly
nights.
Beautiful Saturn as
photographed by Cambray, Ontario astronomer Brian Colville.