Located at Standalone Farm (click
here for a map), and built in 1996, the society
observatory houses a 10" Alt-Azimuth Newtonian. The scope is
available to all society members, once trained. It is also the
venue for our star parties, where those members who have yet
to receive training can use the scope under the guidance of
more experienced members of the society. For pictures and a history of the
observatory follow the link.
Telescopes
The society has three telescopes available for
hire
| 8" f/7.5 Alt-Azimuth | £8 per month | Quite large to move so recommend hire for a prolonged period |
| 6" f/5 Dobsonian | £4 per month | |
| 2" | £2 per month |
Planetarium
Back in the early 80's LDAS had grand plans
for an observatory and planetarium, however nobody would give
us the vast amount of money needed for such buildings. It was
then suggested to Eric (our secretary) me that a portable
planetarium would be a good idea, but how was it to be built?
Long before the advent of the Home Planetarium
Association, I had very little outside guidance. To
project the stars the pin-hole method seemed the cheapest, (at
the time I had just left school, and money was short), but how
was the dome to be constructed? Fortunately another very keen
member suggested a geodesic frame-work. The stage was set, but
deciding what to use for the 'star-ball' and how to build the
dome caused a lot of head-scratching.
The Star-ball
|
This was the easiest part, given the
available bulb the minimum size of star-ball was
thought to be 2ft (60cm), even then the brighter stars
(requiring larger holes) would need lenses to focus
the light beam, to avoid loads of full-moon's
over the sky. To follow the story further, see Eric's full story with
pictures |
|
It had to be big, I wanted to
fit in all our society members, then in the 20's or a
typical class of school kids. So sizes of 15-20ft
(5-6m) where talked about. I had seen pictures of the
geodesic domes I wanted to build, but how was such a
thing put together? All became clear after a friend
showed me a copy of The Dome Builders Handbook
a wonderful American book, in which people showed how
they had built their dream-dome, and lived in it. Well
my dome would not have to be that sturdy, but the
plans where there, more details to follow... (page
under construction) |
| There now exists the Home Planetarium Association devoted to like-minded persons, e-mail Gary for more details. |