Astrofoundry Astrophotography

Location

The chosen location is the hill above my home in Tiburon, CA. The view from the NE to the SE is wide open and relatively free of light pollution as it looks over the San Francisco Bay toward Vallejo approximately 30 miles away. There are still a few large trees to the South and West that need to be trimmed to maximize the imaging potential.

Construction

Observatory construction began in the Fall of 2005 with the removal of 3 large pine trees and continued when I built steps up the hill to reach the observatory site. After waiting out the winter rains in Northern California, the site was leveled and the pier base was poured in June 2006.

The deck platform was constructed in early July with some help from my boys Stefan and Sean. By the end of October the shed was framed and the siding was installed. My wife insisted on windows to keep it from looking like a large outhouse so I constructed interior shutters using roof felt to block any incoming light.

After installing a temporary roof to keep out the early winter rains, I added rails, a permanent rolling roof complete with shingles and painted to match the house. All that is left is to find a mechanism to open the roof remotely.

Astrofoundry Observatory in Tiburon, CA

I finally found the right location for my Pier Tech II pier and have convinced my wife to allow me to build a permanent observatory. I was originally interested in a dome but that idea didn't pass the wife test so I constructed an 8x10 Roll-off roof using modified Sky Shed plans.