The Society Observatory

The LDAS observatory was built by members of the Society, and contains a 10" Newtonian (although it is sized to take up to an 18" Newtonian). It has been running since 1996, and is most reliable. It is situated on the local corporation farm, Standalone Farm, by their kind permission. Whilst not an ideal site (from the point of view of light pollution), it is nevertheless much darker than the surrounding towns, and the Milky Way stands out brightly on a clear night. Being situated relatively near to Letchworth, this also has advantages in that it is easy for members to get to - an important consideration.

Funding was obtained from both within the astronomical society - from donations, fund raising events, as well as a generous donation from the Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation, and the local council.

All work except legal matters was done in-house to keep the costs down. This meant several months of long weekends down on the farm, digging holes, laying concrete, building the frame, and then carrying it from the farm barn (at the bottom of a muddy hill), to the observatory site (at the top). Then erecting it, and putting on the side frames, and eventually the roof. The run-off roof is counter-balanced by 2 tons of lead shot via the guide wires seen in the pictures!

One drawback to the location - around 500 feet from the nearest buildings - is the lack of power. At present the telescope is run from a 12v battery which needs periodic recharging.

In view of this, and the desire to run other equipment, including additional telescopes, laptops, lighting, etc., we are looking at implementing an improved system of batteries to be charged by a solar panel. Further details will be added in due course.

Updated August 2008

	Building the observatory in the barn.
	Moving the assembled frame out of the barn to the site. (It fitted the door opening by 6 inches!)
	Cladding the frame onsite.
	A view of the observatory - with the local residents!
	The interior of the observatory, showing the telescope, and the sliding roof arrangements.
	The day of the grand opening by our then honorary president - Iain Nicolson.