Observatory Concept

This drawing shows the original concept for Newcastle Observatory. The fully automated dome is 3 meters in diameter and was manufactured by Technical Innovations. The dome sits on a renovated addition to a residence - being a height extension at the rear, south-facing part of the house. The extension is generally from the bottom of the three top windows. The outer walls are bricked to match the residence.

The observatory houses a 0.3 meter schmidt-cassegrain telescope. The telescope sits on a massive steel pier, which in turn sits on two parallams - engineered wood beams that are massive and rigid enough to mitigate vibration. The ends of the parallams sit on the outside walls of the house and are isolated from the observatory floor, which sits 1 foot above the beams, so as to not transmit vibration to the telescope.