When I'm not building Iron Man, I build my space observatory.

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1. Flashing (weather skirt) installed. Peeling the protective plastic off all the sheets now.
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2. First coat of light-absorbing matt-black paint on the inside.
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Ah you are still with us. Me and Mike we wondering where you were. Observatory is looking good man.
 
Ah you are still with us. Me and Mike we wondering where you were. Observatory is looking good man.

Yeah, still here mate. Still waiting on some stuff from hobbyking to finish the helmet. The shed has been over 50 degrees so no going in there to do the suit until the season cools a bit.
 
You lucky thing, we have been in the minuses lately. Although still managed to get some rondo and bondo work done. My helmet would almost be finished but I am unhappy with the teeth and how they are set so ripping them out :)
 
This week our friend and family electrician spent some good hours in the observatory with me, planning the lighting, powerpoints and distribution board. The cabling has now all been run, ready to connect all the hardware.

As well, this week I got a lovely $50 donation from a Canberra local, which I was able to spend at Fletcher Insulation in Hume on a few bags to insulate from heat and sound. It is instantly cool in there now and OOOHHHHH SOOOO QUIET!!

Full construction page here.

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Dude, I am so jealous. I find the universe to be fascinating, beautiful, and horrifying all at the same time. I mean look at how pelted our moon is! It's a wonder how we're still here!

out of curiosity, what are your thoughts on black holes? To me, the theory of what happens to light going into a black hole, sounds like the opposite of the big bang theory. So I kinda like to toy with the idea, that on the other end of a black hole, it's spewing out light and stardust creating a new universe somewhere else.

Please keep posting pictures! How much would a telescope like that run someone?
 
Dude, I am so jealous. I find the universe to be fascinating, beautiful, and horrifying all at the same time. I mean look at how pelted our moon is! It's a wonder how we're still here!

I know, isn't it amazing, EVERYTHING. Have either of you tried http://events.slooh.com/ . That site is amazing, and always has the best web cast coverage of comets, asteroids and galaxies using the space cams orbiting us. They did apophis awhile back and it was amazing.
 
Dude, I am so jealous. I find the universe to be fascinating, beautiful, and horrifying all at the same time. I mean look at how pelted our moon is! It's a wonder how we're still here!

out of curiosity, what are your thoughts on black holes? To me, the theory of what happens to light going into a black hole, sounds like the opposite of the big bang theory. So I kinda like to toy with the idea, that on the other end of a black hole, it's spewing out light and stardust creating a new universe somewhere else.

Please keep posting pictures! How much would a telescope like that run someone?

It's a good thing we are so perfectly placed huh? Those great big gas giants out there acting like big vacuum cleaners, sucking up all the debris in the solar system, leaving it relatively clear for us.

To me, a black hole, while complex and fascinating, is no more mysterious than a twister or malestrom. It's not some doorway to another dimension and it doesn't pop out at the other end somewhere. "Hole" is probably a bad name for it in that regard, as it isn't actually a hole at all. If a star is massive enough and collapses, once it has finished putting out energy as heat and light from it's fission life, then gravity wins and there is no more outward pressure to hold it out. Instead, it keeps on collapsing and crushes itself to death. In effect, it is taking several solar masses (the weight of our own sun as a scale) and compressing them onto a point that is less than microscopic in size. Great mass, but no size really. It has the same amount of gravitational influence on it's surroundings as it did when it was a star. If you fly too close and too slow, you are going to get pulled in and added to it's mass as you are crushed. There's no hole, just a point, also known as a singularity.

It's thought that super-massive black-holes exist at the centre of most galaxies, acting as the anchor that stops them from breaking up and flying off into space as they spin. Pretty cool stuff. Not the all-consuming monsters they were made out to be in all the old 80's movies.

I know, isn't it amazing, EVERYTHING. Have either of you tried http://events.slooh.com/ . That site is amazing, and always has the best web cast coverage of comets, asteroids and galaxies using the space cams orbiting us. They did apophis awhile back and it was amazing.

Yes thanks mate, fairly familiar with Slooh. I'm currently imaging a comet called Lemmon. Just waiting for these darned clouds to rack off and give me a good night of imaging. I put a quick 2-minute image here, but waiting to stack a few dozen of these to process it properly.
 
That's the first time I've seen that site, it seems pretty cool. I just bookmarked it.

I knew they were saying that super massive black holes were at the center of our galaxy, I watched a show on it once, I can't remember which one it was though. I think it was how the universe works, or something along those lines.
 
That's the first time I've seen that site, it seems pretty cool. I just bookmarked it.

I knew they were saying that super massive black holes were at the center of our galaxy, I watched a show on it once, I can't remember which one it was though. I think it was how the universe works, or something along those lines.
I know what show you're talking about, the one that always has Michio Kaku narrating and explaining it all. I watch so many science shows and history channel shows though that I can't name the one we are speaking of... lol
 
It's a good thing we are so perfectly placed huh? Those great big gas giants out there acting like big vacuum cleaners, sucking up all the debris in the solar system, leaving it relatively clear for us.

To me, a black hole, while complex and fascinating, is no more mysterious than a twister or malestrom. It's not some doorway to another dimension and it doesn't pop out at the other end somewhere. "Hole" is probably a bad name for it in that regard, as it isn't actually a hole at all. If a star is massive enough and collapses, once it has finished putting out energy as heat and light from it's fission life, then gravity wins and there is no more outward pressure to hold it out. Instead, it keeps on collapsing and crushes itself to death. In effect, it is taking several solar masses (the weight of our own sun as a scale) and compressing them onto a point that is less than microscopic in size. Great mass, but no size really. It has the same amount of gravitational influence on it's surroundings as it did when it was a star. If you fly too close and too slow, you are going to get pulled in and added to it's mass as you are crushed. There's no hole, just a point, also known as a singularity.

It's thought that super-massive black-holes exist at the centre of most galaxies, acting as the anchor that stops them from breaking up and flying off into space as they spin. Pretty cool stuff. Not the all-consuming monsters they were made out to be in all the old 80's movies.



Yes thanks mate, fairly familiar with Slooh. I'm currently imaging a comet called Lemmon. Just waiting for these darned clouds to rack off and give me a good night of imaging. I put a quick 2-minute image here, but waiting to stack a few dozen of these to process it properly.
That's an awesome page. I grew up literally right next to an observatory, Orange County Observatory in aguanga California. I would always go with my friends to their star parties since I was 8. We would get to look through the larger telescopes, it was fun and what really got me interested in astronomy, the first image I ever got to see was the swan nebula. After that I was hooked.
I think that's an amazing observatory you have going on, makes me wish I had one too. But I don't have 20, 000 to drop on an observatory pad and building and telescope. :)
 
Some very fine craftsmanship there, Sand. Looks every bit as high grade as the ones you'd see research staff using! What was your neighbors' reaction?
 
I know what show you're talking about, the one that always has Michio Kaku narrating and explaining it all. I watch so many science shows and history channel shows though that I can't name the one we are speaking of... lol

Yeah, that pretty much sums up every space related show on that channel haha. I took him seriously until I saw a show where he was talking about having several little death stars to blow up threats in the asteroid belt.
 
That's an awesome page. I grew up literally right next to an observatory, Orange County Observatory in aguanga California. I would always go with my friends to their star parties since I was 8. We would get to look through the larger telescopes, it was fun and what really got me interested in astronomy, the first image I ever got to see was the swan nebula. After that I was hooked.
I think that's an amazing observatory you have going on, makes me wish I had one too. But I don't have 20, 000 to drop on an observatory pad and building and telescope. :)

So far the building has only cost me about 8 grand over two years. I'm saving a lot by doing most of the building myself. I call in the experts only when I have to. Electricians, concreters etc...

Some very fine craftsmanship there, Sand. Looks every bit as high grade as the ones you'd see research staff using! What was your neighbors' reaction?

And yet I find it harder to build an Iron Man suit from pepakura, fibreglass and car-bog and get it right.... :p

This is flipping awesome. Now I want to make one.

Thanks mate. If you have the skills with hand and power tools, I say do it!
 
So far the building has only cost me about 8 grand over two years. I'm saving a lot by doing most of the building myself. I call in the experts only when I have to. Electricians, concreters etc...



And yet I find it harder to build an Iron Man suit from pepakura, fibreglass and car-bog and get it right.... :p

WOW, thats awesome. I would love to keep seeing the photos, great job. i love it!
 
Only 8 grand?! That's not bad at all. I used to frame houses, so I could do most of it myself, just as you said, I'd need an electrician.

Assuming I had some land to build it on anyways.

I can't wait to see more.
 
This is truly amazing! I LOVE the pictures. I don't know what to say but....WOW it's so cool!
 
Picked up the wood today for building the staircase from the bottom to the top floor of the observatory. Beautifully seasoned and STRAIGHT cypress.

Can't wait to start working it!

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