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1.
May 25, 2003. Lee Coombs is an outstanding astrophotographer, having numerous photos published in astronomical
magazines. He is very serious about his photography work as
demonstrated by his well designed and equipped home observatory in
Atascadero. |
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2.
May 25, 2003. This is a roll-off roof
observatory. The roof rolls along rails off of the building on a
support frame. Note the fold-down section of wall where Lee is
standing. That is the south wall, so a section drops down for
increased visibility in that direction. |
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3.
May 25, 2003. Tom Smith (on the left)
and Lee discuss
the observatory's design and construction. Tom is planning to build
his own roll-off roof observatory very soon. Note that section of
fold-down wall next to Lee and Tom. This is Lee's 10" diameter f/5
Newtonian scope by Cave Optical, which is used for his deep-sky
astrophotography work. |
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4.
May 25, 2003. Note the useful white board on the
wall where Lee quickly makes notes about celestial objects he is
photographing. |
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5.
May 25, 2003. Both telescopes are mounted on
heavy-duty concrete piers anchored beneath the building. This is Lee's
6" diameter Astro Physics f/12 apochromat refractor telescope used for
Lunar, solar and planetary photography. It is also his primary visual
scope while the 10" scope is being used for astrophotography. He also
has a Celestron C-11 telescope. |
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6.
May 25, 2003. Inside of the rolling roof. It is a
metal roof. |
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7.
May 25, 2003. Lee just pushes and pulls the
roof open and closed. |
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8.
May 25, 2003. Showing the end overlap detail,
to keep rain out. |
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9.
May 25, 2003. As you can see, the area beneath
the roof support frame can be used for gardening or storage. Very
versatile. |
